OSCAR ZEPEDA
Co-Founder/VP, OMZE Group
Founder, Real Zepeda Tequila
Age: 25
Heritage: Mexican
Oscar Zepeda is from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He moved to the United States in 2013 after he was awarded a scholarship to play soccer at Merrimack College. While at Merrimack, Zepeda was captain of his soccer team, worked several jobs to help pay for school, and co-founded a company, OMZE Group, with his father.
OMZE Group has two main missions. One is to consult small- and medium-sized Latino businesses on how to achieve their international market objectives. The other is to further expand their own brand, Real Zepeda Tequila, which just launched in January of this year. As Vice President and COO of OMZE Group, Zepeda also hopes to not only spread the Real Zepeda brand into all of the Massachusetts/New England market and beyond, but to educate on how to identify and taste a great tequila, regardless of the brand.
Zepeda is currently a graduate student at Boston College, studying to get his Master’s degree in Applied Economics. He also serves as the Director of Business Development for Boston College’s Graduate Intrapreneurship/EntrepreneurshipAssociation.
Additionally, Zepeda volunteers with the Veronica Robles Cultural Center, where along with serving on their Board of Directors, teaches a marketing class to young Latinos in the East Boston community.Through this course, students run a food truck business, using their own data and experiences to inform their classroom studies. One of Zepeda’s long-term goals include promoting entrepreneurism and business development within Boston’s young Latino community.
Zepeda credits much of his success to three main things— the support from his family, namely his father and his sister, the blessing and guidance of Our Lady of Zapopan, and his Latino heritage. To Zepeda, being Latino means to both be a fighter and to enjoy every second of life. The combination of accepting all of life’s challenges and experiences as learning opportunities while living a life full of happiness, dancing, laughter, and positivity are not only what makes being a Latino so special, but are largely what has made him successful.
