The Business of the Month program was designed to recognize local businesses that contribute something significant to our community. That being said, it’s no surprise that SWAY Athleisure was mentioned multiple times when discussing who the Business of the Month for July would be.
Along the side of Main Street in Yuma, you’ll find an adorable store front where SWAY Athleisure and Deja Vu are housed. SWAY offers top quality athleisure wear and no-slip headbands and Deja Va is name brand top quality consignment clothing. SWAY has been an online business since 2017, but opened its doors on Main Street back in 2019 on Black Friday. Deja Vu, one of our communities newest additions, was set to open right as the pandemic was forcing businesses to remain closed. Right now, you are able to stop in and shop at Deja Vu and SWAY, but you can anticipate a Grand Opening when things get a little bit closer to being back to normal.
If you haven’t had the chance to stop into SWAY and see these high-quality leggings and workout items, you need to do so – IMMEDIATELY. They’re amazing. Tanya has shared her story with me to provide you all with a little bit of background on these two businesses.
“It started in a CrossFit class when I was behind a woman that had a bob hair cut and 20 bobby pins to hold it out of her face while she worked out. On my drive home from the gym I came up with a idea for a headband that didn’t slip. I immediately went home, dug out my sewing machine, googled how to sew (because it had been 20 years since I had my sewing machine out) and started figuring out how to make my little invention. From there it has been a crazy road of figuring out manufacturing, patents, trademarks, marketing and now opening up my first brick and mortar. For Deja Vu, a consignment shop, it was created out of my love of fashion and vintage/consignment shopping. There are already great clothing shops in Yuma, but Deja Vu provides different styles and brands at a fraction of their original price. I only accept top brand items that look new and have no signs of wear (a lot of items still have the original tags).”
These two businesses are such an accurate representation of their hard working owner. Tanya is driven and a spit fire to say the least. If there’s something that she can dream, she figures out a way to achieve it. In the case that you haven’t had the good fortune of meeting this lovely lady, here’s a little more about her.
“I went to design school where I caught the bug for product design, and that was combined with a country work ethic that I learned growing up in Yuma – I work a lot! I love and shoot fine art and documentary photography, design athleisure wear, and a friend and I have a new product line coming out that I am so exited about, but it is still in the very beginning stages of development.
My first job out of college was working in entertainment public relations, and I remember it so vividly, I was sitting in a photo shoot with a client one day when I realized that I was working my tail off so someone else could reap the benefits. This just didn’t make sense to me. Not long afterwards I quit and I have been working for myself ever since. Now, I get to create my own future and I love creating a platform that helps empowers women.”
Tanya grew up in Yuma, left at 18 for college and floated around the country for a few years. Roughly 10 years ago, she moved back to Yuma and has since added two incredible businesses to our community. As many of you may know, Tanya is also notorious for prioritizing her community. She works hard to play a hand in any local events that are going on and dedicated countless hours to hand sewing masks for the community when the pandemic first started. She also donated some of her no-slip headbands to the nurses that are working hard with the virus. I mean, she’s truly the sweetest.
To celebrate becoming Business of the Month for July, you can enjoy 25% off all pants and headbands at SWAY!
Congratulations Tanya, and thank you for being such a staple piece of Yuma!
