Jalen Greenlee: Inno Under 25

For Jalen Greenlee, the path to entrepreneurship began with the book, "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki.

"A light bulb just clicked," Greenlee said. "I just got a glimpse of how the rich become rich or how the successful become successful and I just went down a rabbit hole."

After diving into more books, podcasts and videos about entrepreneurship and self-development, Greenlee became interested in real estate investing but realized he'd need capital in order to pursue it. He began brainstorming ideas for businesses that were both scalable and in line with his values and interests.

Greenlee started the fruit subscription box firm Flora Fruit Company in November 2020 while studying business at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The company's mission is to make healthy food more accessible, especially for families living in food deserts.

"A lot of these food deserts, they're predominantly filled with Black and Brown people who don't have the same access to a farmers market or grocery store within a mile of their home," Greenlee said.

The company gained early traction, winning the $10,000 first-place prize in a pitch competition hosted by Fox Connection, an entrepreneurship collaboration between colleges and universities in northeast Wisconsin.

Flora Fruit Company was also chosen to participate in gBETA Milwaukee, a free local accelerator program, and was among seven Black-owned Milwaukee businesses selected to receive a grant of up to $25,000 from the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Impact Fund.

After the spring 2021 semester, Greenlee left college to pursue Flora Fruit Company full time.

"I was just so consumed on this business," Greenlee said. "It was just kind of an addictive feeling ... putting in that hard work and seeing the fruits of my labor."

In less than a year, the business has grown to around $33,000 in total revenue from 30 subscribers, Greenlee said. He's currently focused on saturating the southeast Wisconsin market, which he said will require around 3,000 to 5,000 subscribers.

Greenlee estimates the company could reach $500,000 annual revenue within a year. He plans to expand the company's business model to add corporate clients that would provide fruit to their employees as part of a workforce wellness program, Greenlee said.

Looking ahead, Greenlee has big ambitions to become a serial entrepreneur.

"I look at it as a game ... I just want to be the best," Greenlee said. "I definitely see myself founding multiple Fortune 500 companies."

Jalen Greenlee