Rob Merlino: Blogger, Writer, Entrepreneur & Foodie

Lisa Baronoff invented WalkeePaws to protect her dogs’ paws from road salts during winter time. Road salt seriously irritates paws to the point of them splitting and dogs can ingest toxins if they lick their paws after exposure to road salt. The only solutions are to thoroughly wash your dog’s paws after exposure to road […]

Hop Scotch co-founder Samantha John started her business with educator Jocelyn Leavitt in 2013. They wanted a way to get more girls interested in programming and engineering. She was 26 at the time. The original app was designed to teach kids ages 8-12 to code using visual programming language for touch screen devices like the […]

Looking at this picture, you wouldn’t think those were vegan burgers stacked up there. They look like real, juicy burgers and that’s what Jumoke Jackson, Danita Gassen and Duane Cheers cook up every day at Everything Legendary, their vegan café and now ecommerce vegan burgers purveyor. They initially opened in Washington, D.C. in 2019 with […]

Judy Schott and Nita Gassen originally invented The Better Bedder as a device to make bunk beds easier. It really didn’t help, but they discovered it could do a lot of  cool things for regular beds – one of the biggies is it holds your sheets in place. Picture a giant headband that goes around […]

Michelle Sendowski first thought about the Souper Cube while figuring out how to store home made chicken broth. She wanted something that would give her precise portion control while easily fitting into the freezer. At the time, she was dating her husband, Jacob, who appears with her in the Shark Tank pitching their business. In […]

Sauce Boss Tyla-Simone Crayton made her first batch of Sienna Sauces when she was just 8 years old. She wanted to replicate the sauce from her favorite wing joint which had closed. Now she’s a national teen entrepreneurial phenomenon. She has her product in WalMart, Wegman’s and dozens of smaller grocery chains. What really got […]

Haley Pavone invented Pashion heels after getting her foot impaled by a stiletto heel. She’d taken her own heels off because they were hurting her feet while dancing. The next day, she started researching how to make a high heeled shoe that could convert into a flat. That was 2016. Four and a half years […]

Elyce Billany invented Byoot bathing suits after wrangling with a wet one piece bathing suit in a dirty Jamaican bathroom. She wanted an easier way to remove her suit and as soon as she got back from that vacation, she got to work on designs. She didn’t let the fact that she had no experience […]

Andrea Meggiato made his first Pizza Cupcakes in his home kitchen. When he immigrated from Italy, he worked in the food business, so he was used to experimenting with food. One day, he made a small bite sized pizza with sourdough and brioche and his wife dubbed them Pizza Cupcakes. As more friends and family […]

Wen Muenyi got the idea for Jax Sheets after buying expensive silk sheets for himself. He loved the way they feeled, but he didn’t like the price, so he set out to create sheets that had a silk feel without the price tag. He also wanted the sheets to be sustainable. Wen settled on bamboo […]

Nic Lamb invented the Ice Beanie because he was suffering from migraines that were caused by a concussion. He’s a world class surfer and he injured his head when he wiped out on a huge wave in 2016. Ice was one of the things he used to ease the pain of his migraines, but he […]

Patrick Parizo and Armand Ferranti invented the Draft Top to make drinking beer from a can more fun and flavorful. Their little invention opens the top of a beer can and effectively turns it into an aluminum “drinking glass.” This makes beer taste better because you can better experience the aromas. It’s also a hit […]

Bob Mackey says the idea for the Yono Clip came to him while working out at the gym. He saw people putting gym bags and jackets on the dirty floor. Yono is short for “You Only Need One.” He thought it was disgusting that all those gym germs were getting on his stuff. He wanted […]

Nancy Kalish created Rule Breaker Snacks because she has a “dessert for breakfast sweet tooth. As a health coach, she’s aware of how bad too much sweets are for you, but she still had cravings. She wanted a product that tastes like a brownie, but without all the “bad stuff.” So she started experimenting with […]

For most people, having a nightcap is having one last drink before bed. For brother and sister team Shirah and Michael Benarde, it’s a safety issue and a business opportunity. Their product, NightCap, makes drinking in bars a bit safer for people because it helps prevent getting roofied, a term for spiking a drink with […]

Mountain Flow Eco Wax creator Peter Arlein loves skiing and the environment. This led him to create a plant based ski wax so he wouldn’t pollute the environment while enjoying his favorite passtime. Most ski wax products contain petroleum based ingredients which ultimately leech into the watershed. Mountainflow Eco-Wax is green and clean. They’re so […]

Zack Schreier invented Quevos Egg White Chips because he constantly has to watch his carbohydrate intake. Zack is a type one diabetic and has to monitor his blood sugar level constantly. This means snacking on a bag of chips requires an insulin shot. He wanted a snack that satisfied his craving for chips without sending […]

Swipe n Snap inventor Alina Kravchenko created her invention to keep her son safe. When he was in diapers, she was always afraid of letting go of him while he was on the changing table. She knew this was a problem for many parents, so she set out to solve it. Since she was little, […]

Ross Smith and Kweku Larbi invented The BruMachen because they like their coffee. They like it so much, they want to bring it everywhere they go, but not in a thermos that lets it lose its heat. No, they want a fresh brewed cup of coffee whenever and wherever they are. the two are an […]

Paul and Maddie Voge created Aura Bora Sparkling Water while experimenting in their kitchen. They like sparkling water so much, they have their own Soda Stream. The couple decided to start experimenting with some herbs they had in their pantry and concocted some funky flavors. They decided – perhaps foolishly -to start selling their creations […]

Cole and Emily Williams want a Shark to bite into a Slice of Sauce, their ketchup sheets, in epiosde 1211. The way Emily claims she invented the product as when she had a lot of leftover tomatoes while attempting to replicate her father’s barbeque sauce. He owned a restaurant when Emily was growing up, whicg […]

Sisters Mabel and Shaira Frías seek a Shark to invest in LunaMagic, their make up line inspired by Caribbean & Latin American culture. Mabel worked for years directing online sales of beauty products for Macy’s, Nordstrom and other big brands. She wanted brighter, bolder colors in some of the lines, but the big companies were […]

The Love Is Project started when Chrissie Lam wanted to ask the world to  spread more love. She’d left the corporate world in 2012 and was living amongst the Masai tribe in Kenya. The love the women she met had for each other and the beautiful beaded bracelets inspired her to start her business that […]

The Bubbly Blaster takes the art of spraying Champagne to a whole new level. Sprayinng Champagne all over each other is a symbol of victory in the sports world. The practice began in the 1960’s when race car drivers decided it would be a fun way to celebrate. Now, it’s a right of passage in […]

If you ever played a sport, you probably got a trophy at some point in time. Trophies are a part of American culture and they make people feel good about their endeavors. There are iconic trophies for the winners of the World Series, Stanley Cup and Super Bowl and then there are the kind doled […]