Sharks judging episode 9 (Source – Shark Tank ABC @Instagram)
On Shark Tank Season 16 Episode 9, three women entrepreneurs and a full-time male nurse took over the stage, presenting exciting businesses to sharks. Aired on January 24, 2025, Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O’Leary, and Lori Greiner sat as panelists while Robert Herjavec was absent from the episode. However, his spot was filled in by Jamie Kern Lima, the co-founder of IT Cosmetics.
The episode had four pitches and each entrepreneur arrived on the show with high energy and belief in their business. The episode also had certain emotional moments, especially when Jamie said that she was 29 when she learned that she was adopted. Here’s a detailed recap of everything that happened on Shark Tank Season 16 Episode 9.
Shark Tank Season 16 Episode 9 Pitches
Episode 19 of Shark Tank Season 16 saw innovative business ideas from young women entrepreneurs. From a heirloom trunk business to outdoor socks designed especially for women, the participants carried a belief that they were bringing a notable change in their respective fields.
Petite Keep
The episode started with a bang. Lindsay Mullenger ate and left no crumbs, impressing the sharks by her exponentially high sales numbers. Hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, she asked for $400,000 against 5% equity in her company, Petite Keep.
Petiti Keep offers high quality, personalized heirloom keepsake trunks which not only elevate aesthetics but are also durable enough to last a lifetime. While presenting personalized metal trunks to each of the sharks, Lindsay said that her customers often come to her in highly emotional moments of their lives. This prompted Jamie to share that she was 29 when she learned she was an adopted child. High on emotions, she asserted that she would use these trunks to keep things that are deeply personal to her.
Lindsay started Petite Keep in 2020 while working a full-time job, and made sales worth $110,000 Sharks were blown away to know that she is successfully running the business while raising five kids. From 2021’s sales numbers of $660,000, she made a massive jump and achieved a $1.7 million mark in 2022. In 2023, she hit the $5 million mark, which went 2x in 2024. With her projections of $17 million in sales for 2025, she was able to attract the attention of most of the sharks.
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Legit Kits
The episode’s second pitch was presented by Oklahoma based Mike O’Dell, who works full time as a registered nurse anesthetist. With his love for creativity, he started Legit Kits in 2020. At Legit Kits, he offers easy-to-sew foundation paper-piece patterns and kits to people who love quilting.
He admitted that the business is his side hustle but pointed out that it’s “blowing up”, backing it up with impressive sales numbers. From first year’s sales of $30,000, he jumped to $140,000 in 2021. In 2022, he did $400,000 in sales and finally hit a million in 2023, with a profit of 8.7%. Mike was seeking $150,000 in exchange for 5% equity in Legit Kits.
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Onewith
Hayley from New London, Connecticut, was seeking $200,000 for 5% in her company, Onewith. Launched at the end of 2021, Onewith offers comfortable swimsuits inspired from regular undies.
Hayley owns 100% stakes in the company. With a whopping gross margin of 75% on her products, she has been able to make $2.3 million of lifetime sales. During her pitch, she revealed that she put $130,000 of her own money into the business. However, a debt of $300,000 concerned the sharks.
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Tough Cutie
Brittany Coleman, the founder and CEO of Tough Cutie hoped to get $100,000 against 10% during her pitch. Her brand offers high-quality, comfortable and stylish outdoor socks for women. Brittany emphasized that the socks are made keeping in mind the unique needs of women’s feet.
While showing the sharks samples of her socks, she revealed that she won the award of most comfortable hiking socks in 2023 and 2024 by Outdoor Life. Brittany started the brand in 2022 and made lifetime sales of $967,000, out of which $748,000 worth of sales were made in 2023. Her sales fell drastically in 2024, with a projection to close at $350,000.
Sharks were unimpressed with her sales number. However, another blow came when she revealed that out of her gross sales of $748,000, the net sales were only worth $6,000. Seeing the sharks lose interest, Brittany began telling how she had a difficult and poverty stricken childhood when they sometimes didn’t have enough food to eat. She emphasized that she was able to overcome all the obstacles so far, and she could do it when it comes to her business too.
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Entrepreneurs Featured in Shark Tank Season 16 Episode 9
All the four entrepreneurs who appeared in Episode 9 of Shark Tank Season 16 were highly passionate about their respective businesses. They left no stone unturned to impress the sharks and answered every question with clarity. All of them were persuasive, sharp-minded and negotiated to get the best deals.
1. Lindsay Mullenger
Business Name: Petite Keep
Product:
- Petite Keep offers keepsake personalized trunks with 15+ PK Signature Prints, 20+ thread colors, and 8+ fonts.
- The products generally range from $195 to $350, depending on the size of the trunk.
- Lindsay sells her products via her website, where customers can customize the product by choosing their own color, fabric and embroidered text.
Deal Status: Jamie Kern Lima and Kevin O’Leary teamed up offering $400,000 against 10% equity for each of them. Lindsay was hesitant to give away 20% equity of her business, especially when she projected $17 million of sales for 2025. Barbara Corcoran and Mark Cuban suggested that Kevin and Jamie’s offer is “theft” and suggested Lindsay to not take the deal.
Eventually, Mark and Barbara, who earlier refused to make an offer, showed interest against 15% equity. Jamie joined them in their offer and the deal was locked.
Net Worth: $2 million
2. Mike O’Dell
Business Name: Legit Kits
Product:
- Legit Kits offers quilt kits with 60 designs and 100 shades of fabric to choose from.
- Customers can purchase the whole kit, or can also purchase fabric and patterns separately.
- It is a completely online business, with all the products being sold from the official website and Shopify.
Deal Status: Kevin O’Leary was the only one who made an offer although he had no prior knowledge of the quilting market. He matched up Mike’s initial ask but demanded lifetime royalty of 10 bucks on every unit sold. In return, he promised to guide him with social media marketing. Since there was no other offer on the table, Mike sealed the deal with Kevin by shaking hands.
Net Worth: $1.5 million
3. Hayley
Business Name: Onewith
Product:
- Onewith offers patent-pending swimwear which are comfortable like undies.
- The bikini tops and buttons are sold at an average price of $49 and $47 respectively. The one-piece swim-suits come with a price tag of $89.
- The swim-wears are elastic free, with an inner grip inside to keep secure.
Deal Status: The first offer came from Barbara who offered $200,000 against 20% equity on the condition that the business won’t go into retail. Jamie agreed with Barbara about not diving into retail, and matched up to her offer. Both of them rejected Hayley’s bargain for 12%. Eventually, the deal was locked, with both the sharks coming together for 10% each.
Net Worth: $1 million
4. Brittany Coleman
Business Name: Tough Cutie
Product:
- Tough Cutie offers comfortable socks to women who love hiking.
- The socks are made of certified merino wool, which is soft to touch and wear.
- The socks are priced between $20-$25 and can be bought in selected stores and through their online website.
Deal Status: Sharks pointed out Brittany’s strategic mistake of focusing on retail without making a strong online presence. Despite the flaws in the business, Barbara made an offer against 25% equity. Since there was no other offer on the table and Barbara wasn’t open to negotiations, Brittany agreed to it and locked the deal.
Net Worth: NA
Sharks in Shark Tank Season 16 Episode 9
Robert Herjavec missed the latest episode of Shark Tank Season 16. However, his position was filled in by another inspiring entrepreneur. Every Shark carefully analysed each of the business pitches and made calculated decisions of whether to offer a deal or not.
1. Mark Cuban
During the episode, Mark Cuban clearly mentioned whenever he didn’t resonate with the products. However, he praised the entrepreneurs for their efforts and hard work. During one of the pitches, his kind-heartedness also came to light.
During the pitch of Petite Keep, he said that it wasn’t his kind of product and didn’t make any offer. However, when he saw Jamie and Kevin making a ruthless offer, he called it “insane” and joined hands with Barbara to offer a better deal.
Notable Investments: Petite Keep
2. Barbara Corcoran
Out of the four pitches during the episode, three of them were made by women entrepreneurs. Interestingly, Barbara invested in all the three women, thus proving her willingness to support businesses run by women in every way she can. However, it wasn’t the sole reason why she invested in all these businesses. She was highly objective and evaluative before offering a deal.
During the episode, she was also honest, giving constructive criticism to the pitchers, whenever needed.
Notable Investments: Petite Keep, Onewith, Tough Cutie
3. Lori Greiner
Lori Greiner took a backseat during the recent episode, barely making any offers. She said she wasn’t a “sock lady” and thus went out of discussions during the pitch of Tough Cutie. A similar pattern was observed during other pitches as Lori didn’t seem too interested in the products.
She was happy with the quality of Petite Keep, but knowing that other sharks had made better offers, she backed out.
Notable Investments: None
4. Kevin O’Leary
Kevin O’Leary exhibited his risk taking ability when he invested in Legit Kits despite having no knowledge of the market. However, he was certain that he would be able to help Legit Kits grow using social media marketing.
He praised Hayley for her pitch but didn’t make an offer. He didn’t make any offer to Tough Cutie as well but offered valuable insights that would help the founder in making corrective measures.
Notable Investments: Legit Kits
Guest Shark on Episode 9
Jamie Kern Lima filled in for Robert during the episode. Viewers were offered a brief on her profile, revealing that she was the first person in her family to go to college. To pay the fees, she waited tables and also worked at a supermarket. She got her MBA degree before going into journalism.
Jamie shared the journey of her skincare brand IT until L’Oreal bought in for $1.2 billion in 2016. Jamie became emotional during the pitch of Petite Keep and even ended up making an offer.
Notable Investments: Petite Keep, Onewith
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It was an existing episode as all of the participants walked out with lucrative deals along with new hope of seeing their business reach better heights. However, the best pitch came from Lindsay who took the sharks by surprise with mind-blowing sales figures of Petite Keep.
