Ryan Blair

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For the footballer, see Ryan Blair (footballer).
Ryan Blair
BornJuly 14, 1977 (1977-07-14) (age 44)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFounder of HashTagOne [1]
Known forNothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I Went from Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur

Ryan Blair (born July 14, 1977) is an American entrepreneur and author.[2] He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of the multi-level marketing company ViSalus Sciences,[3] a subsidiary of the publicly traded company Blyth, Inc.[4][5]

In 2011, he wrote a book titled Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I Went from Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur which reached The New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover business books.[2][5][6][7][8] Ernst & Young named Blair as Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012.[9]

In 2018, Kasi Head, a former beauty queen and longtime girlfriend to Blair, filed a restraining order against Blair and alleged the entrepreneur broke her nose and knocked out her teeth.[10]

Early life[]

Blair was raised in Southern California.[11] A product of a broken family, at the early age of 13, "he was already heavily 'involved in stuff' after his father succumbed to drug addiction," Blair tells Business Insider in an interview.[12] He dropped out of high school in the 9th grade, left home, and became a gang[specify] member in his home-town of Los Angeles.[2][13]

When he was 18, Blair's mother began dating a successful real-estate entrepreneur who became Blair’s mentor and gave him his first job at Logix Development, a computer technical support provider.[8][14][15] At age 21, after serving as vice president of Logix Development he founded the technical-support firm 24/7 Tech.[14][15]

Business and writing[]

In 2005 Blair became the CEO of the multi-level marketing company ViSalus Sciences.[16][17]

In 2008, ViSalus was in debt and facing bankruptcy.[14] That year the company was acquired by Blyth Inc., with Blair remaining as CEO.[how?][why?]

In 2010, Blair won the DSN Global Turn Around Award "when he actually turned the company around from a $6 million debt in early 2008 to $150 million in revenue 16 months later."[14][18]

In 2011, Blair released an autobiography, Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I Went from Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur.[11] The book was ranked 3rd in The New York Times Best Seller list for August 2011 and was a number one New York Times Hardcover Business Book bestseller in September of that year.[6][7] In 2012 and 2013, Blair contributed several articles to Forbes Magazine's website.[19]

As of 2012, ViSalus was valued at $600 million.[20] Revenue subsequently declined and the company operated at a loss for 2013 and the first two quarters of 2014.[21]

References[]

  1. ^ "ViSalus CEO Ryan Blair Completes $55M Transaction And Steps Down After Successful Turnaround". PrNewswire. PRNewswire. Retrieved 22 Dec 2016.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Duff McDonald (November 30, 2012). "Business Lessons From a Former Gang Member". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  3. ^ "RYAN BLAIR CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER". Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  4. ^ "40 Under 40 -- Ryan Blair". Crain's Detroit Business. 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Issie Lapowsky (June 28, 2012). "Why I Carry This Reminder". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Best Sellers". New York Times. August 21, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "Hardcover Business Books Best Sellers September 2011". New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Scott Fummer (December 1, 2011). "Road Warrior: Ryan Blair". CNN Money. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  9. ^ "MNWO 2012 Award Winners" (PDF). EY.com. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  10. ^ "Ryan Blair's Ex Slaps Famous Author With Restraining Order, Claims He Broke Her Nose". RadarOnline. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Blair, Ryan (2011-08-04). Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I Went from Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur. ISBN 9781101517055. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  12. ^ Giang, Vivian. "How This Guy Went From Gang Member To Multimillionaire Entrepreneur". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  13. ^ Andrew Keen (August 15, 2011). "Keen On… Why Gang Members Make Wicked Entrepreneurs". Techcrunch. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Vivian Giang (August 14, 2012). "How This Guy Went From Gang Member To Multimillionaire Entrepreneur". Business Insider. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Laurent Belsie (February 5, 2012). "The job-shifters: people who reinvent themselves mid-career". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  16. ^ "Blyth, Inc. Completes Third Closing of ViSalus Acquisition". Reuters. January 16, 2012. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  17. ^ "Blyth delays completion of ViSalus purchase to 2014". Reuters. October 1, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  18. ^ Dan Schawbel (August 8, 2011). "Entrepreneurship: Nothing to Lose and Everything to Gain". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  19. ^ "Contributor: Ryan Blair". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  20. ^ Janean Chun (March 2, 2012). "Ryan Blair, ViSalus: My First Million". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  21. ^ Walsh, Dustin (September 14, 2014). "ViSalus co-founders buy back stake, launch new product line". Crain's Detroit Business. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
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