I was a bit surprised to find news of a monumental Shark Tank failure when I got an Elephant Chat Fail story in my inbox. For those who don’t remember, Jason and Amanda Adams appeared in episode 509 back in season 5. The episode recently aired during Shark Tank Week- they were on with FiberFix who was Lori’s FAVORITE.
If you recall, Elephant Chat is a stuffed elephant in a clear plastic box designed to get couples to talk about “the elephant in the room.” When someone wants to have a discussion, they take the elephant out and chat. It was a cute idea and it seemed to be a product (and a couple) whose heart was in the right place. Chalk up the Shark Tank appearance for the Adams’ as an Elephant Chat fail, they didn’t get a deal and the edit made them look somewhat ridiculous.
Elephant Chat Fail Story
The email I recieved was from a family member of Jason’s. It pointed me to an IndieGoGo campaign called “Stand Up for Koa.” Koa, Jason and Amanda’s son, was born on August 30th, 2013 – after the Elephant Chat fail on Shark Tank. He had some breathing issues which made for sleepless nights for Jason, who stayed by his side. The child was the Adams’ first child together – each had kids from previous relationships (Amanda has never been married).
Fast forward to January 2014 and, as the IndieGoGo site states:
Then came January 2014; late night texts on her phone, the constant desire to stay away from the house, and so much more. Koa’s dad began to ask if they could go to counseling together. Koa’s mom refused. Koa’s dad began seeing counselors on his own and joined a marriage support group through his church in January. (This has offered unwavering support. You can find him there every Wednesday night.)
On March 7th, Peyton’s 16th birthday, Koa’s mom served him divorce papers at 9:30 pm. They had only been married a year and half.
As the emailer said, “I guess the Elephant in the Room was the other man she did not want to talk about.”
This is a sad story, but one that plays out over the USA every day: Parents can’t reconcile and kids suffer. Jason started the IndieGoGo campaign to raise funds for legal bills to fight for equal access and custody of their son (and Amanda’s daughter who views Jason as the only dad she’s ever known). Apparently Amanda is making it difficult for Jason. You can read the whole story here.
Shark Tank was a BIG Elephant Chat fail, but the back story shows there was more than one elephant in the room for the Adams family.
Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.
Perhaps you should have reached out to Amanda and heard her side–his video and story are filled with lies. He has been abusive and controlling for most of the marriage. His cruelty caused her such distress during the pregnancy that doctors were concerned for her health and Koa’s. She DID NOT do anything except try and make the marriage work until it became too unhealthy to stay. And her daughter’s father, contrary to the lies, has been as involved as he wanted to be. This is an ugly, cruel smear campaign by Jason because the first time they went to court he didn’t get his way. I think you should be ashamed for furthering the lies.
Merely reporting on what I found. Happy to share all sides of any story.
I’d like to hear her side of the story…does she have and input on this? What kind of guy was he really?
I was honestly just thinking about this BS shark tank pitch and I’m not sure why this brought a messed up smile on my face guess they didn’t use the elephant chat hard enough to make things work hahahah omg ignore theses people and their stuffed elephant.
I knew that woman was full of it. And he was a wimp. Both divorced previously for a reason.
I thought the idea was to let your partner know you want to talk about something serious by leaving the elephant out where they can see it and letting the partner who saw the elephant come talk when they’re ready, not “ When someone wants to have a discussion, they take the elephant out and chat.”