Isaac Lidsky

  • Transformative CEO and Advisor to Tech Unicorn
  • New York Times Bestselling Author
  • Former Supreme Court Clerk (for Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg)

“Isaac Lidsky may possess the most eclectic resume in business,” according to Inc. Magazine. He is the CEO and co-founder of ODC Construction (Florida’s largest residential shell contractor) and author of the New York Times best-selling book Eyes Wide Open: Overcoming Obstacles and Recognizing Opportunities in a World That Can’t See Clearly (March 14, 2017, Penguin Random House). A dynamic speaker whose viral TED Talk reached more than 1 million views in 20 days, and a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School (magna cum laude), Isaac is the only blind person to serve as a Law Clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court. As a child actor, he played “Weasel” on NBC’s “Saved By The Bell: The New Class.” 

Dispelling any notion of disability, or the acceptance of self-imposed limitations among any of us, Isaac has forged a true vision for leading and living Eyes Wide Open and mastering your own reality. In his talks to corporate audiences, entrepreneurs and associations around the world, Isaac provides his philosophy and actionable principles for individuals and leaders to build more accountability and courage into how they interact and engage with themselves, others, the world and their highest aspirations.

 



Isaac Lidsky headshot
Past Hosts Include:
  • Merck
  • FedEx
  • Aetna
  • Accenture
  • Verizon
  • Studer Group
  • Gretchen Rubin, Bestselling Author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before
  • Merck
Rave Reviews About Isaac Lidsky as a Speaker
Throughout his entire life, Isaac has proven time and time again that anything is possible, no matter the circumstance. His story is one of true strength, perseverance and hope - one that we can all learn something from. Isaac's journey will encourage many to think with limitless boundaries, and go after their dreams, no matter how big."

Blind Self-Made Multi-Millionaire Proves You Can Overcome Any Obstacle | Impact Theory [8:24] - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Isaac Lidsky
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Eyes Wide Open

You create your own reality, and you believe it. Isaac will prove it to you, sharing his eye-opening perspective of sight itself as an example. You’ll gain the vision to shape your life deliberately, with awareness and accountability. ...

You create your own reality, and you believe it. Isaac will prove it to you, sharing his eye-opening perspective of sight itself as an example. You’ll gain the vision to shape your life deliberately, with awareness and accountability.

Leadership & Teams

To lead is to listen. True leadership is the alignment of intentions and effort, and true success a byproduct of common purpose. We accomplish nothing alone, and we accomplish little if we cannot listen to each other. Isaac will talk you through it. Listen to him and you’ll learn to conduct a harmon ...

To lead is to listen. True leadership is the alignment of intentions and effort, and true success a byproduct of common purpose. We accomplish nothing alone, and we accomplish little if we cannot listen to each other. Isaac will talk you through it. Listen to him and you’ll learn to conduct a harmonious team.

Motivation & Achievement

In every moment you choose who you are and how you want to live your life. With this empowerment comes responsibility, complete and inescapable. When you’re beset by challenges, you’re tempted to plead with your heroes, blame your villains and surrender to your limitations. This is a temptation to r ...

In every moment you choose who you are and how you want to live your life. With this empowerment comes responsibility, complete and inescapable. When you’re beset by challenges, you’re tempted to plead with your heroes, blame your villains and surrender to your limitations. This is a temptation to relinquish your choice, to abdicate your control. Isaac will inspire you to make a better choice. Your heroes, villains and limitations are fictions you perceive as reality. Choose to see through them. Choose to let them go.

Change

Fear is a powerfully destructive force in our lives. Above all else we fear the unknown. Yet to thrive in transition we must find empowerment in uncertainty. Isaac will show you how to deconstruct fear’s oppressive tunnel. You’ll learn to embrace the expansive possibilities of the undefined and unch ...

Fear is a powerfully destructive force in our lives. Above all else we fear the unknown. Yet to thrive in transition we must find empowerment in uncertainty. Isaac will show you how to deconstruct fear’s oppressive tunnel. You’ll learn to embrace the expansive possibilities of the undefined and uncharted.

Entrepreneurial Endeavor

Effort without purpose is entropy. When we labor without a goal we are destined to fail. Using his 3 successful startups as examples—an internet advertising technology company in New York (sold for $230 million); a nonprofit to fund scientific research in Washington, DC ($0 to $5 million in 5 years) ...

Effort without purpose is entropy. When we labor without a goal we are destined to fail. Using his 3 successful startups as examples—an internet advertising technology company in New York (sold for $230 million); a nonprofit to fund scientific research in Washington, DC ($0 to $5 million in 5 years); and a construction services business in Florida ($15 to $150 million in 5 years)—Isaac will show you how success is a matter of definition. You’ll learn to reinvent yourself and create the organization that expresses achievement as you see it.

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Speaker News
<p>Mastering Your Reality</p>

Mastering Your Reality

Transformative CEO and New York Times bestselling author of Eyes Wide Open, ISAAC LIDSKY interviews "an esteemed line-up of masters of reality from business, education, the arts, entrepreneurship, academies and politics" to carry forward the passionate work he started with the publication of his bestselling Eyes Wide Open and bring you the principles of exceptional living and leading.

Watch his vlog here >>
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Books by Isaac Lidsky
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Press & Media
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Biography

“Isaac Lidsky may possess the most eclectic resume in business. Over the years, he has been a child television star (he played series regular “Weasel” on NBC’s “Saved By The Bell: The New Class”), a Supreme Court clerk (for Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg), and the co-founder of an internet startup. More recently, Lidsky has used his gift for logistics to build ODC Construction into one of the fastest-growing construction businesses,” transforming an unsophisticated $11 million concrete subcontractor that was hemorrhaging money into an industry-leading $150 million construction services company—in 5 years.”
-Inc. Magazine, The Incredibly Inspiring Journey of a Blind Entrepreneur, October 1, 2015.

The full list of his accomplishments is far longer. Lidsky graduated from Harvard at 19 with an honors degree in mathematics and computer science. He graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude. As a U.S. Justice Department lawyer, Lidsky argued more than a dozen appeals in federal court on behalf of the United States and never lost a case. He founded a nonprofit organization to fund the development of treatments for blinding diseases and within 5 years grew it to a dozen cities nationwide and more than $5 million. The technology company he founded sold for $230 million.

In 2016 Lidsky set out to share with others his empowering approach to living and leading, and he was promptly recognized as a visionary thought leader. Penguin Random House acquired for publication his first book, Eyes Wide Open, and it hit the shelves as a New York Times best seller in March 2017. TED invited Lidsky to present a mainstage TED Talk at TEDSUMMIT 2016 in Banff, Canada, and it was viewed more than a million times in 20 days. Lidsky now speaks to and works with organizations around the world.

He has been recognized for his achievements dozens of times and his leadership is routinely sought after. He is an advisor to a $1+ billion tech “unicorn.” He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), the world’s premier peer network of chief executives and business leaders, and was tapped to lead the Orlando Chapter and to serve on the Regional Executive Committee for the Southeast U.S. and Caribbean. He was asked to join the Young Entrepreneur Council. He has been appointed to State leadership positions by the Governor of Florida and to a federal position by a U.S. Senator. He sits on the Board of the Florida Hospital For Children. He was named 1 of 4 Temple Bar Scholars by the United Kingdom’s Inns of Court and brought to London for a month-long idea exchange with UK Supreme Court Justices and leading barristers.

Perhaps most striking, Lidsky is only 37, and he is blind. Born with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a rare degenerative disease of the retina, from age 12 to 25 he slowly lost his sight. As his bio makes clear, neither his youth nor his blindness have limited him, however.

This is true in his professional life and personal life alike. Isaac married Dorothy, the love of his life, in June 2004. In September 2010 she gave birth to their triplets, Lily Louise, Phineas and Thaddeus—collectively, “The Tripskys”—and in December 2015 baby Clementine completed the family. The six Lidskys live in Windermere, Florida.

Unsurprisingly, Lidsky has been featured in numerous national media, including Forbes, MSNBC, U.S. News & World Report, 60 Minutes, CNN, Voice of America, Business News Daily, Daily Business Review, Business Insider, Men’s Health, People Magazine, the National Law Journal, and the American Bar Association Journal. He is regularly asked by the media to provide his commentary on the construction industry, leadership and/or entrepreneurship. Invariably, his story shines through his commentary, and with his story, great inspiration.