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Rita Magana

With her brother, Josh Tafolla, 11, and best friend Destiny Mora, 12, by her side to help her with Mas Vintage, Samantha Tafolla ,11, establishes her store at the age of sixteen. “She’s [destiny] been with me since day one,” Tafolla said. “Ever since I told her, she has supported me and has helped me get through it all.”

Samantha Tafolla is a junior at Downey who owns her own clothing business, Mas Vintage, and sells a variety of vintage clothes. She is currently located in Downey, yet she started her business in July of 2016 by selling clothing at the Rose Bowl’s flea market.  She was offered the opportunity to open her very own shop in Downey and took it in order to have her business grow.

She grew up wearing vintage clothing and continues to style herself with older pieces. Her father has also sold clothes at the flea markets in the Rose Bowl and influenced her to starting off selling at the flea market.

Tafolla opened her shop on Nov. 4, but has also continued going to the flea market on weekends to sell her clothing. She speaks about the hardships of now owning her own shop now and how the offer and opening of the store happened in 4 days.

“We weren’t looking for it, but it has been double work with the shop and flea market, and I also have to keep up with school work. I can’t always be at the shop so it becomes hard to balance it all,” Tafolla said. “As for the clothes, it can be hard to keep up with the trends because vintage clothing is trending and people want certain pieces that can be hard to find.”

Tafolla also has a business partner who has been with her since the start of this entrepreneurial journey. Destiny Mora, 12, has helped her create her logo, business cards, and designs for her shop.

“It’s great to see her blow up. I know she is going to get bigger and big things are coming her way,” Mora said. “She is going far and it makes me excited to see what’s to come.”

Tafolla is thankful for all the support her parents have given her throughout this past year and her older brother, Josh Tafolla, 12. They help her when it came to opening the shop and also operating her spot at the flea market.

“I’m pretty proud of her because she took something she’s always been into and made it a business,” Tafolla, said. “I usually help set up at the flea market and I’ll do the heavy works like setting up the canopy and racks or heavy boxes of clothes.”

She is located at 9362 Telegraph Rd. Downey, CA 30241 and sells a variety of hand picked clothing. Tofalla enjoys being able to put her own taste on every item she sells and is a young businesswoman just starting her entrepreneurial journey while still in high school.