Starting a business: What to know

For Marcela Pinzon, opening The Fashionable Stylista — a design school for first grade through high school students in Syosset — is a dream come true.

“Teaching fashion design is my passion,” Pinzon, 48, of Levittown, said. “It’s working with kids, helping them accomplish their goals.”

Born in Colombia, Pinzon said she and her family came to the United States when she was 4. She grew up in New Jersey.

Pinzon said she graduated in 1995 from Berkeley College in New Jersey with an associate degree in fashion merchandising and management, and then earned an associate degree in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1997.

She worked for the clothing company Cabana Life, was a vice president of merchandise and design for the children’s wear company Solo International and taught online for the Academy of Art University.

“I started doing classes on the side, at libraries,” she said.

In 2021, Pinzon launched The Fashionable Stylista in Hicksville with a handful of students — many of them friends — and family. Rather than take out loans, she said she used her own money to pay for the rent on her space and supplies.

Pinzon also contacted SCORE, a volunteer-led group that offers free help to entrepreneurs.

“She was extremely knowledgeable about her field, but took guidance on how to market [her business] and run it profitably,” said Ron Greenstone, a SCORE mentor who worked with Pinzon on advertisements, pricing and branding.

Pinzon has since moved her school from Hicksville to Syosset. She said she has about 140 students enrolled and now employs five teachers.

The school — a stylish 1,400-square-foot space on Gordon Drive — features mannequins, mirrors, chandeliers and sewing machines.

“It’s a ‘Project Runway’ feel,” Pinzon said.

While launching a business means struggles and long hours, Pinzon said she likes being her own boss, working in a field she loves and helping others realize their dreams.

“You have to have that passion and know what you want,” she said.

Pinzon hopes to launch another school just for junior high and high school students. “I still have a bigger vision,” she said. “It’s going to happen.”