**David Villa, owner of Dirty Wormss. (Photo by Alex Dominguez)**

DOWNEY – What started as a secret middle school side hustle has grown into a sweet treat in over 140 stores across So Cal.

David Villa, 20, was a student at West Middle School when his path to entrepreneurship began. His first job was working in the school cafeteria.

The goal was simple: earn enough money to buy a skateboard.

“As a young middle-schooler, it’s really hard to make your own purchases,” said Villa. “I didn’t really want to ask my parents for money.”

“I found that job, and I want to really say that gave me the awakening to entrepreneurship because I had seen the trade-off of me giving up my free time during snack and lunch to really put the hours in to get a check on a weekly basis.”

While Villa says that job “put money in his pocket,” he continued to look for ways to earn revenue. That’s when he remembered that his older brother and sister used to sell sweets.

“Sure enough, I started selling Mexican candy,” said Villa. “We would go to Downtown LA, and started buying them in bulk.”

It was a rough start for Villa, who admitted to being shy and not wanting to approach potential buyers at first. Business would eventually pick up though.

“Over time, I started making sales on the daily here and there,” said Villa. “It was cool, I started getting some money flowing.”

Profits weren’t huge, as Villa only sold around $10 a day.

Eventually, he did buy his skateboard. It’s while skating at Independence Park where he would get his next idea.

Worms. Flavored gummy worms.

There was already a small market for gummy worms coated in powdered flavors and syrups. Villa says he took the idea and “reverse engineered it,” giving it his own spin.

“It comes down to the quality of the product; the quality of the product and the taste and the flavor that they’re able to get from that product,” said Villa. “Basically, what I did is I got product A and product B, and then turned it into a premium product.”

Imagine gummy worms coated in the explosive, sweet, fruity flavors of cool-aid.

Villa called his Dirty Wormss.

“In middle school, these kids had never tasted anything like it,” said Villa. “The moment I brought it to the market, it was crazy.”

Villa’s $10 profit doubled quickly. Eventually, his business would grow to a point where he’d need to produce more product and enlist the help of friends to sell.

“They got their cut, and I got my cut,” said Villa. “I was making anything from $90 a day.”

Dirty Wormss eventually grew enough to catch the attention of school staff, who promptly shut Villa’s operation down.

“They pulled us out of class. Me and my buddy were like, ‘Yo, I think they’re cracking down on us,’” said Villa. “Sure enough, we went into the office and they told us we had to put a stop to it.”

Villa was told that the candy was causing issues in the restrooms, leaving behind sticky messes behind.

Villa took a hiatus after that. He would sell after school somewhat, but says it “wasn’t the same.”

“From that point to high school, it became something of a side hustle. Whenever I needed some quick cash, I already knew the system,” said Villa.

Going into his senior year, Villa wanted to start planning for his future, but didn’t see himself working for somebody at a normal 9-to-5 job.

That’s when he was given an idea: catering.

“My mom came home from this party she was at. She came in and was just boasting about how this raspado guy was selling ice cream and selling his products to the party, and how he was making a killing,” said Villa. “She was like, ‘You should sell your gummy worms to the parties.’”

Dirty Wormss only briefly went in the catering direction, as Villa would soon have a bit of a realization.

“It was this click in my head, this vision that I had,” said Villa. “I had this thought: If kids go into the gas station after school to be able to get their hands on some gummy worms, that would be crazy.”

Villa offers five flavors: Fruit Punch, Raspberry, Lemon Blast, Grape Explosion, and Chamoy x Tajin.

His first “store” was a hair salon owned by one of his father’s clients. While they sold, the gummies were held back in the fact that they didn’t look like a professional product.

“At that time, it was still in the sandwich bags I used to sell them in in middle school,” said Villa. “It was not even presentable. The presentation was very home made.”

His client gave him valuable feedback.

“A day or two days after when I received a phone call,” said Villa. “She was just saying how “you should come up with your logo, or something to make it more presentable to be in a retail setting.”

Villa came up with a logo. He upgraded packaging. He made connections. He marketed on social media.

He’s now in 142 stores, with an Instagram following of over 12.9 thousand followers.

And he doesn’t want to stop there.

“The goal is to get this product nationwide. Distribution through different retailers in every state. That’s where I want to take this,” said Villa. “It’s definitely something unique that people would really enjoy in different states.”

Dirty Wormss can be found at dirtywormss.com, and on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.

From middle school side hustle to candy business