Nate Holzapfel

Nate Holzapfel
Holzapfel 2017 Milken Conference
Born	Nathanael Reid Holzapfel February 5,1979

Nate Holzapfel (born Nathanael Reid Holzapfel, February 5, 1979) is an American entrepreneur most known for his appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank, where he successfully pitched the Mission Belt Co. He has since gone on to pursue a career in consulting and public speaking, and contributes frequently to The Huffington Post as a business and motivational writer.

In February 2015, Holzapfel revealed that he would be featured on a spin-off of Shark Tank, called Beyond the Tank.

Nate Holzapfel was born to Richard N. Holzapfel and Jeni Broberg Holzapfel in Provo, Utah. He is the oldest of five children, including his younger brother and business partner, Zachary Holzapfel. When Nate was an infant, his family moved to Irvine, California for his father's schooling, and at age 13 his family moved to the small town of Woodland, Utah.

After graduating high school, Holzapfel lived abroad in the Middle East before serving a two-year mission in Chile for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Holzapfel briefly attended college, but left in order to pursue a career in sales and marketing. Following his passion for sales, he had an established track record selling real estate, automobiles, and insurance in Mexico before founding Mission Belt Co.

Mission Belt Co. was founded with the goal of bringing brand recognition to belts. Holzapfel felt that "fashion houses designed and created belts as an afterthought", and sought to change that practice. After moderate initial success, Holzapfel appeared on Shark Tank and was able to negotiate a deal with fashion brand icon Daymond John.

After partnering with John, Mission Belt sales increased by over $1 million within three weeks of the show airing which enabled Holzapfel to expand sales and entrepreneurship past his initial venture. As of early 2017, Mission Belt Co. has brought in $25 million in revenue. Mission Belt has been listed as one of John's top 5 deals on Shark Tank.