We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gonzalo Zulueta. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gonzalo below.

Gonzalo, appreciate you joining us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I believe that in-order to make one’s dreams and or goals flourish into reality, one has to take very high risk. The moment someone leaves their comfort zone, is when the true growth as an individual and professional begins.

This journey as an entrepreneur began over 5 years ago and taking risk has been part of every step of the journey. I think one of the high risks I’m currently taking is a very aggressive marketing campaign through Facebook and YouTube ads complimented with an increase in merchandise production and styles.

Thankfully I have had a great 5 years as a company with ups and downs but I do feel that in order to stay competitive I have to make the brand stand out. This of course requires a large sum of capital to be injected into the company. ALthough the idea and projections is that everything will go great but at the end of the day I am taking a huge risk; all in all I am sure it will be worth it.

To add on to the marketing campaign and inventory increase, I am also in the final stages of placing my products in International Mall. Of course this in it self is a risk on the financial front as I have no control over how sales will do while still having to pay rent, employees and other essential costs when it comes to owning a retail store.

Gonzalo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Yes of course, I’m Gonzalo or as my friends refer to me as “Gonzo”. I was born and raised in the City of Miami but my roots are from Madrid, Spain; my parents moved here about 38 years ago. I’m an actor, model, designer and entrepreneur. I went to Christopher Columbus High School then moved to California for some time where I attended FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) studying Merchandise Marketing and Social Media Studies. In Los Angeles I also kept pursing my acting education and career with some of the industry’s most predominant coaches such as Marki Costello whom is known for coaching the cast of “Good Morning America” as well as Khloe Kardashian and Maria Minunos.

After some time in Los Angeles I came back to Miami and Finished my career in Organizational Communications and Industrial Psychology at Florida International University. As Zulueta Apparel grew so did my acting career at first making very small appearances on Telemundo Global Studios Production’s to later staring on Disney Plus as Charly in the sitcom “4Ever”.

I do like being challenged and funny enough I chose 2 of the most difficult careers to make it in, Acting and Designing. I think that my tough character and determination will continue to push me to excel in both.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Unfortunately the only way to grow your clientele and truly put your self out there is with aggressive marketing which does require a lot of money and time. Facebook marketing along with goodle ads has been beyond the most effective way to grow my company and online presense. Attending every event you possibly can is also imperative because you never know who you are going to meet. Networking is key to growing.

Entrepreneurship is something that requires 24 hours of your time, effort and energy in order for it to work. I advise that anyone looking to be successful as an entrepreneur, know and realize that it is a lot of hard work, a lot of money and most importantly it is a journey, a long journey. Things do not happen overnight, they take time to build (a long time).

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Many times people see the facade of success or the “glamourous” side of things such as the red carpets I attend or the gifts I receive as an actor of the fan interaction with the clothing line and or my work on TV. What people do not see is everything that happens behind the scenes and the true struggles.

One of my favorite stories to tell people who are starting or young people that tell me “yea well I don’t have that kind of money” is that neither did I. For many years I worked a a full time job and at night I would uber 5-8 hours in order to raise funds to make my dream come true. I didn’t own credit cards for XYZ reason their for I had no choice but to uber long hours at night to make that capital. I look back at those days and it makes me value everything I have so much more. I am truly grateful for that experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: @zulueta_apparel @gonzalozulueta
• Facebook: @Zuluetaapparel