This piece originally appeared in our 2018 Inner City Capital Connections Impact Report.  Vanessa Faggiolly doesn’t know the meaning of defeat. Starting from nothing, she’s been able to attain a piece of the American dream. Armed with resilience, a deep love for her family, and a lasting connection to her homeland, Vanessa Faggiolly – along with her business partner and mother, Nora Saca – transformed a perilous future into a multimillion-dollar business. Amerisal Foods, the Latin food distribution company owned by the mother-daughter team, not only became a lucrative means of sustenance for their family, but it also made a deep impact...

Vanessa Faggiolly attended the CBE from January 2005 to June 2007. She graduated from Cal State LA with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an option in Finance and is the Co-owner and CFO of Amerisal Foods LLC. Vanessa’s greatest achievement was purchasing a company that was on the brink of bankruptcy and transforming it into a food empire. The most important thing Vanessa learned while at the CBE was being resilient. This resilience has helped her face challenges in life and her career. Her advice to current CBE students is “never give up.” Vanessa states that...