From hating cheap dates to the power of self-belief, the Playboy Club’s Gabriella Firek shares her story in our latest Q&A. She describes her perfect day, favorite travel destinations and provides meaningful advice about making the world a better place for everyone.
Playboy: Where were you born and what was your experience growing up?
Gabriella Firek: I was born in New York City [but] I actually grew up in LA. I spent the first few years in New York, and then we transplanted to LA. I would say I always had a fascination with New York, like I always wanted to move back. I remember watching movies like James and the Giant Peach and saying “That’s gonna be me. I’m gonna make my way back to New York somehow, some way.”
It’s funny because I watched that movie again as I got older, and I thought this is probably where all that inspiration came to move back to New York. And to be honest, I didn’t really like LA. It was kind of a “La, La, Land” of a place. I feel like, when I moved to New York, I met people that were hustling and had goals and ambitions that I just hadn’t experienced being in LA … I didn’t feel that hustle and inspiration.
My parents worked in the film industry. So for me, it really was this “La La Land” of being around celebrities and things that were just not real life.
Playboy: What was the first thing that you dreamed of achieving?
Gabby: The first thing I would say was I always wanted to model. Unfortunately, at a super young age, I had Bell’s palsy, so modeling became a distant dream at that point. But with a lot of physical therapy and help and medication, I was able to overcome that. I still have moments where I feel it affects me and I’ll randomly notice, for example, that my smile is off, or just little things like that.
As I got older, I actually got my first agent when I was 18. So that was a huge achievement for me, because there was a point where the doctors told me that [Bell’s palsy] could last forever. … So I was lucky. I think it took about nine to 12 months to go away. And once it did, I told myself “I’m going to model one day” and I’m still doing it. I’m very, very lucky.
Playboy: Where do you want to travel, or where’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled?
Gabby: Somewhere I really want to go and definitely is on my bucket list would be Switzerland during the wintertime. Switzerland or Iceland seem so magical during the wintertime, specifically Iceland in January because of the northern lights. And then Switzerland during winter seems totally magical and Willy Wonka-esque.
Honestly, I think my favorite place I’ve been thus far is Vietnam. The food scene is just incredible. There’s this mix of very Asian, but yet these European flares that I found really amazing. Obviously, you get a lot of bang for your buck there, which is great. We love that. So that was a place, when I went, I was like — I can move. I can be here and move and not think twice about it. My parents lived there for six years, so I got to go and really experience it on more of a local level
Playboy: What would make you ghost a potential love interest?
Gabby: Cheap. I hate cheap because you can meet people with a lot of money that are still cheap. I believe in the power of abundance and the power of manifestation. I believe when you give out that energy of being cheap, you’re stunting your own growth. I believe when you give to the universe, you always get it back. If you’re not willing to be a giving person, I don’t want to be ever with someone that’s not a giving person. I’ve had no money and still always tip 20%. If I look over and you barely tipped, I’m like “Ew. Don’t ever call me again.”
Playboy: What turns you on and off?
Gabby: I’m very attracted to cultured behavior. It doesn’t even have to be well-traveled, because I understand some people don’t have the money to travel. It’s a sense of being cultured; knowing what’s going on in the news; knowing what’s going on in the world. Having that willingness to teach yourself if you don’t have the ability to travel and learn through experience. It’s more of a want for knowledge and wanting to understand the world on a different level than just living in a bubble. The one thing that attracted me to my partner is I felt like he was the smartest person I knew. I felt like I was learning something from him. So I feel like, when you have the ability to learn from somebody, it’s a very big turn on.
I would say a big turn off is lack of consistency, and I mean that as far as communication and emotionally. I think especially in today’s age, we crave stability, and I think there’s such a lack of stability of people ghosting you all the time or this new phase of “situationships,” there’s no consistency and there’s no being grounded. If you can’t at least text me once a day to ask “Hey, how are you doing?” — what is going on in life that is so busy that you can’t take five minutes out of your day to check on me?
Playboy: Describe your perfect day.
Gabby: I wake up and it’s fall. I like to get something fall festive — either I need a pumpkin spice latte or pumpkin bread. Something that makes me feel like it’s fall season. Then I walk my dogs in the morning. I have three and I try to walk all three at the same time. It’s a little chaotic.
After that, I love going out to lunch. I’m not so much of a dinner person. My favorite place is Hillstone. I’ll have a nice Hillstone lunch, and then I’ll go for a nice long walk, either through Central Park or through Soho. I’ll come home and I’ll watch a scary movie or I’ll watch South Park, depending on what my mood is giving.
I’ll make dinner. I like going out for lunch but I love cooking dinner. I’ll try to make something I wouldn’t normally make. And then at the end of my night, I’ll take a nice bath, put some candles on, make it sensual and special, and then end my night with a movie and go to sleep early so I can wake up early.
Then, most likely, bang my husband at night. That would be like the cap to the end of my day.
Playboy: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten in your life so far?
Gabby: It’s not advice that’s been given to me, but it’s definitely something I’ve learned from other people: Don’t worry about money. If you want that bag, buy that bag. If you want to travel, go travel. I believe money comes in abundance. So I tell myself, when I spend money, I’m going to get it back 10-times fold. I’ve never allowed money to stop me from living my life. I wish people would just say “fuck it” and go live their life. Don’t worry about the money aspect. It’ll come. Just go with the flow. Life will always provide. We’re meant to be on this Earth and live an amazing life.
Playboy: If you could change anything about the world, what would it be?
Gabby: I wish people believed in themselves more. I think there’s a lack of confidence in the world, and especially with social media, we’re so prone to looking at others that we don’t have much belief and confidence in ourselves anymore. We’re too busy looking at other people. But if we just turned around and we looked at ourselves and we built our own confidence, I think we’d have a lot more business owners, a lot more world peace.
Why does it matter what this person thinks or what this person is doing? I’m here focused on myself, having confidence in myself, in my own direction and in my own path. I would wish and pray for people to have a sense of confidence and self-belief in themselves. I wish that for everybody. Playboy does an amazing job of building that self-confidence and self-belief.
Gabby Firek is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her now.
