Candice Pool Neistat is the founder of Finn Jewelry and Billy! She was born on Oct. 19, 1977 in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved with her family to Texas when she was a year old. When she was in her early twenties, she was invited by her friend to relocate to New York and accepted, taking on a job as a bartender for a year before becoming a receptionist. Neistat soon lost her receptionist job and decided to focus on a passion of hers — jewelry.
During her time as a bartender, she kept her passion alive by working on a few jewelry pieces and going door-to-door to sell them. She later used the knowledge and experience she had gathered as a receptionist to put together Finn Jewelry. Seemingly, Neistat had always had a mind for entrepreneurship because in an interview with Gossamer, she stated that while many kids played doctor, she leaned toward stores and purchasing.
“I used to play store as a kid. I was never a doctor. It was always a store. Sometimes an officer. Always a calculator involved.”
In 2005, she founded her company Finn Jewelry and spent a year establishing it as a line of classic jewelry. She serves as the creative director and jewelry designer for the company and has created a curated collection of western, bridal, and classic jewelry. By 2009, she acquired an industrial loft that she transformed into a showroom for her work where she displays various categories of her collections. Rising through the ranks, her company grew in popularity, and it wasn’t long before Finn Jewelry became a Vogue Fashion Fund Award nominee.
In 2011, she became the main designer at Finn. With over 17 years of work and experience, Finn Jewelry has become a world-renowned and highly respected jewelry brand known for its impressive, intricate designs. Finn Jewelry possesses a grand list of clients which includes supermodels, actors, actresses, musicians, and many high-profile names.
In 2017, Neistat founded the company Billy! as a creative outlet which focuses on unisex clothing and accessories, and shared the thought process between her brands, with Finn being a more delicately handled brand, while Billy! is a more mainstream and accessible option for the public.
“I get distracted really quickly with anything I do, so it’s good that I get to have my surges of creativity for one and then the other. The two are so different: Finn is wholesale, and a slow, slow process, and Billy! is like, ‘How fast can we get this done?’”
Now in her forties, Neistat has transformed her business into a million-dollar establishment. She is married to popular YouTube personality and filmmaker, Casey Neistat. The pair initially met and eloped in 2005 but soon after, annulled their marriage. Eight years down the line, they rekindled their romance and wed in Cape Town after a nine-month engagement. They currently reside in New York with their two children, and host the podcast Couples Therapy with Candice and Casey.
Neistat revealed that she will be taking a short break and Billy! will be on hiatus. According to National Today, her net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million.
