Doc Spartan Went From $56k to $1.7 Million in Sales After ‘Shark Tank’
We don’t know Doc Spartan's net worth, but we do know how successful the company has become after its "Shark Tank" Season 8 appearance.
July 16 2021, Published 1:23 p.m. ET
Entrepreneurs Dale King and Renee Wallace pitched their Doc Spartan Combat-Ready Ointment on Shark Tank in February 2017. Since then, the business seems to have boomed. In fact, they’ve even ventured out into other product lines.
Doc Spartan's net worth isn’t readily available online, but a Season 12 update revealed that the company had reaped $1.7 million in sales at the time, according to Shark Tank Tales.
That’s a far cry from the $56,000 that the company had earned at the time of its Shark Tank taping. Learn more about Doc Spartan’s progress and its origin below.
King and Wallace started the ointment brand in hopes of revitalizing their hometown’s economy.
King and Wallace brought Doc Spartan to Shark Tank in the ABC reality show's eighth season. They wanted a $75,000 investment for 15 percent of the company.
On the show, King explained that after two deployments to Iraq as a military intelligence officer with the 10th Special Forces Group, he returned to his hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio, to find it “ravaged with drug abuse” and “sapped” of its lifeblood.
King started a gym in the town, which is how he met Wallace, who was a member of the gym. Together, the duo developed “a completely all-natural, fast-healing first aid ointment trusted by members of the special operations community all the way to neighborhood moms.”
In a follow-up interview with Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec, King elaborated on their mission. He said, “The heart of America is its small towns and the backbone is its small businesses. We want to show that veterans can use the lessons from the military to open and operate small businesses after they exit from the service. Our roots are in Portsmouth, and we want to show our local community that successful companies can thrive here.”
Robert Herjavec invested $75,000 for 25 percent of the company.
Not all of the sharks bought into King and Wallace’s vision. Lori Greiner had an issue with the packaging and marketing of the Combat-Ready Ointment. Kevin O’Leary didn’t think the product was investible yet. However, Herjavec was willing to give it a shot. “I actually see maybe a new product category,” he told King and Wallace. “I’ll go along for the ride.”
Ultimately, Herjavec agreed to invest $75,000 for 25 percent of the company. In a post-pitch debrief, King literally jumped for joy. “We’re just two podunks from Ohio,” he told viewers. “It’s incredible. It’s such a feeling of relief. What Robert saw in us was a belief. He saw two people willing to make it happen and willing to work their asses off to get it done.”
Doc Spartan is still in business, shipping its many products from Portsmouth.
The Doc Spartan website shows just how many products the company sells now. The company sells deodorant, soaps and scrubs, beard oils and balms, skincare products, apparel, and even pet care products.
Doc Spartan is shipping its products around the country with the help of the Portsmouth residents who are working as full-time and part-time employees.
“Everybody that we employ is in some stage of recovery,” King told Spectrum News 1 in April. “Having the sense of fulfillment, watching these guys work out, watching these guys work, watching them celebrate their successes along the way, that’s really more rewarding than the business end of it.”
