Jesal’s parents moved from Chicago to Lincolnwood when he was just four years old. He grew up in this small village attending local schools and playing in parks where his own children now learn and grow.
His father, Babu ‘Marsha’ Patel, was a Gujarati and his mother, Marsha ‘Meena’ Patel, of German-Irish descent, was born and raised in Ohio by parents who were church pastors. Though unlikely for their background, the two met and fell in love and began a family and businesses in Chicago. Some early success led them to relocate to the nearby upscale suburb of Lincolnwood for the quality of life and education that it offered. Their strong cultural, moral and religious values ensured they worked hard for their family and community. All their three children too grew up into morally astute, hardworking individuals making a difference in their communities.
Jesal is quick to give credit to his parents for instilling these values in him and acknowledges that the challenges that his grandparents and parents faced taught him the perseverance that has served him so well.
It’s often said that the secret of success is to find your passion and make it your living. Jesal recalls finding his passion rather early – he was just nine years old when buying an entire block of properties then building a hotel on the site had him mesmerized. Of course, it was just a game of Monopoly.
Jesal also remembers vividly being scorned by his father once when he had spent all of his monthly allowance at a local video game arcade. His father cut off his allowance but still wanting to play, Jesal decided to earn his own money – by carrying golf bags all day as a caddie. He was only 10 at the time but convinced the boss that he was 13 so he could work for what he wanted.
“I haven’t stopped working from grade 5 onward and have worked all kinds of jobs… as a caddie, porter, telemarketer, forklift driver, warehouse manager, bricklayer, roofer, door to door salesman, nanny, pizza delivery, driver to name a few. And that’s all only before I graduated from college.”
He attended the private Jesuit College Preparatory High School, Loyola Academy, where he graduated with honors and was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame for his contribution on the 1992 Illinois State Championship Track team competing in the events of shot and discus. He earned a BS degree in Real Estate Finance at the prestigious Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. After college he went on to obtain professional licenses such as managing real-estate broker, auctioneer, securities dealer and insurance broker.
Jesal’s career developed quickly with his real-estate brokerage business, Patel Realty, leading to the acquisition of multiple hotels and shopping centers along with a variety of office, residential and industrial properties. With experience in hotel development and management, he expanded to retail real estate where the business really took off. In less than five years, he added multiple hotels and over a dozen shopping centers with a total of over 1,000,000 sq-ft of leasable area with many tenants across Chicagoland.
Service First!
As a part of his responsibilities in the company, he also handled all aspects of obtaining approvals needed from governmental authorities – the foundation for his career in government. Often frustrated with the regulations and bureaucracy of local government, Jesal found an opportunity to contribute to Lincolnwood when he was offered a seat on a Sign Appearance Review Board. His knowledge, experience and passion led the Lincolnwood Alliance Party to select him as the first Indo-American candidate for office in the Village’s history when he ran successfully for Trustee in 2007. Over his 14-year-tenure, he used his experience to improve the business environment in the village, paving way for new development and reuse of existing properties. With great community support, Jesal set out to run for Mayor in 2021. He swept the elections, continuing his streak of five undefeated elections.
As the Mayor, he has continued his efforts and has installed ‘Service First’ as the prime directive for his administration. He has also risen to be the Chairman of the Lincolnwood Alliance Party and is proud to have helped to elect the most ethnically diverse and representative Board of Trustees ever in Lincolnwood with direct Indian, Assyrian, Filipino, Japanese, German, Jewish and Polish heritage represented on the Board.
He has been a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) since 2001 and a lifetime member of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA). He now serves as the Chairman of the Illinois Government Relations Committee of ICSC and as a National Advocacy Ambassador for AAHOA, which lead him to interact with governments for the collective interests of the real-estate industry. “Real estate is the key to economic revival. The industry faces growing challenges but with a limited supply and growing demand, there will always be value in this industry. Government can help to create value and opportunity or just as easily destroy it.”
Jesal has found that the common theme in success is providing excellent service with a kind demeanor. “People often say it’s who you know, not what you know. In this industry, relationships and the knowledge gained from them are equally and extremely important.”
The Pride
He is not all work though. A family man, he describes himself as a novice athlete. Beginning in 2005, he has competed in the Chicago Triathlon every year since and has run a variety of running races around the US including the New York Triathlon, ITU World Championship and the inaugural Ragnar Trail Race in San Diego, California, where he was on the championship team.
But Jesal doesn’t just run races, he runs everywhere, and every day. In fact, since October 28, 2019, he hasn’t taken a day off. He wakes up early every morning and goes out to run regardless of the weather: rain, snow, heat or wind. He has logged over 5000 miles and would like to match Forrest Gump’s three years, two months and 16 days… and then continue still. In the last few years, he has taken up backpacking which has taken him to the highest peak of the US, Mt Whitney, and across many other difficult mountain ranges.
Jesal’s wife and three children are the light of his life. “They are my joy and dedication.” After meeting through a friend in high school, Jesal and his wife, Dr Catherine ‘Kate’ Patel, began dating in college when they were just 18. Nearly 30 years later, they are still very much in love. She serves as an Educational Psychologist in a local school and loves her work with children of special needs and learning disabilities. With two boys and a youngest daughter, their family mirrors his own when he was growing up. The home he built for his family sits on the same plot as his childhood home and his children even share the same classrooms and teachers that he did. The family are avid fans of the world famous Chicago Bulls NBA basketball team and attend games regularly along with other major professional sports teams in Chicago. They also love to travel and together have been all over the US and parts of India and Europe.
Jesal speaks glowingly of how when his children were younger his work schedule allowed him the opportunity to see them off to school every day and be home for them when they returned. Now his oldest drives himself to school and is looking toward college and the younger two are growing up fast, so he wants to soak in as much time with them as possible. The kids keep him busy when he’s not running a meeting as Mayor or making a deal for Patel Realty and he’s fine with that. “Busy is my business.”
Without a doubt, he is a people person and building relationships has been the cornerstone of his career.
Jesal says, “I never have dreamt of so-called big dreams. Rather I set small goals for myself along the way and just reset when I reach them’”. Brick by brick, deal by deal, election after election and mile by mile, life is just one big endurance race with lots of checkpoints.