Chris Walters, Pepperdine ’03, and Alex Claud, Pepperdine ’13, are online merchandising professionals who started their careers promoting recording artists and cruise ship lines. In 2014, these brothers lent their expertise to our Fraternity to operate the Official SigEp Store.

Walters and Claud are responsible for producing, selling and fulfilling the Fraternity’s apparel and accessories. They develop original products from scratch from the Stiletto Entertainment offices in the Los Angeles area. They also manage officialsigepstore.com and control inventory and shipment of products.  

Some of the store’s most popular items are its outerwear offerings, but they also receive bulk orders from chapters who want each brother to have SigEp ties, socks or intramural jerseys.

“I love that we can further chapter unity and togetherness with our products,” Walters said.

Representing the style preferences of SigEp’s diverse membership is one of Walters’ and Claud’s goals when introducing new products. That approach leads to quite the variety. While Claud’s initial reaction to the colorful SigEp On Repeat design was, “Who would even wear this shirt?” it quickly grew on him. Now, it’s one of his favorite shirts for his laid-back LA work environment.

Walters, on the other hand, prefers a more classic look. He frequently sports one of the two SigEp sock styles, a classic argyle or a bolder stripe pattern, and ensured that the SigEp brand was prominent on the socks’ packaging.

For Walters, vice president of merchandising, working on SigEp’s products provides a unique opportunity. “The 2015 Conclave was our first big event with SigEp,” Walters said. “People were excited to have the opportunity to buy great-looking SigEp products.”

SigEp’s leadership events are great opportunities for undergraduates and volunteers to see what the store has to offer in person. Claud traveled to five Carlson Leadership Academies this year with the store’s inventory, and a larger selection from the store will be available at the Orlando Conclave this August.

The store also promotes the strength of the SigEp brand. Because each product is designed in-house, Walters and Claud can collaborate with the Headquarters staff to ensure the products look great and promote the Fraternity’s brand in the best way possible.

Stiletto has always had a history of giving professional opportunities to SigEps. They frequently hire interns from nearby chapters, which is how Walters and Claud got their starts. The brothers behind the store see their role as more than just a job — it’s an opportunity to provide a service to the SigEp brotherhood.

“The people I work with are like family to me,” Claud said.