Meet the Founder

Chris Valletta is an author, TV Personality, Motivational Speaker, Philanthropist and seasoned Businessman with 15-years of success in sales, marketing and entrepreneurship.  Chris received a full athletic scholarship to attend Texas A&M University, received degrees in Speech Communication/Rhetoric and Political Science and went on to a three-year career as an Offensive Lineman in the NFL.  After his football career and at the age of 23, Chris set his sights on becoming the consummate entrepreneur, starting a diverse portfolio of new companies that range from a retail men’s grooming-product company, a 100-acre pine tree farm in east Texas and a real estate company that transacted close to $20 Million worth of single family residential properties in the first twelve months of Operation. Chris derives much of his business talents from a long line of successful businessmen, with Chris’s father being the Chief Executive Officer of Super 8 Motels, Inc, the largest franchised motel operation in the world.  Chris’s business talents were recognized on the national level when he was selected as one of eighteen candidates out of one-million applicants to vie for a position to run one of Donald Trump’s company’s on NBC’s hit Reality Show, The Apprentice, Season 4, which aired in September 2005.  Unfortunately, Chris was “Fired” by the Donald in the second episode, not because of a business-mistake but for, according to Trump, being “too much” of a team player.  Trump sent Chris out of the board room saying, “You’ve got great potential man…”
 
Chris has built his foundation of success in business upon a true understanding behind the concept of “team,” and has spent his career building a team of the right people around him.  In keeping with this spirit, Chris authored a book titled “Team Works! An On-The-Field Playbook for Building Business Teams that WIN!” – Foreword by Donald Trump – set to publish in the Fall of 2010.  
 
Chris currently resides in New York City and continues in his development, planning and execution of various companies that cross a broad spectrum of categories.  Chris has been featured in various publications for his work in the Direct Response Industry, including a cover story in RESPONSE magazine – the industry trade leader – highlighting his work on launching GoSMILE, Inc (An innovative Tooth-Whitening company) in the DRTV category with a record-breaking debut on HSN and recognition for being the fastest-growing new beauty brand in HSN’s history.  Chris brought GoSMILE into the Infomercial and Direct-Response digital space in record time, accounting for over 40% of annual revenue in the first 12-months.  Chris continues to consult and launch new brands in and out of the direct response space, including Better Life, ANSR, Pacific World and more.  His current work includes the collaborative launch of MISSION Skincare, the first skincare brand focused on products that fit the “active-lifestyles” of today’s consumers.  In the company’s first 12 months of operation, distribution has expanded nationwide to over 10,000 retail locations including CVS, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lady Foot Locker and more.  MISSION Skincare will premiered on the Home Shopping Network — with Serena Williams as a spokesperson — in July of 2009 with the launch of the new Active-Beauty Line, products that are engineered to be multi-purpose and time-saving, targeted towards today’s busy woman.  As a preamble to the show, Chris leveraged the reach and growth of social media in the last 5 years and launched the first-ever viral and digital campaign that leveraged Serena’s huge fan base online with the goal of tuning in to watch Serena and MISSION’s debut performance.  The debut was met with great success, scoring 3x the new customer average and enrolling 30% of purchasers into the HSN Auto-Ship program – 3x the average.
 
Chris has recognized that fulfillment in his occupation comes from the ability to make a positive impact on those around him.  Through this philosophy, Chris feels that the “bottom line” is not only about a number, it’s about “making an impact rather than just a mere impression” and inspiring all those in his path.