ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

'Shark Tank' offers $350,000 deal to a single mom — her emotional pitch even left Kevin O'Leary in tears

The guest judge and Spanx founder Sara Blakely offered Lundeen the exact deal that she asked for.
PUBLISHED DEC 15, 2024
Screenshots showing the founder and Kevin O'Leary in an emotional moment (Cover image source: YouTube | Shark Tank Global)
Screenshots showing the founder and Kevin O'Leary in an emotional moment (Cover image source: YouTube | Shark Tank Global)

The investors on ABC's Shark Tank are known for asking a lot of tough questions before they invest in a founder's vision. However, one founder's story was so impactful that it even moved Kevin O'Leary, who is known for his harsh criticism and ruthless scrutiny. Entrepreneur Whitney Lundeen from Palo Alto, California came seeking $350,000 for a 25% stake in her clothing company, Sonnet James. During her pitch, Lundeen explained that as the mom of two young boys, she had difficulty finding fashionable dresses that were comfortable and easy to wash. This is when she decided to make yoga pants that were not just comfortable and easy to clean, but also extremely fashionable.

Whitney Lundeen
Whitney Lundeen pitching in Shark Tank | (Image Source: YouTube | Shark Tank Global)

After being asked to explain her $1.4 million valuation, Lundeen talked about her sales and explained that she has been running the business for five long years. She was selling her dresses directly to consumers online and in her first year, she made $84,000 before raking in $1.2 million from sales in the following year. Lundeen then added how she now needs help with her net profit which is around 8% to 10%.

Whitney Lundeen pitching in Shark Tank | (Image Source: YouTube | Shark Tank Global)
Whitney Lundeen pitching in Shark Tank | (Image Source: YouTube | Shark Tank Global)

In her pitch, she also talked about her journey to reach where she is today. "I was going through a difficult time in my life, and so I had this idea of making a dress that my mom could have worn that could have reminded her to play with me when I was little," she said. "And I said, ‘Alright, this year, I’m going to take the idea, and I’m going to teach myself how to sew, and I’m going to pattern draft.’ And every night, I would pretty much sit on the kitchen floor crying, trying to teach myself how to do two things I didn’t know how to do," she added. Her website was picked up by a blogger, which helped Lundeen receive more than 150 orders in 48 hours. She freaked out and called her brother and told him she was going to simply shut down the site and refund the orders as she was unable to meet that kind of demand. "He said, 'Do not shut it down, this is what start-ups dream of,'" Lundeen added. The following day, the mom got back to work.

Whitney Lundeen broke down while talking about her childhood | (Image Source: YouTube | Shark Tank Global)
Whitney Lundeen broke down while talking about her childhood | (Image Source: YouTube | Shark Tank Global)

Greiner asked the woman to talk more about wanting to create a dress that would remind her mother to play with her. This is when Lundeen choked up and explained that she had a difficult childhood. "My parents did the best they could with what they had," she says. "I found when I became a mom, I couldn’t engage with my kids as much as I wanted to. And I wanted something that could help me be the mother that I had always wanted to be and something that could remind me every day when I put it on what my priorities were."



 

She went on to say how nobody's childhood is perfect and everyone comes from some dysfunction adding that it is now the motto of her life to support mothers to do their best. O'Leary proceeded to wipe tears from his eyes adding that it was a very touching story. Guest judge and Spanx founder Sara Blakely then went on to offer $350,000 for 25 percent, which was exactly what she had asked for and the entrepreneur quickly accepted.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
The contestant was unable to contain her excitement and hugged the model.
9 minutes ago
Two of the players got it right, and while the player who lost didn't mind, fans were not satisfied.
1 hour ago
Lisa celebrated her birthday in style with a perfect two-card guess to win the big prize.
3 hours ago
Rick Harrison did what he could to console the guest who said that he had lost faith in NASCAR.
5 hours ago
Both the guest and the expert were fascinated by how well the automaton worked.
1 day ago
One of the entrepreneurs broke down in tears, explaining all the struggles they had to go through.
1 day ago
She couldn’t believe it when her doll was appraised at a five-figure sum, and laughed in disbelief.
1 day ago
Ken Jennings truly has embraced "Jeopardy!" in every way possible at this point.
1 day ago
The comedian was impressed by the simplicity of the product and amused by the pitch.
2 days ago
Harrison usually makes smart deals on the show, but this vintage car buy turned into a costly mistake.
2 days ago
Had she started the game in a better way, she might have won the five-figure prize money.
2 days ago
Barbara Corcoran made the exact same offer, and she wasn't happy about being rejected.
3 days ago
The guest believed that it was worth a modest amount of money, but that was clearly not the case.
3 days ago
With James Holzhauer in the lead, Amy Schneider and Andrew He decided to joke around.
3 days ago
Barbara Corcoran told the founders that she had never seen Greiner so passionate.
3 days ago
The guest said that it was left to her by her grandmother who passed at the age of 102.
4 days ago
The host was quick to latch on to his way of speaking and made a mockery of it on TV.
4 days ago
The contestant was clearly just happy to win the chance of being on the same stage as Drew Carey.
4 days ago
The player, Thomas Russo, nearly put all of his strength into spinning the wheel.
4 days ago
Things took a turn for the better with the shark as far as the entrepreneurs were concerned.
5 days ago