Mark Hughes, a young entrepreneur with a powerful drive capable of mobilizing millions to change their lives through his passion and determination who was contagious to anyone who would take the time to listen to him.
Mark Hughes‘s life was marked by hardships, but rather than stopping him in his tracks, they were the impetus for his success.
Mark’s life was marked by difficulties, however, rather than stopping him in his tracks, they were the engine for his success. His legacy is one of the most iconic and beloved multi-level companies in the industry, an example for many to follow and an inspiration to millions. Let’s learn the story of the founder of Herbalife.
An untimely death was the trigger for him to change the world.
On the first day of the year in 1956, Los Angeles, California, would see the birth of Mark R. Hughes. The son of Stuard Hartman and Jo Ann Hughes, who divorced 14 years after the child’s birth.
From then on, Mark was left in the care of his mother, who suffered from emotional problems due to her precarious financial situation and her difficulty in losing weight. For years she struggled with obesity, implementing impossible diets and using weight-loss pills, which caused her to have trouble sleeping and as a result she became addicted to amphetamines and sleeping pills.
Our protagonist lived all this chaos with his mother, but in the ninth grade and in his adolescence, he began to use drugs and dropped out of school, which was his way of dealing with all the difficulties he was experiencing at home. Years later, Mark would admit in an interview that he “was a bit of a delinquent” and sometimes got into trouble with the law.
To get Mark back on track, at the age of 16, his mother decided to send him to CEDU High School, a private residential school for reforming troubled youth located in Running Springs, California. There, as part of their rehabilitation, the boys had to raise money by selling raffle tickets, at which Mark excelled, being the best seller in his class.
Three years went by, and Mark was still making his mark as the top fundraiser for the CEDU, when on 27 April 1975, an event happened that would change everything.
Mark’s mother died at the age of 36 in her flat from an accidental overdose of weight-loss pills and amphetamines to help her sleep. This event was to change Mark’s life. As a mature young man for his age, he understood how serious the problem of overweight was around the world and decided to take action to change this reality.
Mark’s life was marked by difficulties, however, rather than stopping him in his tracks, they were the engine for his success. His legacy is one of the most iconic and beloved multi-level companies in the industry, an example for many to follow and an inspiration to millions. Let’s learn the story of the founder of Herbalife.
The beginnings of a legacy that lives on.
A year later, in 1976, at the age of 20, Mark began selling the weight-management products of Seyforth Laboratories, a multi-level company where he became one of the top 100 distributors. When the company collapsed in 1979, our entrepreneur began selling exercise machines and dietary supplements for Golden Youth, another direct sales organization. Soon after, however, it closed.
Tired of leaving his sales efforts and talents to other companies, he decided to start his own business. In February 1980, at the age of 24, Mark R. Hughes founded Herbalife International, selling his products out of the boot of his car in Los Angeles.
The main motivation for starting the company was his mother’s great concern and difficulty in losing weight, which led to her untimely death that Mark attributed to eating disorders.
So, the first product to be marketed was a protein shake designed as a supplement to help people lose weight.
Ten years later, Herbalife was growing steadily. In 1986 it was the first multi-level company to be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange and by 1996, it was trading over a billion dollars a year. Since then, the company has become one of the leading multi-level organisations focused on distributing natural weight management products, with revenues of up to $4.5 billion by 2016.
Mark Hughes continues to be an inspiration to millions.
In 1999, one of Mark’s goals was to acquire all the outstanding shares of Herbalife in order to turn it back into a private company. This led to long working hours, causing a lot of stress and gradually deteriorating his health.
It was then that Mark was affected by a recurrent pneumonia, whose treatment involved corticoids that caused insomnia, which aggravated his ailments. On 21 May 2000, Mark sadly left the earthly plane prematurely, leaving a void that was impossible to fill.
To this day, we can say that Mark’s desire to change the world and his approach to weight loss was a success. He fulfilled his dream, resulting in a company that not only generates millions of dollars, but changes people’s lives for the better in over 90 countries around the world.
