Getting bullied because of your looks isn’t a pleasant experience, but Tania Speaks suffered from it throughout her childhood. And what did she do about it? She launched a self-titled organic beauty product line, pitched it on Shark Tank, and got a $400,000 deal with billionaire Mark Cuban. After Shark Tank, Tania Speaks is worth $3 million.
Tania Speaks
Tania Speaks is from Baltimore, Maryland, and attended Hofstra University. Before this, she was bullied for having thick and bushy eyebrows from elementary through middle school.
One day after school, she got tired of all the insults and decided to remove her eyebrows. The attempt went badly, she cut herself, ended up needing stitches, and was left with patchy brow growth that took years to recover.
Launching Tania Speaks
To fix her eyebrows, Tania went to professionals but got turned away for being too young. At 15 years old, she took care of the situation by researching organic remedies online.
In 2019, with a $10,000 loan from her mom’s 401(k), Tania developed her first product: the Original Organic Eyebrow Gel, made with aloe vera and vitamin E. It was released under her company, originally named Brow Boost. In 2020, she launched Beard Boost, a hair growth oil for men.
By 2020, the business had hit $1 million in annual sales with $700,000 in profit, and Tania was named one of Time’s Most Influential Teens of 2018. Before Shark Tank, the brand had also been featured in Forbes, Cosmopolitan, Access Hollywood, NBC, The Root, and Black Enterprise.
Tania Speaks on Shark Tank
To scale her business, the Baltimore teen needed more capital. Plus, she was 19 at the time and needed a mentor. Speaks appeared on season 13 of Shark Tank, seeking $400,000 for 10% equity.
Tania Speaks proudly announced she had made $1.4 million so far for the year. Based on sales, the Sharks were initially ecstatic about the business, and loved the young entrepreneur’s hustle. However, they started to get hesitant as some of the claims haven’t been verified by third-party sources.
The Sharks went out one by one but when all hope seemed lost, Mark Cuban made an offer of $400,000 for 20%. An emotional Mark Cuban wanted Tania to meet his daughters. Speaks countered with $400,000 for 15%, and Mark accepted.
After Shark Tank
After the episode aired in January 2022, fans rated it as one of the best pitches of the season. There was some early uncertainty over whether the deal had formally closed but Tania has since described Mark as an active mentor who responds quickly to her emails, and both parties have spoken publicly about the deal as completed.
The product range has expanded well beyond the original eyebrow gel. The current line includes the Original Organic Eyebrow Gel, Original Organic Beard Oil, a Foaming Cleanser, Resurfacing Toner, Facial Moisturizer, and the Naked On The Go Organic Skincare Kit (a bundle priced at $99.99). Most individual products sit around $30.
Tania has also published a book, available through her website, expanding her presence beyond skincare into personal-brand territory. It’s the kind of move that suggests she’s building Tania Speaks the brand, not just Tania Speaks the product line.
Products are still sold direct-to-consumer through TaniaSpeaks.com, with free shipping on orders over $59. Retail expansion has been mentioned in past interviews but hasn’t yet happened, likely a margin trade-off Tania is taking her time on.
The press momentum has continued. Beyond the pre-show coverage, the brand has since been featured in Black Enterprise, Adweek, Sheen Magazine, and AFRO News. Several online reviews say that the products work, but customers have complained on Trustpilot that they never received the product.
Tania graduated from Hofstra University in 2022 with a degree in Entrepreneurship, applying her formal training directly to the business she had already been running for three years. Lifetime sales have now surpassed $5 million, making the original Cuban investment look like a bargain.
