Toronto has often been tagged with the nickname “Hollywood North” given the number of big-screen movies and television programs that are filmed within Canada’s most populous city. However, there is at least one highly successful entrepreneur working behind the scenes in the Greater Toronto Area who has a direct connection with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
That individual is 40-year-old Jesse DeCosta, who runs DeCosta Marketing Inc. A significant aspect of DeCosta’s brand management and licensing company centres on some of the big name celebrities he represents south of the border. They include the likes of Michael Jackson’s family as well as actors and comedians Will Smith, Kevin James and Jamie Foxx. Also in DeCosta’s stable are: Donna Karan, Leah Remini, Jordan Knight, Wayne Brady and Kristoff St. John. The funny thing is, he lives in southern Ontario in virtual anonymity and yet he’s extremely well known in southern California by some of the premier celebrities in the world.
DeCosta, who has a staff of 15, works out of his beautiful home in Mississauga where he lives with his wife Sandra and their two daughters, who are 11 and 9. Jesse met his wife at Christmas party in 1989. They were together for many years and married in 1996. He’s only worked out of his home for the past two years after being convinced by others that he really did not need a downtown Toronto office when the vast majority of his clients are in Los Angeles, where he does maintain an office. Dropping the Toronto office also represented a savings of about $14,000 a month on rent.
As you’d expect, DeCosta has a very engaging, outgoing personality, which of course serves him well in his career. What makes his story that much more incredible is the fact he’s had to earn everything the hard way, starting from extremely humble beginnings to a lifestyle now that most people could only dream about.
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Article Courtesy of: Canadian Business Journal
Author: Angus Gillespie
