GRAND RAPIDS ? Grand Rapids area native Nick Sarnicola, who has built a fortune through his direct sales weight loss company ViSalus, has pledged $1 million to his Sarnicola Foundation to support other young entrepreneurs.
Sarnicola, 33, grew up in a blue collar family in Wyoming, a Grand Rapids suburb, and was exposed to entrepreneurship as a student at Grand Valley State University. He vowed one day to become independently successful. It worked. Sarnicola became a millionaire by the time he reached his mid twenties.
In 2005, Sarnicola joined two other entrepreneurs, Ryan Blair and Blake Mallen, and Co-Founded ViSalus, one of the fastest-growing direct-selling companies in the industry in 2012. Sarnicola together with his wife Ashley are now the No. 1 earners in ViSalus, earning close to a quarter million dollars each month. What?s more, ViSalus sold a majority stake in the company to publicly traded Blyth Corporation in 2008 for about $75 million. Blyth is a $1.6 billion company.
In 2011, he created the Sarnicola Foundation to inspire youths and young adults to pursue entrepreneurship by providing scholarships, mentorship and funding to help make their dreams a reality.
?I want to share my passion and knowledge of how to achieve entrepreneurial success with others,? said Sarnicola. ?It?s something I was never taught in school. Being a successful entrepreneur can change someone?s life. The goal of the Sarnicola Foundation is to provide young people with entrepreneurial education and support so that they too can achieve success through entrepreneurship.?
Sarnicola Foundation Executive Director Jon DeVries said the foundation is still trying to figure out how to spend the $1 million so it will have the broadest impact possible on entrepreneurs from middle school through graduate school, ages 14-24.
?We want to give youthful people a different take on entrepreneurship,? DeVries said. ?In some cases, it might be funding a scholarship to attend a camp, or in some cases helping them build a business plan and then finding the funding. We?re truly in a great kind of position. We have the family open to a wide variety of approaches. We want to make an impact with the dollars.?
DeVries said Sarnicola wants more kids to discover earlier in life, like he did, that there are other options than just working for someone else.
?He wants them to know that with some nurturing and mentorship they can pursue their passions,? DeVries said.
For more information about the Sarnicola Foundation, please contact Executive Director Jon DeVries by email at [email protected].
