24-year-old founder leaves Kevin O’Leary uneasy on ‘Shark Tank’ with huge sales — and no business training
When 24-year-old Sophie Nistico arrived at Shark Tank in a sweatshirt that said “Overthinker,” nobody had any idea what would happen next. She showed the Sharks her brand, See The Way I See, a clothing and lifestyle company focused on mental health that began with basic affirmation stickers such as “Breathe” and “You’ve got this.” She eventually added hoodies, sweatshirts, and accessories, all intended to remind individuals they are not alone in what they are facing.
But this wasn’t just another feel-good brand. Sophie shocked the Sharks when she revealed that she had once made $260,000 in just 24 hours and had over $450,000 in the bank, all without a team or marketing budget. She built the brand completely on her own. Following her own battle with overwhelming anxiety in high school and college, Nistico started See The Way I See as a means to help others who were going through what she did. When she went on Shark Tank, she presented her expanding brand to the Sharks, requesting an investment of $250,000 in exchange for 10% of the company shares.
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“I have zero background in business, my family has zero background in business, and I just feel like I’m hitting that point where I need a mentor,” Nistico said. Kevin O’Leary, one of the show’s toughest Sharks, admitted he got nervous listening to her pitch, the numbers were that strong. He was astonished at how well she was performing by herself and declared that he didn’t even know how he could help her. “I don’t really know how to help you,” said Kevin O’Leary. “This thing where you don’t know anything about business, I don’t really buy it anymore. You’re doing better than 90% of the people who stand in front of me there.”
Mark Cuban was grinning throughout. He informed Sophie that she didn’t require an investor, since she was already doing it all correctly. “What do you need a Shark for? You’re doing so well,” Daymond John told her. “You are making a boatload of money,” Mark Cuban added. “You’re a star.” Ultimately, none of the Sharks made her an offer, not because they didn’t believe in her, but because they believed she didn’t need them. “Let your community grow your business, not a team,” Cuban said. “Be who you are to your community, and you’ll grow with it. And you don’t want an investor for that, because you’re already putting money in the bank, and all we’d be doing is taking what you earned.”
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Following the airing of the episode, Nistico explained that the Sharks encouraged her to overcome her public speaking fear in an instagram post. “That was really difficult for me to do, but they really did give me a boost of self-confidence,” she said, according to CNBC. “After today, I really feel as though I can do anything.” Since appearing on the show, her business has only increased. See The Way I See now is available at Target, and she still drops new collections online, most of which are sold out within hours. As per Shark Tank Products, its net worth had reached an impressive $2.5 billion by 2023.