Glow Recipe's Shark Tank Experience - Part 2
Whoa. What a week this has been!
When Christine and I were prepping to go on Shark Tank, we read a fellow entrepreneur describe the experience of watching themselves pitch on national television as an emotional rollercoaster. We would absolutely agree with that, except it felt like our rollercoaster was running on rocket fuel!
Throughout the day on the LA set, Christine and I were bundles of nervous energy. We had no idea what to expect as we had watched so many intelligent and confident entrepreneurs come across as tentative, argumentative, and/or overwhelmed and as a result, get chewed up by the Sharks. While we walked away from our pitch feeling that it had gone well overall (and of course, knew the end result!), the Sharks had asked us a number of thoughtful and serious diligence questions. Our experience was a reminder that, while Shark Tank is a highly-successful television show, the Sharks themselves are experienced and successful business people with an incredible breadth of skills and knowledge.
We get this question a lot, but the show is not scripted at all. The Q&A is especially intense, because the Sharks are really meeting you for the first time as you walk through that long corridor. And while it was intense, it was such a learning experience, as they not only grilled us on the numbers and vision we had for Glow Recipe, but also gave thought-provoking advice and encouragement. We were there for almost an hour, which was then edited down to what was shown on TV.
All that being said, we could not wait for 9PM (EST on Friday, December 4, 2015) to come around. We will remember the exact date and time for the rest of our lives (after all, it was literally a once-in-a-lifetime experience). The countless sleepless nights spent composing pitches to media outlets, responding to customer emails, or spent speaking with vendors a dozen time zones away, were all culminating in that one moment.
Most importantly, we saw this moment as an enormous opportunity for us to share Korean beauty with the world, or at least the 9 million or so folks who watch Shark Tank! We are true believers in the innovative potential of Korea to change the way the global market views beauty.
We decided to keep our viewing party very small – gathering our families in the conference room at our office. We ordered pizza and were glued to our laptops so we could track social media real-time, as well as make sure our website did not go down!
Watching ourselves walk through the Shark Tank doors was a moment of sheer terror. Were we committing professional suicide? Would they show every hesitation and shocked look? And of course, did the cameras really add 10 pounds?
Thankfully, our fears proved unfounded. The pitch could not have gone smoother. The Sharks quickly saw the growth potential of Korean beauty in the U.S., as well as the unique market insight and non-replicable experience Christine and I bring to the table – as Mark Cuban rhetorically asked, “How many Sarahs and Christines are there out there?”. We were incredibly fortunate to secure three offers: Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O’Leary, and of course, Robert Herjavec (our Shark!).
Throughout the entire pitch, Robert was very receptive and open to our thoughts, and we will never forget what he said to us on the show, “You guys are the real deal…it’s a pure execution business so I’ve got to buy YOU.” We think his incredible business background coupled with his experience in the technology sector will prove invaluable to Glow Recipe as we continue to scale our business.
Thank you so much to everyone for your support, and for all of the encouraging comments you have shared with us via emails at love
Many of you have have emailed us and asked where you could watch the episode. It’s currently live on Hulu as well as on ABC.com (for users with selected TV providers).
Here are some photos from when we flew out to LA to pitch to the sharks:
We know that Korean skin care is new to a lot of you, so Christine and I designed special trial kits (which can be found here), which we customized for different skin types so that you can get a taste of the full Korean skin care routine. Details are here.
As always, we would love to hear from you if you have any questions or comments.
Get your glow on!
Love,
Sarah & Christine
P.S. Curious about how we got to Shark Tank? Check out Part 1 of Glow Recipe’s Shark Tank experience!