Ben Leszcz

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT BEN LESZCZ

In November 2025, I\'ll launch a new chapter in my career.This past summer, I exited Wilda, the beverage company I co-founded with Mike Mills.Wilda, now owned by Revel Cider, is a line of alcoholic spritzers made simply with honey and cold-pressed juice. The company is a profound expression of my values; Wilda produces drinks that aim at bringing us closer to nature and to one another.Spritzers were not the obvious move for me. I started my career in publishing as an undergraduate, when I co-founded Entrepôt, a national magazine of ideas. After school, I worked as an editor for critically acclaimed but financially insolvent Canadian magazines, and I wrote for international titles like Bon Appétit, Conde Nast Traveler and Monocle. In 2010, I moved to London, England, and landed at Winkreative, where I transitioned from publishing into branding and design. During this time, I also completed a master\'s degree in political communication at the LSE, where I was awarded the Best Dissertation Prize from among more than 150 graduate students.In 2013, I moved home to Toronto and joined two friends to build Whitman Emorson, a design studio. At WE, I oversaw client affairs, business development, and a range of creative and strategic projects. In seven years, we expanded our client roster to include Marriott International, Holt Renfrew, Brookfield Office Properties and H&M. Our work spanned brand strategy, visual identity design, books, magazines, exhibitions, digital applications and advertising campaigns. All along, I\'ve continued to write; my Globe & Mail essay,\"The Life-Changing Magic of Making Do,\" was anthologized in Best Canadian Essays 2020. In 2021, I embarked on a journey into the wild world of alcoholic beverages. At Wilda, I oversee all things brand and marketing, along with innovation, production, regulatory matters, corporate strategy and much, much more.