What do you get when you combine a piece of leather, canvas or nylon with no holes along with an interchangeable buckle and a built-in ratchet that adjusts by fractions of an inch? It’s the belt you may have seen on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank called “The Mission Belt.” What you may not know is the Utah has one of the highest appearance rates on Shark Tank in the entire country.
Zac Holzapfel and Jeff Jensen, co-founders of Mission Belt say that their product is “never too big, never too small. It always fits perfect.”
Talking about a perfect fit, shortly after launching their company “Mission Belt” back in 2012 they were excited to be invited to appear on Shark Tank to demonstrate their product. Zac’s brother, Nate Holzapfel, was able to wow the sharks and got a deal with fashion guru Daymond John.
So where did the name “Mission Belt” come from? Holzapfel reported “we wanted to make a change, a difference, you can do both. So, we came up with the mission first and we like the mission so much, micro loans, that we decided to name the business after it.”
What is the deal with the “mission”? Check out the math…for every Mission Belt that they sell, they put one dollar towards funding microloans in less developed countries. So far, the Provo based company has sold over 2 million belts and raked in more than 25 million dollars with the help of its 35 employees.
Jeff Jensen, Co-founder of Mission Belt, is passionate about creating opportunities for others all around the world. “here in America, we have easy access to capital — we have banks, we can get a loan to start our business, but a lot people in the world don’t have that opportunity. 50 dollars, 100 dollars, 300 dollars — so they can buy chickens, buy a cow, buy equipment for their farm, and become self-sustaining and independent.”
Holzapfel and Jensen are the perfect example of a successful social venture…a great cause combined with a great product. A product that this industrious duo loves. “belt has to survive on its own. People don’t buy it because we do microloans and we are philanthropic. They buy it because it’s the best belt out there.
With another Utah Success Story. I’m Doug Jessop
This article contains sponsored content.
