The Quintanilla Sisters: Balancing Life Inside–And Outside–the Classroom

Thanks to Founder Tiffany Sorya of Novel Education Group

Photography by Philip Macias | Written by Arielle Harris | Creative Direction by Jessica Varone

Family and community is at the core of what makes Beverly Hills remarkable. Natalia & Robert Quintanilla could not be more exemplary of the city’s values. Originally from Mexico City, Natalia, 21, and Roberta, 11, are sisters who moved to Beverly Hills five years ago when their parents decided to take up a second residence in the US. Despite the initial discomfort accommodating to a new environment, the Quintanilla sisters come from a strong, close knit family consisting of their two parents, Mauricio and Pamela, their middle sister, Valentina, 19, and their seven dogs, three bunnies, and two turtles. Growing up with family values of togetherness, support, and love for all things creative, the two sisters find comfort in their new life here, unafraid of discovering ways to express themselves through art, music, education, animal activism, and philanthropy.

“I’ve always loved painting,” says Natalia. “Both of my grandparents on my mom's side are really artistic and have always encouraged me to explore my creativity in any way I possibly can.” 

They grew up with a creative family, surrounded by their mother’s incredible interior design and unique artwork gracing the walls. The girls feel an everyday freedom to be independent and discover their passions, especially through artistic outlets. Natalia is currently a student at Santa Monica Community College studying Art History, while she pursues her love of art, travel, history and culture.  

Growing up, Roberta was surrounded by female role models admired in her family, and because of this she is already active in mastering her craft and fully committed to her unique hobbies. “I love dancing and performing,” says Roberta. “I am a freestyle hip hop dancer and singing is something that I’ve always looked forward to doing in the future. In my spare time I love doing anything that involves being creative. I am also a drum player and something a lot of people tell me is that I’m a fast learner. I’m learning drums independently by ear.”  

While Natalia and Roberta love to embrace their respective specialities within the arts, they are both passionate about art and philanthropy. The sisters work together to run a jewelry brand venture called Naroo beads where they make jewelry pieces for friends and family in exchange for a charitable donation.

“Once someone places an order, they give me a topic/color/vibe/charm that they want and I find a charity that I believe relates to the jewelry piece. I ask them to donate a minimum of 40 dollars to an organization of their choosing and send me confirmation of their donation. I then ship it to them and that’s it! Each necklace feels like a story on its own and so much love and creativity goes into each one” says Natalia.

Through their engagement in the arts, the girls have also found a strength in their independence and self discovery. Both Natalia and Roberta claim that their ability to spend time discovering their passions with the support of their family has really carved out who they are as individuals and the confidence to be who they are today.

“I am really proud of myself. I have come so far, and continue to learn, and grow every day. I am learning to be and love myself for who I am, and it has been so rewarding” says Natalia.  Similarly, Roberta states that she’s proud “for being a better person each day and working on myself to always have the same encouragement to follow my dreams. When I’m at school or anywhere people always tell my mom how polite I am and I thank my mom and dad and sisters for always teaching me and I’m proud of myself to get that from a lot of people.” 

But growing up in a new place and starting over is not easy. Even with family support, Natalia and Roberta had to adjust to a new life and start over. The girls started working with Tiffany Sorya, founder and CEO of Novel Education Group, an elite, all-inclusive agency providing homeschooling, private tutoring, enrichment programs and academic services for K-12. This helped continue their studies while adjusting to their new life in Beverly Hills.

“At 16 I moved to Beverly Hills with my family and was homeschooled for the rest of high school…Novel Education Group has helped and supported me and my sisters so much. Learning became fun, easy, and less distracting. The move was extremely hard on everyone. My sisters and I didn’t know anyone and all of our family and friends were back in Mexico.  Tiffany was able to help me and my sisters continue our education while we settled in our new lives” says Natalia.

The world of education and technology continues to evolve, and finding the right school for every student can be crucial to their success and relationship with learning. Sorya discovered a need for top tier educational tutoring services for those homeschooling and taking a specific online curriculum. Sorya attributes much of her initial success to having worked with Kendall and Kylie Jenner as their home school teacher.  

“Many people of their status ask their friends for referrals and to have the Jenners behind my business was a big help to spread the word about Novel Education Group” says Sorya. “At this point, we’ve worked with boybands, singers, athletes, and more. But the demographic has now grown into high level executives and traveling families, where the traditional life of school kids doesn’t exist within their lifestyle.”

While Natalia and Roberta continue to juggle their busy lives, they, like many other students, can rely on the flexibility of Novel Education Group. Developing their artistic passion projects and hobbies is important to the sister pair, and Novel Education Group’s curriculum caters to their lifestyle, passions, and aspirations – creating a valuable online homeschooling experience that spans far beyond a textbook or screen.

The opportunity has brought a sense of balance to their lives during a difficult transition. “Novel Education Group made sure I had a teaching that was not overwhelming but still very fast and definitely improved not only my language but any school subject. They made it fun to actually learn and I felt comfortable and smart and confident. We’re grateful to them – they were the main push to being confident in my learning. And as I mentioned it was hard for my sisters to move here as teenagers and our first step to school in Beverly Hills was Novel Education Group”, shared Roberta.