Farmer milks cows and becomes owner of billion dollar company

According to Forbes, before becoming one of the richest landowners in the US, owning a manufacturing company with annual revenue of nearly 2 billion USD, Frank VanderSloot spent a difficult childhood farming with his family on a farm of more than 30 hectares in the town of Colocalla, Idaho, US, more than 100km from the border with Canada.

"Taste honey and lie on thorns" determined to change life

VanderSloot’s father was a railroad worker who dropped out of school in the third grade, working away for weeks at a time, leaving the family to work to maintain the farm. At age 12, VanderSloot was in charge of the daily farm chores, such as milking cows; feeding the horses, sheep, goats, and chickens; and chopping wood for the fireplace and cooking.

Mr. Frank VanderSloot.

That's when his father realized that his son needed to go to college to avoid the same miserable life he had. But because the family didn't have money, VanderSloot had to save up for school himself.

VanderSloot began skimming milk from cows twice a day and was allowed to sell the excess milk for $2.50 a week. He also began working on neighboring farms, building fences, mowing lawns, and operating tractors. From the start, he set a goal of saving for college.

By the time he graduated from high school, he had saved enough money to cover five semesters of tuition at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

“However, I didn't consider the cost of books or room and board until I arrived,” VanderSloot recalls.

So he went to Provo a few days before school started to look for a job. He started by washing washing machines three times a day at a laundromat, earning $50 a month and staying rent-free in a small, dark, hot room behind the dryer.

"With my financial situation at that time, that laundry shop was a great place to live," he recalled.

At the age of 19, he decided to leave school to go on a 2.5-year mission trip to the Netherlands.

"My dad was very disappointed with this decision because he thought I would never be able to return to college," VanderSloot said.

So VanderSloot promised to save enough money for one semester of tuition to go back to school and hit the road. In the Netherlands, he began learning the language and found a mentor. The mentor’s story of starting from scratch inspired VanderSloot to pursue a career in business.

The value of tireless labor

Returning to the United States after the trip, VanderSloot enrolled in Ricks College (now Brigham Young University - Idaho), where he received free room and board and tuition in exchange for teaching Dutch to future missionaries.

After graduating from Ricks College with an associate degree in business, VanderSloot returned to Brigham Young University to earn his bachelor's degree. He worked several jobs to support himself. During his sophomore year, VanderSloot began distributing beef jerky and peanuts to bars.

In 1972, he received a bachelor's degree in marketing, becoming the first in his family to earn a college degree. He didn't need to take out any debt to pay for his education, which he calls one of his "proudest accomplishments."

After several years working for companies, in 1985, VanderSloot founded Melaleuca, which now produces more than 450 products ranging from vitamins to eco-friendly cleaners.

Melaleuca sells its products directly to more than 1.8 million customers each month through online channels. Last year, the company's revenue reached $1.75 billion, putting VanderSloot on the Forbes 400 list of the richest billionaires in the US with a fortune of $2.7 billion.

Thanks to VanderSloot, his family’s 80-acre farm has expanded into a sprawling operation. Now, no longer milking cows or skimming milk, VanderSloot runs “Grandpa’s Academy,” a six-week livestock program for his 48 grandchildren designed to teach them what he himself has learned over nearly six decades: the value of hard work.

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According to vneconomy