PLP 09 Profile: Nick Kessler

Name: Nick Kessler
Age: 35
Born: Cincinnati, OH
Current Digs: Richmond
Occupation: Deputy Commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission
Favorite part about the job? Take a management role working with every part of a large and important organization.
Your first job ever? Sold popcorn and candy in a small movie theater in the Adirondacks in upstate New York.
Favorite book? The Power Broker
Favorite movie? It’s a Wonderful Life
Comfort food? Chocolate ice cream with peanut butter
What's in your car CD player right now (or favorites on your iPod)? Audio books. Music ranges from new rock to oldies to classical.
Next journey? All across Virginia: Richmond, Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, the Valley, Southside, and Southwest.
Favorite Virginia vacation spot? I’ve always liked beaches and mountains. Virginia has both, and even has them together in a few places.
First political memory? My mom bringing me with her when she went to vote on election day.
Whom do you admire and why? People who use their time and skills to improve their community, nation, and the world.
Best advice you ever got? Figure out what you enjoy, and do that for a living.
If you could have dinner with any one currently living, whom would it be and why? President Barack Obama, you can’t get more influential and interesting than that.
Describe a perfect day. Sleep late, take a scenic drive, enjoy time with friends and family, eat well, have drinks outdoors, talk politics.
One thing most people might be surprised to learn about you? When the White House responded to the get-well notes my elementary school sent to Ronald Reagan in 1981, it gave my letter special recognition.
Ambition, political or otherwise? Live a happy and meaningful life.