Get to know Finao
A long story, but honest and worth the read if we’re going to be partners and family.
Reflections on Why Finao is Not a Billion-Dollar Company
THE FINAO TEAM
Twenty-two caring hearts, curious minds, and talented pairs of hands make up our family.
Leadership
Tony Randhawa, Owner and President
One of the founding partners of Finao, Tony is now the sole owner and President. That gives us the benefit of a single vision combined with the institutional memory of Finao's development.
Tony grew up in India and came to the US to attend graduate school in Aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan. He found his new home in the midwest and has been here ever since.
His vision for Finao is to provide the finest custom-made albums in the industry while upholding the company’s core values. He strives to partner with photographers to reflect their artistic vision and imagination. Tony is committed to always improving production methods and efficiency, including refining Finao’s processes to produce the highest quality products with less waste.
Lenny Cercone – CEO
Elizabeth Jorge – Production Manager
Reflections on Why Finao is Not a Billion Dollar Company
Well, we certainly would like it to be, but other things are more important to us. Your success. Our craft. Your art. Our values. To make the big bucks happen, we'd have to be large and corporate, and that's not going to happen. We'd rather be about as real as you can get and still sell products. On most days, that feels pretty good.
Sometimes we need to be all serious and businessy, but we'd prefer to be laid-back and doing what we love—creating your stunning, handcrafted albums. You can tell by the way we get all geeked and glassy-eyed when talking about our favorite products. We don't look that way for filing and paperwork, but you can't have it all, right?
Proudly Made in the USA (specifically, Michigan)
Our production facility moved from Long Island, New York, to Saline, Michigan, in the summer of 2023. Saline is a small town where you don’t need to lock your car doors in the parking lot. (It’s just outside Ann Arbor for any Wolverine fans out there. If you’re from Ohio, please don’t hate us!) Now our production plant and sales office are under one roof. If you are ever in the neighborhood, stop by! We’d love to show you around our new stomping grounds.
The production side of our plant is where the practical magic takes place (yes, seriously, we mean the Made in the USA part). It’s where we show up at the crack of dawn to handcraft your albums. Where talented humans devote the time, skill, care, and pride that goes into every product we create. Those talented humans also have great taste in potluck food and work music.
Our Sales and Admin Team
Everything officey happens in our front office. It's where you'll find our phenomenal customer service, IT, sales, marketing, graphic design, and the business stuff like finance, administration, and making sure everyone gets paid. When you call our toll-free line you talk to real people in Saline, like Jamie and Sydni. If you hear barking in the background, it's because our dogs come to work, and we get deliveries. No worries, our UPS and FedEx guys know that while they sound like the hounds of hell, they are big softies and will shake you down for cookies.
Our whole facility, production and sales, is full of connected people—everyone knows each other. Some are related, and some have been with us forever. Some people have met at Finao, fallen in love, and gotten married (take that, Match.com)! Some came from other album companies and brought their fabulous experience. Relationship-wise we are, essentially, a family business.
What’s In a Name?
It’s pronounced Fin-ay-oh (long a, long o, emphasis on the second syllable for anyone who learned phonics in school). The name came from an Ed Harris line in Tony’s favorite movie, Apollo 13—Failure Is Not An Option. We believe that.
Finao Handcrafted Quality
We’re sticklers for quality. We handcraft your albums so they will last. Yes, some labs can ship you a factory-made flush album in the blink of an eye. But they can’t match the quality and luxury of Finao’s work.
We don't make bargain products—no press-printed, magazine-style paper. There are a lot of other places you can get those. We don't offer every add-on product possible because we want to focus on what we do best.
It can be difficult to tell the difference between two album companies from online pictures. But once you've held one of our albums, it's clear why it took at least 22 human hands and a bit longer to create. Some of our albums may cost a little more than the competition, but you get what you pay for. And so do your clients.
We All Need a Raison D'être
That's the elegant, French way to say 'our reason for being. Why we're here. Everybody needs one to surf the highs and lows of business and laugh during the ride. Ours is one that is easy to get behind— it's you. Here at Finao we’re pretty laid back, humanistic, and inclusive. We welcome everyone: all races, religions, sexes and genders. Everyone belongs!
We make a home for photographers of any specialty—whether your clients want a classic look or love to push the envelope. We have no judgment or rules about what we will and won't print, as long as it's legal. Art is art, and it's yours to define. That's how we've ended up being the biggest boudoir supplier in the industry.
Our website has many standard options, but we also create custom albums straight out of photographers' REM sleep. Beyond the 95 standard choices in our swatch kits, we have about 300 more cover materials of every possible hue and texture that you can request for no extra cost. If your client longs for black patent leather, silver hair-on-hide, or metallic crocodile, we have it. If you want an engraved marble cover made from your customer's family keepsake, we're up for the challenge.
You never have to create the same album twice, and your work can make a truly unique statement.
We create ‘Albums with Attitude'.
We constantly expand our custom work. Bring us your wish lists! If we don't offer what you and your clients want, what's the point? Album companies are everywhere, but we want to do it right.
OUR MISSION & VALUES
"The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe."
— Simon Sinek
When you become part of the Finao Family, you join a company that believes in:
RESPONSIBILITY
- Honoring the art of professional photographers and maintaining the integrity of their work
- Creating minimal environmental impact
- Committing to job creation in the USA
SERVICE
- Providing consistently excellent service
- Upholding our commitment to be unique, responsive, and agile
- Making interactions fun and engaging for both customers and staff
PREMIUM PRODUCTS
- Making each product with love and pride in our time-honored craft
- Using only the best materials and choosing suppliers with shared values
- Striving to make artistic vision, imagination, and innovation the benchmarks of a Finao product
PARTNERSHIP
- Being a partner to each client’s studio
- Supporting growth in both Finao and our clients’ business
Only when you, our Finao family of photographers, succeed have we fulfilled our mission