One-on-One
TINA TAPIA — PRESIDENT, ADORABELLA BEAUTY ACADEMY
When Tina Tapia was a young girl growing up in tiny Willard, one of the scariest things she could think of was having to drive in the big city of Albuquerque.
After all, she could walk nearly everywhere — from her job at the courthouse in nearby Estancia, to her classes at Estancia High School.
Hers was a huge traditional family, with a grandmother who taught her “how to be a housewife. My brothers were always outside helping my grandfather, and my sister and I were inside cooking, cleaning.
“I always say, ‘I know I never learned how to skate. I never learned how to swim. But I can roll a mean tortilla, that’s for sure.’”
The grown-up Tapia drives all the time in Albuquerque, where she owns Adorabella Beauty Academy in the far Northeast Heights. The business, which just celebrated its 13th anniversary, was the project Tapia took on after early retirement from a customer service job at Southwest Airlines and following a long divorce.
Cosmetology was her second career, which included time doing nails in her garage-turned-salon and holding down four jobs as a single mother.
Adorabella was born out of Tapia’s desire to open a multilingual school that now offers students instruction in Spanish and Vietnamese.
Although it might have seemed like the worst time to launch a business — the start of the Great Recession — Tapia credits a generous landlord who loaned her money to get Adorabella off the ground. It now has six instructors and anywhere from 30 to 60 students at a time.
“I’m a very traditional person,” Tapia says. “The thing that’s brought me to the place I am today is that I’m here to help them (students), to make a difference in their lives. This has just been an incredible ride.”
What do you think has made you a successful business owner?
“I think just my passion to help students. I’m customer service-oriented. I came from an incredible airline (Southwest), whose customer service was topnotch. So I think I learned a lot of those values there. I’ve always just tried to treat people the way I want to be treated. My students become my family. I just try to keep
it simple. Be true to my faith, and who I am.”
Are there any students who stand out for you?
“I’ve had so many. My bilingual students, most of these are moms who are cleaning houses, working in restaurants. They’re not doing the best jobs, and they have the worst schedule, and I just really feel like they’re so taken advantage of. There’s one student who stands out. Herman was in a horrific (car) accident, and he has a traumatic brain injury. He was about to get (state board licensure) when this happened to him. It has set him back so much. He can’t remember things, so it’s starting over and starting over and starting over. I promised him that if it’s the last thing I do, I will see him through licensure. He never gives up.”
How do you spend your free time?
“My children are grown, and I have grandbabies now. I enjoy going out to dinner, having a glass of wine, relaxing. I love to go to concerts, but I love to also be home with my family. On Sundays, I go to church, and then it’s time to go to breakfast and hang with my family. I enjoy going camping when we can get away. I like to travel a little bit, but nothing too crazy. I’m just a small town girl.”
What’s something no one knows about you?
“That I hold a concealed carry (gun) license. I live alone. And if someone came in here (the academy), and I don’t even know what that might mean, but would I be able to at least attempt to protect us? Heck, yeah. I know now that I can.”
What are some words of wisdom that have helped you?
“I think that when I was going through my darkest days in that divorce and trying to build this school, my counselor was an amazing woman. When we talked about me opening this business, she said, ‘Tina, I’m going to tell you something. Do not think that you need to have all of this brand new, expensive stuff. Don’t do it. All you need is your simple plan, and little by little, you can add to that. Pay cash for what you can.’ This is honestly the first year of the 13 years that I’ve been here, that I actually have a business credit card. Pay for it, build it up, and then it’s yours and you don’t owe anything to anyone.”
What advice would you give someone just starting out?
“When I give speeches at graduation, I want them to know one thing: fear is going to keep you right here on the porch. Until you jump off, you’re never going to know your ability. You’re never, ever going to know what you’re capable of. Look at me, I’m from Willard, New Mexico. Never, ever did I think I’d be here.”
What’s a difficult thing you’ve had to learn?
“That I’m too giving, too trusting … and sometimes that bites me in the butt. In the ups and downs of business, you think that everybody comes from the same place that you do. And that’s not the case. So I had an instructor who completely took advantage of me and completely ripped me off. Stole money, stole equipment and then just left in the middle of the night. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but I will never allow it to change who I am.”
What got you interested in cosmetology?
“I do remember being younger, I used to do facials. When we were going to go out, I would comb out all my cousins. We had the big ’80s hair, and I combed them all before we went out.”
What’s a splurge for you?
“Louis Vuitton and I are best friends. Shoes are my thing. Shoes and dresses. You will always see me in heels. If you catch me on a day where I am wearing flats, I’m still in a dress. I think it just stems back from my childhood. We had nothing … but we were always clean and we were always dressed. My mother always worried that somebody was going to think that we didn’t have a mother. She always said, ‘No. You are not going to look like orphans.’ She instilled in me to always look my best, no matter what, because nobody knows what you carry here (points to her heart). But out there — perfecto, lindo (pretty). Smile, smile.”