Jen Aczualdez is a nerd. She was that kid that always raised her hand in class, knew all the answers to all the algebra homework, and got straight As all through school, including college. Yeah…that kid (I know, stop rolling your eyes). But she was lucky to also have something a lot of nerds seem to lack…the desire to talk to people. A social nerd, I know – an oxymoron. She originally went to school to be a programmer, but quickly decided that being a real programmer didn’t allow for the level of human interaction she craved. This made Jen have an existential crisis and spurred her on her journey to self discovery.
Take a minute to think about what a programmer would be good at if it weren’t programming. Got it? Well, whatever you just thought, you probably didn’t say to yourself, “A young programmer, with no teaching experience, would be a great fit to teach a room full of preschoolers”. And that is what Jen decided to do. She taught computer courses to 4 year olds through 17 year for nearly 5 years in Texas before moving to New Jersey to be with a hot Venezuelan man she would eventually marry (more on that later). In Jersey, she decided that it was time for another shift. Teaching was great, but Jen wanted to talk to adults. So with teaching under her belt, she decided to move to the the agency space and help companies build websites and videos. Interestingly, this path made her really appreciate learning to talk to 4 year olds, because it came in handy. Jen stayed in project management for 6 years before moving to another boutique agency in Manhattan, managing a team of project managers, helping fortune 500 companies build really expensive things. Around this time, Jen’s hot Venezuelan husband was starting to have his own existential crisis. He was tired of corporate life and “working for the man”. So Jen encouraged him to leave corporate life and focus on building his own thing. Over the course of 2 years they worked hard to make their dream a reality. In August of 2018, Aldez Organic Tequila was born and is taking the East Coast by storm.
Jen currently lives in West Orange with her husband, Manuel. They have 2 dogs (a Chinese Crested/Maltese mix name Sussie and a Chihuahua name Tequila), a tabby cat name Max, and a big ass saltwater aquarium. When they aren’t traveling the world, hanging with friends, or drinking tequila, they enjoy hiking, watching movies, and home improvements.
