 Craig Keeland comes from a long line of hard-working entrepreneurial people. This lineage, starts with his maternal grandparents, who were born in small towns in Texas. Louis and Pauline Bowen moved to Dallas in 1921 when the city had only 159,000 residents.
Craig’s grandparents worked at a dallas dry cleaning and laundry establishment which, over time with dedication and hard work, they were able to purchase and run as their own company. Louis ran the day-to-day aspects of the business while Pauline handled the financials and payroll for the company.
Craig says, “What I remember most about my grandparents is the unconditional love I received from them. It’s something I will never forget. They were married for more than 60 years, and I learned to value the ability to love unconditionally from them.”
Craig’s father, Claude B. Keeland, Jr. was born in a small East Texas town. After a stint in the United States Air Force, Claude worked as a business manager for a wealthy family. He was a saver who used his savings to found a commercial bank. After starting one bank, Claude bought two more banks in small Texas towns. Eventually, Claude sold these banks, moved to Dallas and purchased an existing bank that he grew into a highly successful venture. Claude Keeland was active in business and educational organizations that helped the community.
Craig says, “I always admired how my dad related to people in a heartfelt way. He liked helping people and was a generous man to those who needed help and support. I’ve seen him go up against some powerful people to stand up for someone who needed his help.”
Craig’s parents met in Dallas after Craig’s mother graduated from Southern Methodist University and worked for the Campfire Girl organization. Craig grew up in Dallas and graduated from high school in a class of 365. He likes to say he graduated sixth from the bottom at 359 which gave nearly everyone else in his class a leg up so they could graduate with a better class standing.
In spite of his class ranking, Craig always had a drive to work hard. Summers found him throwing papers, mowing yards and working in various departments in a Dallas bank. As far back as he can remember, Craig has always been motivated to work and feel a sense of accomplishment.
During Craig’s high school years he would sneak into a business class at Southern Methodist University to attend speaking events given by highly successful entrepreneurs. The Tuesday night schedule featured entrepreneurs like Norman Brinker, C.E.O. of Chili’s Restaurant; M.B. Zale, founder of Zale Jewelry; and James Ling of the LTV Corporation. Craig never missed a Tuesday night session and the opportunity to learn from these gifted men.
After high school, Craig attended and graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in business. He then was accepted by the prestigious Wharton School of Finance where he earned his M.B.A. He returned to Dallas to become the financial advisor for L.D. Brinkman, a successful Dallas businessman who was the C.E.O. of his own company.
He then founded Heritage Corporation of America. He sold that company after three years and bought a controlling interest in a bank, which followed in the footsteps of his father. Nearly four years later, Craig left that bank and found himself in the middle of the Texas oil, real estate and banking collapse. Many lost their fortunes during this time, and many had to declare bankruptcy. Though Craig suffered multi-million dollar losses and found himself deep in debt to investment loans, he paid back every single cent that was loaned to him over the course of five years.
Craig says, “I take personal pride in saying that I paid everyone back the money they loaned me. They had faith in me when they made those loans, and I felt it was important to honor their faith in me.”
Throughout his adult life, Craig had been an avid user of vitamins, herbs and minerals for health. His increasing interest in health and nutrition led him to ask how we could extend health and wellness throughout our life spans. After extensive research into longevity and wellness, Craig became convinced that everyone could live younger longer and have healthier lives. He dedicated himself to creating a single product that would allow everyone to live younger longer. Thus, his company and his product ViaViente was born.
Craig has two sons, Cassidy and Chase, who are the joy of his life. Craig has held three goals for his children - become Eagle Scouts, achieve the rank of black belt in martial arts and experience selling books door-to-door for a summer. Craig’s eldest son Cassidy became an Eagle Scout, achieved a brown belt in martial arts and sold books door-to-door for TWO summers. Cassidy recently graduated from Southern Methodist University. Craig’s younger son Chase has already achieved a black belt and has just entered the Boy scout program.
Craig has one sister, Kay Keeland. Kay has a daughter, Caroline, who Kay adopted at birth.
Craig says, “I was excited to have children and prayed that my children would be healthy. My boys are a joy to my life. I don’t recall them ever going through the “terrible twos” or ever behaving badly. They have always been polite, perhaps because I took them everywhere with me from Day one. I also taught them to be independent thinkers so if I were not around, they could thrive on their own and not simply survive.”
“I hope that my children will possess a strong Christian Faith, good health and a personal hope that tomorrow will always be better than today. My grandparents lived that same philosophy though they never spoke it aloud to me. They were like many of their generation and my father’s generation. Even though they never said it aloud, I still learned my values from them. They showed me how important it is to teach by example.”
Craig's faith is very important to him. He grew up in the Methodist Church and was a member of Highland Park United Methodist Church until 2001. Since that time, Craig has been a member of St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas, and is also a member of the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas since 2006. In 2008, Craig was appointed by Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, to serve on the Governor's Advisory Council on Physical Fitness. |
