In the 1970s in Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, a young man named Mark Hughes watched as his mother struggled with one diet after another in an effort to reach her "ideal weight," as so many people do. Tragically, however, Jo Ann Hughes died after following a number of unhealthy diets. She was only 36.

Mark decided that no one should have to suffer because they felt overweight. He set out to create a safe weight-loss method based on sound nutrition rather than medicine. Mark worked with nutrition experts and health professionals, and in 1980 introduced a revolutionary vitamin-rich, herbal-based protein shake mix (the "2000 model" has been updated with a scientifically advanced formula). Thus Herbalife was born, with Mark selling right from the trunk of his car.