Visalus Sciences is expanding their presence in Troy, Michigan, and is looking to add 1,000 employees to it’s workforce.

Ryan Blair, the company’s CEO, is an entrepreneur and the author of “Nothing To Lose, Everything To Gain.” In his book, he talks about his struggles growing up, and his journey from gang member to a successful entrepreneur and multimillionaire investor.

Blair founded his first company, 24/7 Tech, at the age of 21 and has founded and sold numerous businesses since, including SkyPipeline – a Southern California-based provider of wireless broadband.

His latest success has been the overhaul of Visalus Sciences. Visalus is a manufacturer of weight loss and nutrition products, and is the company behind the Body by Vi Challenge, a national weight loss challenge. Just this past Monday, Visalus generated national media interest when it announced the acquisition of some pricy web domains.

Via Techcrunch:

We’ve learned that ViSalus Sciences, a direct sales “health transformation company” that distributes weight management and nutritional supplement products, has entered the shortlist of pricey domain name buyers. The creators of the so-called “Body By Vi Challenge,” which (among other things) is a 90-day contest that offers people health products, support, and cash prizes in an effort to incentivize them to achieve their weight loss and fitness goals, announced today that it has acquired “challenge.com” and “vi.com.” Together, the domain names were purchased by ViSalus for $500,000 and $325,000, respectively. The purchase of “challenge.com” alone is one of the top ten most expensive domain names bought in 2011, through today. At a combined value of $825,000, the two domains together would be the fourth highest purchase over that time, and individually “challenge.com” and “vi.com” are the second and third most expensive buys of domain names this year, behind only the million-dollar “dudu.com.”

Those in Detroit have the opportunity to hear from Ryan Blair this Friday evening at Startup Weekend Detroit, as he and Benzinga founder Jason Raznick kick off the weekend event.

Via WXYZ: