Meet Jonathan Pitallo

We recently connected with Jonathan Pitallo and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jonathan, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

I have learned that I like to make the uncomfortable, comfortable and dive head first in any situation knowing there’s always a solution.

My family from both sides originated from Mexico and migrated here in the early 2000’s. I was the first generation to be born here in US from family. First enrolled in school, first to speak both English & Spanish fluently, first to graduate high school. Many firsts without having a family member that has been down that path before.

That unintentionally became a habit of mine. To be the first in something, dive head first and run with it.

I attend many networking events, info sessions and panelist Q&A’s for my company, VIVE Promo & Print to grow & expand my knowledge. I have the opportunity to ask questions and learn about various resources available to my community or small businesses.

The biggest pitfall is there is a language barrier and lack of confidence for many individuals to attend and speak on their experiences and issues. I have made it a personal goal of mine to ask those questions and be a voice for my community and seek the recourses and help they are looking for.

I have always been in these situations as a kid, to be the first to ask a question and get an answer or be heard.

Now as a business owner I do this in my day to day life.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My name is Jonathan Pitallo, started a business at the age 16, now a 21 year old entrepreneur with several different ventures.

I’m from Belton, MO, grew up a majority of my life there and graduated from Belton High School in 2021.

I was raised by my intermediate family that included my mom, grandma, grandpa, aunt & uncle which I consider the core people who made me into the man I am today.

They taught many valuable lessons like “you have 2 ears and one mouth listen to others before you speak” , to stay humble and respect others, help others when others in need, To never give up, “the one who gives shall receive” don’t be embarrassed of my language and culture, to be myself and whatever that may look like, be the good in this world. I could go on and on with the many lessons and traits they instilled in me growing up

Those are the many traits and lessons I still apply to my day to day life and profession.

I own a company called VIVE, a promo & print company in Kansas City, KS.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back, three qualities that were most impactful in my journey are having a good work ethic, being optimistic, and staying authentic/true to yourself.

I am a huge believer in the work and time you put in is what you get back. I started my first business at 16 and as a young kid you want to keep going and hustle it out. I did lots of research, read books about starting a business, watched videos on how to create a brand for a business, connected with other businesses and entrepreneurs, and much more. Lots of time is needed when trying to create and develop an idea that only you know what it needs to be like.

Along with a good work ethic, being optimistic is important and crucial to being successful. I always tell other entrepreneurs/business owners that it takes time to build your career. My mindset has been, It’s a time game. I would like to better serve customers but can’t to the best of my ability if I don’t focus on the little things. I have to prepare myself to the best of my ability and overtime I will become the person I want to be in 5-10 years. When I first started VIVE I sold 2-3 t-shirts a week. Now 5 years later, we are selling anywhere from 200-300 t-shirts a week.

I maintained that same mindset when I began my real estate career. My first 6 months I sold 1 home. After 6 months of learning the ins and outs of the industry and how to better prepare myself as an agent. I quickly began to close 2-3 deals a month. All because I understood it was a part of the process, with the right work ethic and dedication it would pay dividends in the future.

Lastly, I understood staying true to myself and being authentic is the best way to earn peoples trust and business. This helped grow my personal brand organically. People began to realize that I was simply a kid with a dream that was willing to do what it takes to get there. I asked for help when I wasn’t sure of something or helped others if I knew a thing or two.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

The biggest area of growth for myself in the past 12 months is learning to be innovative and sustainable.

As mentioned before I founded VIVE in 2019 while in high school. It began as a clothing brand now promo & print company. I made this changed due to COVID-19 in 2020. People were no longer going out which mean’t there was no need to purchase new clothing. Sales declined and needed to pivot my idea to continue to grow.

Now in 2024, I continue to pivot to this day. One thing we had to change was the way we do business. As a company we try to better our customer experience. Systems can help with this but changing your whole processes can be overwhelming but is needed to grow. It gets extremely difficult at times especially when you have a team and other individuals to ensure everyone understands the change is ready to roll!

Another area to improve on was learning to be sustainable. At one point VIVE was a one man show. I knew for growth this wasn’t going to be the way to do it. I took a chance and began to invest in people and staff. The important part was be sure that we were ready as a company to hire staff. Needed sales to continue to rise while also ensuring everyone knew their roles and the importance behind it. Sustainability was the word I repeated day in and day out to my team as that’s what our goal was. Closing the same amount of orders while growing at a steady pace. Making sure we were being proactive in anything we did.

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Image Credits

Credits to the VIVE Marketing Team

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