Jordan Tepper (BBA ’08) is an aspiring entrepreneur and a champion of others’ aspirations.
His entrepreneurial spirit—together with a passion for actual spirits—inspired him to start craft liqueur company Apologue. The company creates unique spirits, made with natural ingredients, aimed at elevating classic cocktails.
Around the same time, Jordan joined the firm Cleveland Avenue to help launch a $70M food and beverage venture capital fund that helps to bridge the capital and resource gap impacting Black, Latinx, and female entrepreneurs on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
While there’s been some bumps with his business along the way—such as the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily shutting down the bars and restaurants that were Apologue’s primary customers—Jordan says his ability to find solutions to issues is rooted in the education he received at the Wisconsin School of Business and the practical activities and assignments he completed there.
“I really enjoyed that open-ended, problem-solving mindset,” he says. “It showed me that getting involved in that type of work was really interesting and exciting.”