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...For Kelly Perdew , the most inspirational aspect of the whole “Apprentice” experience has been his impact on two groups – children and military personnel. Kelly was amazed at the number of fans that were up past their bedtime. “They really watch and learn from the show; I’m just glad I was able to be a strong role model for them. It’s pretty wild, the parents have been thanking me too!” says Kelly. “And you wouldn’t believe the number of emails I’ve received from service men and women all over the world,” says Kelly. “I don’t know how they see the show, but it is humbling that they’re appreciative of how I’m representing them – I just hope they realize how much we all appreciate them,” Kelly says.
Kelly Perdew was born in Lexington, Kentucky and spent much of his childhood growing up in Sarasota, Florida. He graduated from Central high school in Cheyenne, Wyoming where his grandfather (now 100 years old) taught him and his four younger brothers to fly-fish. An avid athlete, Kelly lettered in football, basketball and tennis and earned All-State Honors in basketball. He received a nomination to attend the US Military Academy-West Point from then Congressman now Vice President Dick Cheney.
At West Point, Kelly Perdew excelled at academics, athletics and the military graduating #1 in his field of study with a BS in National Security and Public Affairs, and in the top 5% of his graduating class overall. In addition to his regular studies at West Point, Kelly completed Airborne training, interned with the House Armed Services Committee, spent a semester on “exchange” at the Naval Academy, and was a finalist in the Rhodes Scholar competition.
After graduating from West Point, Kelly Perdew completed Ranger training and served three years as a Military Intelligence Officer in the US Army. In his three years in the Army he led 35 soldiers as a Counter Intelligence Platoon leader, oversaw the intelligence center for a 1,500 soldier brigade as the assistant S-2, and was the executive officer (COO) for a 120 soldier military intelligence company. While serving in the Army, Kelly also found time to take creative writing and finance courses at the local junior college.
After an honorable discharge from the Army as a First Lieutenant, Kelly Perdew earned an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA and a JD from the UCLA School of Law simultaneously. While working 20 hours per week for a law firm during the program, Kelly also volunteered for The Big Brother program and coached 10 to 12 year-old boys and girls in the Beverly Hills Basketball League. During his last year of school, Kelly raised over $500,000 in angel investment for a videoconferencing company – his first start-up – where he helped grow sales to clients such as Lehman Brothers, AETNA and the FBI.
After leaving the videoconferencing company, Kelly Perdew was a strategy manager at Deloitte Consulting in the technology practice. Lured back into the start-up world, Kelly joined eteamz.com, an emerging online community for amateur sports teams, and quickly helped grow the company to the leadership in its market as the Acting President. Kelly helped secure Angel and VC financing for eteamz.com, grew the value of the company through acquisitions and strategic relationships, and led the negotiations for the successful eight-figure sale of the company to www.active.com.
Kelly Perdew was then recruited by a fellow West Point graduate to be co-founder, President & CEO of K12 Productions, an event marketing and production company that he grew to profitability by the end of his first year. The Layoff Lounge, K12’s premier nationwide platform, is a networking event for job seekers, hiring companies, recruiters and all of their associated service providers.
Kelly Perdew was then recruited to be President of CoreObjects Software, a 100-employee outsourced software development company based in Los Angeles. Kelly provided CoreObjects with leadership in strategy, sales, business development, legal, finance and operations. He is leaving CoreObjects in the best position they have ever enjoyed, having tripled in size in the past year, to join Donald Trump’s organization.
As the chairman and co-founder of MotorPride, a motor enthusiast community website at www.motorpride.com, Kelly Perdew took the lessons he learned from a history of successful entrepreneurial ventures, and brought them together to build the perfect community website for car, truck and motorcycle lovers. Kelly remains active with MotorPride as chairman of the board, while his business partners run the day-to-day operations.
Kelly Perdew ’s next year will be spent working for the Trump organization overseeing various projects in New York and Las Vegas.
In addition to his passion for growing businesses, Kelly Perdew enjoys golf, training for triathlons and fly-fishing. You can communicate with Kelly and follow his activities at his website at www.kellyperdew.com.
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I expect everybody to fall in line.
