Here is a preview of the article you requested. Please login to view the entire article.

Joe Pielago Receives The 2009 NASE Future Entrepreneur Scholarship

By Jan Norman

As a teenager in high school, Joe Pielago discovered a Los Angeles streetwear designer, The Hundreds. Those T-shirt designs got enthusiastic responses from his friends at Palos Verdes High School in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Soon he and lifelong friend D.J. Vilicich were talking about starting their own clothing company.

“A clothing company would be a perfect expression of my leadership capabilities, my artistic style and my love for fashion,” Joe says. “It was cool having The Hundreds clothing that people hadn’t seen so they talked about it. I’d like to give that feeling to other kids.”

That was the start of Joe’s company Voila Los Angeles, a line of hats and T-shirts that combine the hip-hop, skateboard craze and urban lifestyle that are part of the Southern California culture for teens in the 21st century. The company has four employees, including Joe’s brother, Jeff, 15, who’s the venture’s top salesman. Voila is a major reason Joe, now 18, is the NASE Future Entrepreneur for 2009.

The scholarship program, which started in 1989 for depe...