wisconsin up

Fabulous People: Jaclyn Gapko

Silver Lake native Jaclyn Gapko is the co-owner of Wisconsin Up, specializing in high-quality apparel made for Wisconsinites. Gapko co-founded the company in 2021. Learn about Jaclyn Gapko…

Hometown: Silver Lake

First job: Server for a catering company

Favorite ways to spend your free time in WI: Well that depends on the season. Spring: finishing up horse show season with my daughter. Summer: boating with friends and family or on the motorcycle with my hubs. Fall: bonfires, football games and all the harvest fests I can find. Winter: this is where I really kick up my liver training, pull tab investing and, ya know, a shake a day takes the dollar away. 

Your biggest accomplishment and why: I own three businesses, have three daughters, an amazing husband, a huge family and I choose to make all of it a priority. Life gets hard, and it’s easy to let things fall off. I work hard daily to make sure my loved ones know they are important to me. 

The biggest obstacle you overcame: Realizing I have both a fear of failure and fear of success. I always just wanted to be average. Too much of either scared me… until Wisconsin Up. Right as we launched our company, we were hit with a lawsuit for similarity conflict of interest which sent us into a nine-month fight to keep our brand. After coming to an agreement, I then put away any fears of “not making it.” 

Someone who inspires you and why: My future me. I am always striving to be a better person. Someone who my parents can be proud of. A person my daughter looks up to, and for everyone I meet to say she was so helpful and kind.

Advice to someone pursuing a career path in what you do: Go for it! That goes for all the ideas you have going on in your head. 

Favorite quote: “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” Marie Curie

Something someone would be surprised to learn about you: I grew up hunting and trapping. In my family, if you shoot it or trap it, you have to clean it and eat it. The running joke to date from childhood friends was there was always meat for dinner but no one ever knew what animal we were eating. A personal favorite dish is turtle soup or rabbit. 

What makes someone fabulous: Confidence and a positive outlook.

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