There are many versions of the American Dream, and Gipsy and Gelssy Rodriguez are living theirs.
Their parents Gina and Jorge Rodriguez immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1990. They poured their life savings into opening a dress shop, which they later rebranded into specialty boutique that sells quinceañera dresses. The change took a toll, and the family was forced to sell their home and move into the Anaheim, California shop for three years.
1. In 2015, the sisters decided to help their family by promoting Moda2000 on social media.
2. Their story of growing up in a dress shop garnered attention online. Soon their quirky videos went viral and attracted millions of new fans.
3. A quinceañera is a cultural tradition in Latino culture to mark a 15-year-old girl’s transition into womanhood.
4. The festivities are often extravagant, and girls wear incredibly intricate ballgowns, tiaras, and other sparkly evening wear.
5. “It is a time in your life where you get to enjoy all the people around you, you get to enjoy that you’re young, and it is a transition – but I feel like now it’s more of a celebration with your family,” Gipsy explained.
6. When their first TikTok video got 1.4 million likes, the sisters knew they were onto something big!
7. “We kind of just posted a video not knowing what was going to happen,” Gipsy said. “TikTok was new at the time, and we posted and we went to dinner that night and our phones were just blowing up, like buzzing and buzzing.”
8. Gina and Jorge have stepped back to let their daughters take the lead, but they’re still involved in the shop. Gipsy is now the brand’s creative director, while Gelssy serves as the store’s operations director.
9. They aim to take away the formality of typical quinceañera gown shopping. In Moda2000, shoppers are allowed to touch, try on, and take pictures of the dresses.
10. It’s a fun shopping experience that girls look forward to all their lives, and now they come from miles away to shop at Moda2000.
11. “It’s just so crazy,” Gipsy said. “Now we’re getting those clients that have been following us and watching our videos since they were little girls … I think it’s so beautiful that they get to grow up with us.”
12. The sisters are proud of all their parents accomplished before them, and they’re happy to be upholding Latino traditions while ushering them into modern times.
13. They’re also thrilled to champion Latino-owned small businesses through their success.
14. They currently have 3.3 million followers on TikTok, and each of their fun videos is viewed thousands of times.
15. The dresses are undeniably gorgeous, but it’s Gipsy and Gelssy’s creative flair and social media savvy that’s driving their sales through the roof.
Gina and Jorge never took any seed money or loans to keep their business afloat, paving the way for their daughters to take the brand to the next level! This is the sort of success story we don’t see every day, but it is a wonderful example of the American Dream in action.
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