Aaron Selburg, Co-Owner and Creative Director of The Modern Gentleman, was born and raised in Peoria. After graduating from Peoria Central High School, Aaron began his 22 year career in the men’s fashion industry. He is passionate about designing custom collections and creating meaningful relationships with clients. Through bold, stylistic choices and a diverse array of vendors and suppliers, Aaron hopes to bring new style, substance, and sustainability to the Peoria area. In his free time, Aaron enjoys being an artist, watching movies with his wife Alissa, and being a loving father to his daughters, Lola & Sylvia. 

Heidi Brown Mitzelfelt was raised in Peoria since the age of 7 and started working in women’s fashion when she was 14 alongside her mother at Papagallo. Overtime she advanced gradually, working in all aspects of the business: buying, inventory control, merchandising, advertising, and many behind the scene tasks. And after a very successful 22 years, they closed their doors and Heidi moved onto an entire new industry, healthcare.

Heidi returned to school and trained to be a certified surgical technologist. And after many years in this profession, she decided to retire and returned to her love of retail and fashion. Initially she focused on women’s fashion, but realized she had an overwhelming interest in men’s fashion. There is very little in Peoria which offered higher end fashionable clothing for men, so she decided to open her own men's store.

Then Covid hit and everything shut down, including her dream. But, when one door closes another one opens and that’s when she met Aaron while working with him at That Guy’s Secret. They both realized they had so much more to offer and joined their talents to open their store, where the community could enjoy an entirely new shopping experience that is so needed in Peoria