Aleks Elezaj

The Harvard educated COO rose from small-town Michigan to the helm of an international corporation.

“There are two important things that can define your character,” says Alex Elezaj, President and Chief Operating Officer of Whitlam Label Company, Inc., an international label printing and packaging solutions corporation. “Your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything.” Elezaj especially knows a thing or two about the former. Elezaj was born and raised in Michigan. His parents courageously immigrated to the United States from Ulqin, Montenegro, in 1969, with little money and limited education in search of a better life. They worked long and hard wherever they could get hired—restaurants, factories—but they were never on the clock at the same time. His father took on day jobs, while his mother worked nights—this in order to ensure that the kids always had a parent at home.