Sidney Sokoloff
President & CEO, Specialty Group;
President & Co-Founder, The O’NOIR Foundation 

Sidney Sokoloff has a lot on his plate. He has just taken the reins of Specialty Group, the company founded by his parents in 1986 that’s a one-stop shop for business people interested in getting into and out of the bar and restaurant industry.

To give back and build a better community, he and a friend, Christina Stein, created The O’NOIR Foundation in 2022 to raise money through food and fashion to help homeless youth, young adults and marginalized groups in the LGBTQIA+ community.

In 2022, it contributed $15,000 to Proud Haven to fulfill that mission. But it’s through his role as an influencer — with his husband, Giacomo — that he feels he’s providing a different kind of support.

The couple, who wed in 2022, have 100,000 followers on their social media posts as they share their everyday lives and fun moments. “We’re showing that a gay married couple, living life as normal people, is normal now,” he says.

“It’s authentic and real.”