Chuck '03, Ivan '02 & Damon '07

Proprietors,
The Downtown PourHouse

Partners Damon Jerden '07, Chuck Zell '03 & Ivan Isolica '02

(Damon studied Entrepreneurship in the College of Business)

q: What do you do?

All: Run Orlando's newest bar located at 20 South Orange Ave (next to Jimmy John's and across from Pita Pit), scheduled to open in early December '09. Since signing the lease on September 21, we've personally done a lot of the work on the interior with finishings in stone and pecky cedar. It's comfortable, not too clubby or loungy, and we'll also be open for lunch.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

Chuck: Working with my friends, and our relationship with each other.
Ivan: Learning the system, and what goes into building a bar.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

Chuck: The permitting process; being at the City's mercy.
Ivan: Being away from my wife and kids.

q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums?

All: Many including Justin Hermey '02 and Eric Isolica '02, as well as professors Bob Ashley, Dr. Bill Fisher and Dr. Chris Muller.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

Chuck: Downtown.
Ivan: At home.
Damon: All of the above.

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

Chuck: Starting a vodka company. If Bacardi buys it, I'll retire.
Ivan: My wife and kids, who are ages 13, three and two years old.
Damon: Staying in touch with my high school and college friends.

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

Chuck: The hands on-experience including the Quantity Food Preparation class and Chris Muller's class where we created our own restaurant concept were a big help in this venture as well as my career at T.G.I. Friday's and Rhythm & Flo, my previous bar.
Damon: Meeting all kinds of people with different personalities, and experiencing different cultures, prepared me for this industry.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

Chuck and Ivan: It didn't include the entrepreneurship part of the puzzle, which is most of what we do every day. The curriculum should include: raising funds for your venture, different types of taxation, promissory notes and leases, permitting and inspections.

q: A UCF memory?

Chuck: Football games and tailgating.
Ivan: My cool professors, who I've found out since I graduated are even cooler than I thought.
Damon: Our fraternity, ΣΑΕ (all three are members).

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

Chuck: The black and blue sandwich at Brix.
Ivan: Sushi at Amura.
Damon: Sushi at Fuji Sushi.

q: On your iPod?

Chuck: Country and Classic Rock.
Ivan: Everything but Heavy Metal.
Damon: Everything but Hip Hop.

q: Little known fact about you?

Chuck: I'm a UCF legacy. My dad graduated from UCF in 1972.
Ivan: I have a twin brother, who also has a hospitality degree from UCF.
Damon: I'm passionate about learning.