Being bullied for your looks isn’t a pleasant experience, but Tania Speaks suffered from it throughout her childhood. What did she do? She launched her eponymous line of organic beauty products, pitched them on Shark Tank, and landed a deal with billionaire Mark Cuban. As of 2024, Tania Speaks is worth $3 million.
About the Founder
Tanya Speaks, from Baltimore, Maryland, attended Hofstra University after being bullied in elementary and middle school for her bushy eyebrows.
One day after school, she was fed up with all the insults and decided to pluck her eyebrows. This caused her to bleed profusely and cause severe damage. It also affected the growth of her eyebrows.
Tania Speaks, Founder
Tanya went to a professional to get her eyebrows done but was turned away because she was too young. At 15, she solved the problem by searching online for organic remedies.
In 2016, the young woman borrowed $10,000 from her mother to develop her first product, an organic eyebrow gel. This product was released by her company, which was originally called Brow Boost. In 2017, she launched Beard Boost, a range of hair growth solutions for men.
This helped her startup achieve $1 million in sales and earn $700,000 in profit. As a result, Tanya was named one of the most influential teenagers of 2018 by Time magazine, along with Millie Bobby Brown and Greta Thunberg.
Prior to Shark Tank, Tania Speaks had already garnered attention from Forbes, Cosmopolitan and Access Hollywood, among others.
Shark Tank Appearance
To scale her business in 2022, the Baltimore teen needed more funding. Plus, at 19, she needed a mentor. Speaks appeared on Season 13 of Shark Tank seeking $400,000 in funding in exchange for 10% equity.
Tania Speaks proudly announced that she has made $1.4 million so far this year. Based on sales, the sharks were initially ecstatic about the business and liked the fighting spirit of the young entrepreneur. However, they began to hesitate because some of the claims had not been confirmed by third-party sources.
The Sharks were eliminated one by one, but when all hope seemed lost, Mark Cuban offered $400,000 for 20%. An emotional Mark Cuban wanted Tanya to meet his daughter. Speaks countered with $400,000 for 15%, and Mark accepted.
After Shark Tank
After the episode aired, fans of the show voted it one of the best pitches on Shark Tank. According to SharkTankBlog.com, it looks like the deal with Mark Cuban isn’t done yet. Typically, Cuban lists all of his investments on markcubancompanies.com, and Tania Speaks isn’t on the list!
That said, Tanya did mention in an interview with byrdie.com that Mark was a great mentor and responded promptly to all of her emails. So the deal may be sealed!
Currently, her products are only available through her website, TaniaSpeaks.com. She may expand into retail stores in the future, but this will affect her profit margins. According to her LinkedIn profile, Tania is studying entrepreneurship at Hofstra University and will graduate in 2022.
There are several reviews online saying the products work great, but customers have complained on Trustpilot that they never received their products. Tania Speaks is having problems keeping up with orders and may need to hire more employees. Business is still thriving, with over $1 million in annual revenue and an estimated value of $3 million. As of May 2022, the company had lifetime sales of $2.4 million, but that number should be closer to the $3 million mark now.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: dut.edu.vn
