Sophomore wins big for UW-Whitewater’s 'Take an Entrepreneur to Lunch' pilot program

December 1, 2008

A lunch with Richard Kessler of Kesslers Diamonds, “the world’s largest seller of diamonds,” won University of Wisconsin-Whitewater sophomore Jordan Leahy top honors at the Collegiate Entrepreneur Organization’s (CEO) conference.  The Acton Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence selected Leahy’s hero story as one of the three winning stories from the “Take an Entrepreneur to Lunch” pilot. 

Leahy is a member of the UW-Whitewater CEO chapter and has marked a large victory for both him and the university.  As an influential CEO chapter, UW-Whitewater was asked to launch the “Take an Entrepreneur to Lunch” pilot program. This program gave students the opportunity to interview an entrepreneur and write a short story on why that person was their entrepreneurial hero. 

Leahy took advantage of this program and wrote his story on Richard Kessler.  Although Kessler may not be the conventional hero type, Leahy’s audience felt otherwise. 

“I went into the meeting expecting to hear another story about a diamond guy,” said Leahy.  “What I found was a guy who started from nothing but never gave up and always moved forward.”

Kessler got into the diamond business with only $700 in his pocket.  After struggling for 10 years and not being able to pay the bills, he decided that he needed to do something different.

“I was interested in learning about the marketing of his company,” Leahy said.  “He always advertised on the radio, which was part of that strategy.”

Kessler’s primary goal was to connect with his customers.  He did this by lowering prices, dressing casually and playing louder rock music, rather than what may be traditionally played in jewelry stores. 

“Jordan is a special person and has so much passion, exudes confidence and has the desire to succeed,” Jimmy Peltier, CEO advisor and Irvin L. Young Professor of Entrepreneurship, said.  “His passion was clearly evident in his entrepreneur hero story and catapulted him to the top of the list.”

Jordan’s success in this pilot program has earned him the opportunity to take place in the 2009 Acton Entrepreneurial Journey Summit meeting in Austin, Texas.  

For more information, contact Jordan Leahy at 608-482-1016 or LeahyJW03@uww.edu.