Joshua M. Sasaki, P.C., OSB No. 964182

josh.sasaki@millernash.com

MILLER NASH GRAHAM & DUNN LLP

3400 U.S. Bancorp Tower, 111 S.W. Fifth Ave

Portland, OR 97204

Telephone: 503.224.5858

Facsimile: 503.224.0155

Benjamin G. Shatz (pro hac vice)

bshatz@manatt.com

Christine M. Reilly (pro hac vice)

creilly@manatt.com

John W. McGuinness (pro hac vice)

jmcguinness@manatt.com

MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP

2049 Century Park East, Suite 1700

Los Angeles, California 90067

Telephone: 310.312.4000

Facsimile: 310.312.4224

Attorneys for Defendant

ViSalus, Inc.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF OREGON

PORTLAND DIVISION

LORI WAKEFIELD, individually and on 

behalf of all others similarly situated,

Plaintiff,

vs.

VISALUS, INC., a Nevada corporation,

Defendant.

No. CV No. 3:15-cv-01857-SI

DECLARATION OF BLAKE MALLEN IN 

SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S MOTION 

TO STAY EXECUTION OF JUDGMENT 

PENDING APPEAL AND FOR RELIEF 

FROM BONDING

Case 3:15-cv-01857-SI Document 393 Filed 09/11/20 Page 1 of 4
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Mallen Declaration Supporting Stay of Execution of Judgment

DECLARATION OF BLAKE MALLEN

I, Blake Mallen, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, hereby declare as follows:

1. I am a Cofounder of Defendant ViSalus, Inc. I am over the age of 18 and fully 

competent to provide this declaration. This declaration is based upon my personal 

knowledge, except where expressly noted otherwise.

2. ViSalus is a small direct sales company that sells nutritional supplements and 

weight loss products, founded by three individuals.

3. As of September 2020, ViSalus has two employees in the United States, neither of 

whom is paid, and seven in Europe.

4. ViSalus has suffered significant net income losses for years. Specifically, ViSalus 

suffered a net income loss of $5,316,000 for FY 2017, a net income loss of $10,782,000 for 

FY 2018, and a net income loss of $1,751,561 for FY 2019. The most significant losses were 

from the U.S. operations.

5. As of September 2020, ViSalus has little to no in assets and over $56,552,989 in 

outstanding debt, including over $20,828,256 in outstanding domestic and foreign taxes.

6. ViSalus owes $4,431,811 to the company’s Founders for deferred salaries, 

commissions, and expenses. The company’s Founders have been deferring salary and/or 

commissions since 2014 in order to alleviate the company’s financial duress and keep the 

company afloat. ViSalus’ founders and directors dramatically reduced their incomes in 2014 

and 2015, and have taken zero dollars in employee salary since 2016. There is no bonus plan 

for employees and no 401(k)-company match. The Founders have continued to invest/loan 

the company over $9,000,000 over the last several years in an effort to help the company 

return to profitability, but are no longer in a position to continue funding the company.

7. ViSalus’ demand for insurance coverage for this litigation was denied by its 

insurance carrier.

Case 3:15-cv-01857-SI Document 393 Filed 09/11/20 Page 2 of 4
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Mallen Declaration Supporting Stay of Execution of Judgment

8. ViSalus has been able to remain in business through a combination of 

(a) drastically reducing the size of our employee workforce and overhead expenses, (b) shortterm funding from its Founders and other investors, (c) deferring compensation and interest 

payments to Founders and executives, and (d) deferring payments to vendors and other 

payables.

9. The Covid-19 Pandemic, like for many other companies, has had significant 

negative impacts on both the manufacturing of ViSalus’ products and the company’s primary 

“person to person” direct sales strategy. As a result of production delays in the global supply 

chain affecting both manufacturing and packaging, ViSalus has lost significant customer base 

and promoter base.

10. Nonetheless, the company’s operations continues to be a going concern, and 

ViSalus remains committed to serving its customers and promoters and remains hopeful that 

the company will be able to return to profitability once this litigation has concluded.

11. ViSalus is in no position financially to post any meaningful bond. ViSalus has 

investigated the possibility of posting a bond by contacting multiple surety companies. These 

companies, understandably, said that they would only write such a bond if it was fully 

collateralized against an equal amount of cash or cash equivalents or secured by a letter of 

credit from an acceptable bank. But ViSalus does not have sufficient cash or cash equivalents 

sufficient to collateralize such a bond, nor does have any available collateral that it can use to 

secure a letter of credit from either its existing lender or a new lender. In short, ViSalus does 

not have the financial ability to post a bond.

12. Execution measures would almost certainly force ViSalus to declare bankruptcy, 

impacting not just the company but also its loyal customers and promoters. This impact 

would hit ViSalus’ promoters particularly hard, because they rely on ViSalus’ continued 

operation to maintain their small businesses.

Case 3:15-cv-01857-SI Document 393 Filed 09/11/20 Page 3 of 4
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Mallen Declaration Supporting Stay of Execution of Judgment

I declare, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America, that 

the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. Executed on the 11th of 

September, 2020, in Los Angeles, California.

 s/Blake Mallen

President of ViSalus, Inc.

Case 3:15-cv-01857-SI Document 393 Filed 09/11/20 Page 4 of 4