Meet Chantel Tafoya | Owner | Firearm & Self- Defense Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chantel Tafoya and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chantel, how does your business help the community?
Women Who Carry, LLC is a Firearm & Self- Defense Training Establishment. We have thus far trained over 50 students in various courses since starting “officially” in January 2023. We’ve had several phone calls from potential students seeking various courses: Self- Defense has been the number one requested course, Concealed Carry for Nevada & Utah has been the second most requested course, and our gun fitting & consultations has been our third most requested course.

Our business helps the community by educating individuals on Gun Safety, Concealed Carry Laws (Nevada, Utah, Colorado) and self- defense. Unfortunately, we live in a world full of DAILY occurrences whether it be a mass shooting, abduction, kidnapping, Human trafficking, etc. & we are here to assist in ensuring our students are very well equipped with the knowledge and skill level necessary to protect themselves and their families.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Women Who Carry does not teach courses like every other Instructor out there. We run our live fire courses very differently. We are taught to “run a range” with different commands. When we get to the live fire portion of our concealed carry course, we work in VERY close quarters with our students. We prioritize the safety of our students, ourselves, and anyone around us. The main reason for this is because the majority of our students have never handled a firearm prior. We go thoroughly thru Firearm Safety & handling first as required by the State of Nevada & Utah, then we take it to the range for our students to safely demonstrate what they’ve learned in class.

For more of a breakdown on this- we recently streamed live with Costly Conversations called “Let’s Hang Out” on February 29, 2024 that can be found on YouTube.

There’s always something about that “Ah-ha” moment as an Instructor/Coach when you know that it just “clicks” for your Students. It is so rewarding watching that in real-time. It makes us feel like as an Instructor we are doing something right and it’s almost immediate positive feedback that students understand the material.

We got where we are today as a whole, by trial & error. This is our Fifth business venture and by far the most successful out of the Five. We took what we learned from the business ventures prior and adjusted, tweaked and most of all, learned to pivot. It definitely has not been easy!! There’s a ton of research involved, lots of time, lots of investment, and finding what’s going to work best for yourself and your brand. The thing that makes Women Who Carry different is we decided not to stop when things get complex or overwhelming. We did not do that in the past. It definitely helps with having Mentors who actually keep their word, unlike past experiences. The key is not to give up. Give yourself grace & allow yourself the time to grow.

We want to the World know: We are here!! We exist!! We are to help you get equipped with the knowledge and skill level necessary to survive.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would eat at Hell’s Kitchen, Paymon’s, Outback Steak House, Ellis Island, OR try something new like Blake Shelton’s “Ole Red” or Stanton Social Prime. We don’t drink but we have the keys to the City and have tips for when visiting, but you will have to tune into our Social Media for those keys! We would hang out anywhere where it’s bright, loud, and fun (Majority of the City).

Some of the most fun, interesting, exciting people, places or things to check out are the Gun Ranges. You can pretty much find ranges all over the City. Some of our favorite shows are: Cirque Du Soleil’s MJ One, O, and The Beatles LOVE, and the Bruno Mars residency (If you can grab tickets, do it!). The nice thing about being in Las Vegas is there’s ALWAYS traveling shows coming and going: concerts, comedians, magic shows, etc.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We have SEVERAL! -Katrina of Alpha Female Tactical is ALWAYS just a message away when we have questions. Whether it be about various training tools for students, recommendations for different vendors or Companies, understanding definitions (yes, we use google and the Webster Dictionary), or if one of us encounters something we’ve never encountered before & how each of us would handle different situations.
-Kerry of We The Female has been supportive from the jump, once we got past the RBF! (Hahaha she knows what I am referring to.) Kerry has been nothing short of amazing and when I need a Law or a definition broken down, she is definitely someone we can count on!
-Robin of Chicks with Triggers is soOoOooo damn inspiring & so creative, she is literally killin’ the game right now!

This is just a few on the long a$$ list we have saved for when Hollywood hires us to teach PROPER gun safety on all of their shows & movie sets!

Website: www.WomenWhoCarry.org

Instagram: @WomenWhoCarryHQ

Twitter: Women Who Carry HQ

Facebook: Facebook.com/WomenWhoCarry.Official

Image Credits
Chantel Tafoya