Grill Charms and Inventor Leslie Haywood — Success After Shark Tank

Grill Charms is known for being one of the Shark Tank show's success stories. Is Grill Charms still in business? What is Grill Charms inventor Leslie Haywood's net worth? What's Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec's net worth? Who owns Grill Charms now?

Invented by stay-at-home mom Haywood, Grill Charms is a barbeque accessory that has helped people avoid grilled meat confusion at dinner tables. Grill Charms are metallic tags that cooks can use to label meat before grilling it.

Cooks use the tags to remind them how to prepare meat based on individual preferences. The tags help people identify their grilled meat. The tagging helps avoid any mix-up that may cause disputes or result in allergy issues from people being served the wrong meat.

The idea of tagging meat struck Haywood after her husband gave her the wrong piece of grilled meat at a family dinner party. Grill Charms are available in a variety of collections including the Steak Collection, Spicy Collection, Charmed Life Collection, and Pink Collection. The tag varieties are distinguished by meat flavor.  

Haywood turned a barbeque problem into a business that made her good money. Her net worth is estimated at $18 million. Haywood receives royalty payments from Fox Run Brands on a quarterly basis under the brand licensing agreement. 

The royalty payment is a major contributor to Haywood's net worth. Robert Herjavec, the Shark Tank investor who gave Haywood’s Grill Charms business a financial boost, has a net worth of $200 million.

Haywood pitched her Grill Charms product to the Shark Tank panel in episode seven during season one. Haywood sought an investment that would take her business to the next level and the pitch worked. Herjavec agreed to invest $50,000 in the business in exchange for a 25 percent stake. Several Shark Tank investors competed for a chance to invest in Grill Charms. Haywood went with Herjavec’s offer because it allowed her to maintain control of the business.

Haywood said, “One of the main reasons I went with Robert [Herjavec] in the first place was because he said he believed in me.” Little is known about Haywood’s net worth before the Shark Tank deal.  

As the Grill Charms business grew bigger after the Shark Tank investment, Haywood struggled to split her time between the business and her family. She had to decide what would come first. 

Haywood decided to enter into an exclusive licensing agreement with Fox Run Brands. The company would manufacture and sell grilling labels on behalf of Haywood, who would in turn receive a cut of the sales.

“I came to realize my definition of success is freedom. I had less freedom as I got bigger. I thought maybe that first kind of success isn’t really what I wanted, I wanted to spend time with my kids,” Haywood said about the tough decision to license Grill Charms to Fox Run Brands.

Fox Run Brands is known for its branded consumer products for kitchen and home. The company sells Grill Charms through its Outset brand. The product sells for between $11.95 and $19.95.

When Hayward licensed Grill Charms to Fox Run Brands, the product was already selling at dozens of stores across the country. The Grill Charms business was profitable in its second year.

Hayward still owns Grill Charms despite handing over the manufacturing and marketing rights to the product to Fox Run Brands. What isn’t clear, however, is what percentage of Grill Charms sales goes to Hayward as royalties. Equally obscure is how much Robert Herjavec from the arrangement with Fox Run Brands.