Cesar Nader
Accomplishing clients’ missions by adding value and increasing productivity
Cesar Nader is the CEO and president of X Corp Solutions, a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business based in Stafford, Virginia. Utilizing an approach customized to each client’s unique mission and values, X Corp specializes in language training, cultural fluency, and leadership development. The company’s services span diverse areas of business such as professional management integration, property management, IT and cybersecurity, educational workshops, and transition programs. X Corp is government-certified under SBA 8(a) and HUBZone on the federal level, as well as DMBE, SWaM, and MBE on the state level.
Who are your role models?
CESAR NADER: Probably since I can remember, it had to start with my mother. I always saw my mother as a very resourceful person. She was a single mom, raising five children. I was the oldest of those five. I knew that as long as she was satisfied with my performance I was doing great, because I looked up to her and I said, “How can a woman do so much, be so strong—so resourceful?” I mean there were days when we were just eating rice and cheese, or hot dogs, or rice and cheese, or tuna, rice and egg. It was a combination of those meals that shaped even how I eat today. So, seeing how resourceful and flexible she was probably started my ability to think outside the box.
Watching my grandfather be successful was a great inspiration, because he was a guy who used to fix radios when he was married to my grandmother, and he became the general manager of Philips, one of the largest companies, at least in South America, doing refrigerators, kitchens, telecommunications. It was a really great inspiration to see a man that I knew so close have the ability to live a life like that. You see, when I grew up in Ecuador, having a car that had air conditioning—you were rich. With the heat, if you your windows up when your were driving, you were rich. I always wanted to know what it felt like to drive with the air conditioner on, because we didn’t. What does it take to be that guy? It taught me that, to get to that position, you have to travel a very long road, which is the entrepreneurial road. It will be littered with challenges and tripwires and all sorts of booby traps, but if you keep going and you don’t let anything stop you, you’ll get there.
Beyond that, as I grew up, I had other role models. I loved superheroes: Captain America, Iron Man, Superman, Batman. I wanted to be Bruce Wayne. He was rich guy, but he wanted to be a superhero. Superman—he could have done whatever he wanted, but he went to help, like Iron Man. Those were, I guess, my role models, which I share with almost any one of us that grew up in that era.
Then, as I joined the Marine Corps, I learned about Chesty Puller, Dan Daly, Smedley Butler—Medal of Honor winners, men who sacrificed themselves for the good of others. Models like, “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” That statement made marines get up and attack the enemy. Trying to understand what men like that are like and wanting to be like those men is what inspired me to continue to seek greatness, and I’m still in search of that.
When role models, like the people I’ve mentioned to you, that have been business owners, they basically started just the way I did: a marine with his rifle, just an American trying to find his way. I met dozens of successful people that don’t look successful to the naked eye at first glance, but they’re successful in so many other ways that you and I don’t consider success, and they’re happy. And so those role models have been able to make a composite, a puzzle, for how I want to be when I’m successful someday. I take the best traits of every person I meet. I think, “How will a guy telling me about his heart attack a year ago make me successful?” When I see him smiling today and think, “Well, if he made it—if I ever have a heart attack, I’m going to remember that smile because I’m going to smile, too.” Those experiences shape how my role models continue to be more relevant in my life. It’s very important to me to always see what makes those people feel that way.
ABOUT OFFIT KURMAN
Offit Kurman is one of the fastest-growing, full-service law firms in the Mid-Atlantic region. With 120 attorneys offering a comprehensive range of services in virtually every legal category, the firm is well positioned to meet the needs of dynamic businesses and the people who own and operate them. Our eight offices serve individual and corporate clients in the Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Northern Virginia markets, as well as the Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City metropolitan areas. At Offit Kurman, we are our clients’ most trusted legal advisors, professionals who help maximize and protect business value and personal wealth. In every interaction, we consistently maintain our clients’ confidence by remaining focused on furthering their objectives and achieving their goals in an efficient manner. Trust, knowledge, confidence—in a partner, that’s perfect.
You can connect with Offit Kurman via our Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages. You can also sign up to received Law Matters, Offit Kurman’s monthly newsletter covering a diverse selection of legal and corporate thought leadership content.
MARYLAND | PENNSYLVANIA | VIRGINIA | NEW JERSEY | NEW YORK | DELAWARE | WASHINGTON, DC
Edwin Warfield, CEO of citybizlist, conducts the CEO Interviews.
If you're interested in reaching CEOs, please contactedwin.warfield@citybuzz.co
Connect on LinkedIn
