Investor:Lori GreinerShark Aquarium Appearance:May 3, 2017 Offer:$75,000 for a 25% stake Results:Sales rose from $75,000 to $45 million.
For many entrepreneurs, their time Shark Aquarium seems like an eternity. Not for Tara Brown, creator of The Sleep Styler.
Brown hadn't been in the tank for 20 minutes before reaching an agreement with Lori Greiner. "The producers told me it was the shortest time in the Tank," Brown says, "I don't know if it was the fastest. I felt like it was over in an instant. »
Greiner, including Shark Aquarium investments include Scrub Daddy, the biggest hit in the ABC commercial reality show's eight-year history, says she instantly knew The Sleep Styler – hair rollers made of memory foam and yoga towel fabric that dries and styles your hair while you sleep – was another “hero product”.
“I also knew that I would be really able to help Tara bring this product to market quickly and global, where The Sleep Styler would become a household name within a year,” says Greiner. "Within five minutes of Tara's pitch, I had already visualized a big plan in my mind."
Some of Greiner's enthusiasm was fueled by Brown's background. She is a mother of two young children and has a busy practice as an ophthalmologist. The idea for The Sleep Styler came to her one morning when she unwound her daughter's hair from the braid she had put in the night before and discovered that it had held her curl perfectly. Here's the solution, Brown realized, to busy women who spend up to an hour a day drying their hair and still aren't happy with the results.
The only problem was that Brown had no experience assembling the type of prototype she had in mind. “I knew I had to create a sewn product,” she says. "As an eye plastic surgeon, I knew how to sew people's faces," but she knew nothing about sewing fabrics. So she enrolled in fashion school, squeezing in classes between her duties as a doctor and a parent. Within a semester, she was able to speak knowledgeably to her maker about things like seam allowances and serged edges while going through about 20 iterations of the prototype. She launched a Kickstarter campaign in July 2016 and reached her goal of $10,000 in 12 hours, then raised $47,000 by the end of the 30-day campaign.
Greiner saw that Brown would be unstoppable for make The Sleep Styler a sensation. “I could tell she was an extreme type A person,” Greiner says. In this way, Brown reminded Greiner of herself. "I constantly tell Tara, 'We think all the same. You look a lot like me. “Because of these similarities, it is easy for me to know where Tara is from. I really understand her and we get along very well.
Greiner says the product was totally in his wheelhouse. “I thought it would be a perfect infomercial product and I could quickly test it for a two minute spot and if successful I could take a lot of the work out of Tara's hands.
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“Many entrepreneurs have a great idea but also a busy life,” continues Greiner. “I try to assess the situation and the person when considering an offer. I knew that with Tara, I had all the know-how, the experience, the capacity and the connections to come and blow up the brand if it wanted to. It's my favorite thing to do. She felt very overwhelmed, although totally capable and doing a great job. I could tell she wanted to get back to some semblance of normal life. »
“Many entrepreneurs have a good idea but also a busy life.”
Ever since Brown's brief appearance in the Tank, everything has continued to move at warp speed. Just three weeks after the episode aired, AllStar, the logistics and fulfillment company that handles many Greiner products, took over day-to-day management of The Sleep Styler. Still, as the product prepares for its rollout to Wal-Mart and Bed Bath &Beyond stores in late summer, Brown says she hasn't exercised or cooked in months and that her once lovingly tended garden is full of weeds. But she makes sure to plan “special, meaningful moments” with her family.
“A year ago, I couldn't imagine my life was going to change the way it evolved,” Brown says . "It's surreal, but I have nothing to complain about. »
