Today we’d like to introduce you to Finy Gelato.
Hi Finy, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My name is Finy. I was born and raised in Cincinnati Ohio in the Evanston area. When I graduated from high school I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do so I skipped out on my college scholarship that was offered to me and went straight to working. From 18-21 I worked and ended up having a daughter at 20. A few months after I turned 21 I decided I wanted to start my own business. I started with 2 other people and then ended up with one person then went solo on my own. My first business venture was lingerie. It started out pretty well and then I had my highs and lows like any other business. I gave up a few times and once I decided to do it on my own, I put everything I had into my lingerie line. I created a different brand name “Lingerie God” and brought it back to life. I then decided to take my clothing skills to the next level, thus creating the trending “poster girl” outfits. Doing so made even more people interested in my work. I promoted my business 24/7 around the clock on all social media platforms. I reached out to multiple celebrities with no luck but was still trying everyday. On a random day a celebrity hair stylist named Johnathan Wright came to Cincinnati and I left work in the middle of a shift just to show him all my designs. I brought everything with me downtown and he left with a few of my designs to take back to Dallas Texas. After a couple weeks he tagged me to 2 posts on Instagram and my followers went through the roof! I drove 15 hours from Cincinnati to Dallas in my little red car. He allowed me to do a pop up shop at his salon down there. Once I returned to Cincinnati my orders tripled. I then started getting more Tv celebs from Zeus network and I had a lot of help from Johnathan on that part as well. I had a few celebrity club bookings I attended as a celebrity fashion stylist making sure there were no wardrobe malfunctions. Cincinnati has not always been so kind to me on the business side but I stay humble and I do appreciate the ones who have been and who have supported me throughout this entire journey. I’m super excited to see what opportunities the year 2025 has in store for me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road. Most of the struggles I’ve endured are from Rude customers, businesses owners who do shady business, customers who purchase items and do chargebacks, and most of all , family members who only support once it became a potential benefit to them. I also get some inquiries from TV celebs that want a lot of things for free and offer promo but you have to know your worth in the end!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a celebrity designer / stylist. I’m known for having a huge variety of lingerie on hand in Cincinnati that can be purchased all year round but mostly now because of the Tv celebrities I’ve dressed and designed for. My biggest accomplishment to date is the outfit I designed that Johnathan put on Keisha Cole the singer. When I style a person I drive to their hotel, get them dressed with their glam team (MUA and hairstylist), I stay with them the entire night of their event, and make sure I get as much footage and content as possible of them in my work. Free entry, no wait in line, free bottle service from the bar and free hookah. It’s definitely an exciting experience! My work has now been on ZEUS and MTV.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Mostly everything I’ve done on my own but I do get some people who drop hidden gems in my inbox from time to time and I also get a lot people who recommend me to others so that helps me. Johnathan has been the biggest help I’ve received so far though. There is a MUA in Cincinnati that helped me secure one of my celebrity bookings and forever grateful for that because she basically shared her client with me ! To keep myself afloat though I’ve mastered CONSISTENCY!
Pricing:
- Lingerie $10-$25
- Poster girl outfits $200+
- Reconstructed outfits $125+
- Custom name thongs and sets $10-$25
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finy_gelato
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1YbSmjSueD/
