HAT
TRICK
By Jen Forsyth • Photos by Juan Carlos Silva
Little by little she got
her name out there, and
the networking paid off,
and as a result, Mazzotta
now has her own showroom in the Diamond
Building in downtown
Pittsburgh, selling a collection of custom-made
hats for every style and
taste.
Mazzotta’s advice to
other aspiring entrepreneurs? “Focus and figure
out who your target audience is. Be creative in
Gina Mazzotta
your marketing strategy
and spending. Be resourceful. Start small, but think
big, and be creative in your marketing. Use sites like
Etsy, and think outside the box.”
Gina Mazzotta and her collection are located in the
Diamond Building in downtown Pittsburgh.
Photo: Dhannon Ann Photography
T
The City of Pittsburgh is not necessarily
known as a fashion mecca in the world, but
people like Gina Mazzotta are working hard
to change that. It just takes a bit of creativity
and thinking outside of the box or, in her case, the
hat box.
Mazzotta studied visual merchandising and got her
start in New York City, where she interned at Dolce
& Gabbana and then moved on to windows and visual
designs with Armani Exchange. Eventually her career
led her back to Pittsburgh and a job with Saks Fifth
Avenue. Ever the creative soul, in 2012 she found herself making a hat for a polo match she wanted to attend
in New York. It was then that she found her entrepreneurial “a-ha!”
“I had no idea at the time what I should be doing,”
Mazzotta said. “It definitely was not a proper hat, but it
got a lot of attention.”
Mazzotta then attended classes in Ohio to learn
the craft of hat-making. Despite not seeing much of a
market for it at the time, she was determined to make a
career of it in Pittsburgh.
She rolled up her sleeves and got to work. Mazzotta
began reaching out to people she knew in the community and who she networked with. Her former coworkers at Saks helped her sell her work at trunk shows.
Friends she networked with helped her get in touch
with the Parks Conservatory and the Hat Luncheon.
100 Fifth Avenue, Suite 405
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
*By Appointment Only
(724) 513-8655 • www.ginamazzotta.com
SUMMER 2016
INSPIRING LIVES
87