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 deal with billionaire Mark Cuban. As of 2024, Tania Speaks is worth $3 million.
About the Founder
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. This led to her bleeding badly, and the damage was severe. It also affected her brows’ growth.
Founding 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.
The young lady developed her first product, Organic Eyebrow Gel, in 2016 after getting a $10,000 loan from her mom. It was released under her company, which was originally named Brow Boost. In 2017, she launched Beard Boost, a line of hair growth solutions for men.
This helped her startup reach $1 million in sales and make a profit of $700,000. As a result Tania was recognized by Time as one of the Most Influential Teens of 2018, along with Millie Bobby Brown and Greta Thunberg.
Before Shark Tank, Tania Speaks had already gained a lot of attention from websites like Forbes, Cosmopolitan, and Access Hollywood.
Shark Tank Appearance
To scale her business in 2022, 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, fans of the show rated it as one of the best pitches on Shark Tank. It appears the deal with Mark Cuban hasn’t closed yet according to SharkTankBlog.com. Typically, Cuban lists all of his investments on markcubancompanies.com and Tania Speaks isn’t on the list!
Despite this, Tania did mention in an interview with byrdie.com that Mark is an amazing mentor and replies quickly to all of her emails. So, potentially the deal may have closed!
Currently, her products are only available to buy through her website, TaniaSpeaks.com. She might expand into retail stores in the future but that would impact her profit margins. According to her Linkedin profile, Tania studied Entrepreneurship at Hofstra University and graduated in 2022.
Several online reviews say that the products work, but customers have complained on Trustpilot that they never received the product. Tania Speaks is having issues keeping up with orders and may need to hire more staff. The business is still thriving and makes over $1 million in annual revenue and is worth an estimated $3 million. As of May 2022, the company had $2.4 in lifetime sales but this figure should be approaching the $3 million mark by now.
