Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1511885
2 0 C T I N N O V A T O R S , 2 0 2 3 "The minute that I fell in love with tea, it sparked an interest. I just wanted to build, and I became an entrepreneur, slowly and then quickly." – Jennie Ripps lessons were applied to the launch of Owl's Brew boozy teas in 2020. Return to roots Ripps – who did not graduate college with an entrepreneurial toolbox – has learned a lot about running a business, she said. Over the years, she has turned to resources such as the Tory Burch Foundation, which focuses on women entrepreneurs, and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program. She now mentors young women entrepreneurs and is focused on bringing more women into the alcohol industry, which is traditionally male-dominated. Women, for example, occupy just 4% of leadership roles in the beer industry. "at's really unusual, even in the U.S.," Ripps said. To address the imbalance — and to amplify women's voices in general — Ripps formed a nonprofit called Wise Women Collective. e organization has partnered with publisher Random House, for example, to start a "boozy book club" featuring women authors and Owl's Brew giveaways. Although she grew up in Connecticut, Ripps spent her working years living in New York City — until the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, she moved back to Connecticut with her husband and two young children. But it wasn't just the virus that prompted a move. She was drawn to the state's budding entrepreneurial community and eventually planted her company in one of its hotbeds: Stamford-based e Village, a mixed- use venue for arts, business, culture, entertainment and fine dining. "It's actually been a really exciting environment for me as a small-business owner, an entrepreneur," Ripps said, noting that Owl's Brew maintains a small office in Manhattan. Ripps also was noticing broader changes in how people viewed the Nutmeg State. "Historically, people kind of lived in Connecticut and worked in New York," she said. "I could see that was shiing, and it felt like an exciting change." Continued from previous page I Owl's Brew has two product lines. One is a boozy tea, essentially a hard tea seltzer in flavors such as black tea and pineapple. The other is a line of tea cocktails.