Interviews

Taking Over Las Vegas with VIP Host Manny Kess

Published

August 8, 2019

Manny Kess interview on Hustle & Motivate, a podcast presented by JokerMag.com, the home of the underdog. Manny Kess is the founder & CEO of The Kess Group, a full service concierge company in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Credit-Manny Kess/Joker Mag Illustration

When superstar athletes want to go to Las Vegas, they call Manny Kess. As the founder & CEO of The Kess Group, a full-service concierge company, Manny’s clientele includes A-List celebrities and household names such as Odell Beckham Jr., Von Miller, Jarvis Landry, Travis Kelce, Stefon Diggs, Kevin Durant, and many more.

But before he became one of the top VIP hosts in Sin City, Manny was a high school soccer player with over 60 full-ride scholarship offers.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Manny Kess (@mannykess) on Jun 7, 2019 at 7:33pm PDT

After choosing the United States Naval Academy, a devastating injury derailed his college career before it started. Sadly, that same year his father passed away.

That’s when Manny decided to leave school and start working for himself. By the time he was 21-years-old, he’d opened his first restaurant in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen.

After overcoming several other challenges, he moved to Las Vegas to pursue a new career. Within a year, he founded The Kess Group.

Listen to Manny’s story by tapping the play button below. Or tap the icon of your favorite podcast platform to listen on the go!

Show Notes

[3:38] How often Manny sees his NFL buddies

[5:41] Why he chose the Naval Academy over 60 full-ride scholarship offers

[8:06] Opening his first restaurant at 21-years-old

[15:30] How Las Vegas got on Manny’s radar

[29:03] Co-producing the $50K Charity Challenge with Floyd Mayweather & Rob Gronkowski

[32:27] Crazy client requests

After Listening…

Check out The Kess Group and let them transform your dream vacation into a lifetime experience. You can keep up with Manny and his exciting adventures on Instagram @mannykess.

Thanks for tuning in!

Check out these related episodes:

How Brittany Gilman Built Her Own International Sports Agency

Jim “The Rookie” Morris on Living Your Dreams

Want more inspiring stories like this? Subscribe to The Underdog Newsletter to get the top underdog stories in your inbox every Tuesday!

In this article:

Written By Tyler O'Shea

Division III baseball alum (McDaniel College), founder of Joker Mag, and author of The Underdog Mentality: Sports Stories That Will Change How You See the Game (And Yourself). Since launching in November 2017, my stories have been featured on platforms such as FOX Sports, SB Nation, and The Sporting News, reaching over 1.5 million readers worldwide. The seed was planted way back in 7th grade when I got cut from the baseball team. Instead of giving up, I found hope and inspiration in stories of undersized athletes who defied expectations. I ultimately played baseball through college, earning Honorable Mention on the All-Centennial Conference team in my senior season. Today, my mission is simple: To share stories that give people the same feeling I felt when I was that undersized ballplayer searching for hope, inspiration, and evidence that my dream was possible. Like my mom always told me, you can do anything you set your mind to. Sometimes we just need a little extra push. And that’s why I’m so passionate about sharing these stories with the world.