Whatever Happened To The Sleep Styler After Shark Tank?

For those who have long battled with messy morning hair, Tara Brown's Sleep Styler might be the solution you've been looking for. Her company produces a set of memory foam tubes covered in microfibers that users can curl their washed hair in overnight while sleeping. When you wake up and the remove the tubes, your hair is now lush, curly, and dry without the time-consuming hassle of prepping it in the morning. 

Brown was in constant contention with her own frizzy hair. In 2015, she took notice of the recently undone braid in her daughter's hair and how the wavy shape remained intact. From here, the entrepreneur got to developing several prototypes and even enrolled in fashion school to learn how to sew, all while balancing her ongoing career as an ophthalmologist and caring for her two children. Eventually, she got it down and launched a Kickstarter in 2016 to aid in production. She hit her initial $10,000 goal in 12 hours and made a total of $46,938 from 1,000 backers by the end of the campaign. 

Success came rapidly for Brown's business as she appeared at the major beauty trade show, CosmoProf, shortly after launching. She then received a casting call from a "Shark Tank" agent, which would result in her appearance in Season 8 of the hit series.

On her "Shark Tank" episode, Tara Brown seeks out a $75,000 investment in exchange for 20% of her company. Brown enters the tank with Sleep Stylers in her hair, telling the sharks that setting it up only took five minutes as opposed to the one hour women typically take doing their hair in the morning. She demonstrates how easy it is taking the curlers out and the dynamic result they produce. 

The sharks are impressed by both the product's versatility and Brown's success on Kickstarter. She informs them that she came up with the idea in the past summer and has invested $100,000 of her own money into the business. The investors are in awe of her speed, especially while balancing out her other endeavors. In the three weeks since Sleep Styler has been out on the market, it has brought in $6,000, with good margins at a $39 price point and production cost of just under $10. More than the money, she needs a business guru who can help her sort through the negotiations made with various retailers she's been in touch with since attending CosmoProf. 

Unsurprisingly, the sharks show interest. However, Lori Greiner steals the thunder by making an immediate offer to Brown of $75,000 for 30% equity. Brown manages to convince the QVC Queen to go down to 25% and the deal is made without any other shark making an offer. 

With a useful product and a plucky entrepreneur behind it, the stage was set for the "Shark Tank" effect to hit Sleep Styler like a train. Twitter alone was abuzz on the night of the episode's airing, with fans eagerly anticipating becoming buyers, with users such as @k_boyle saying, "Watching #SharkTank and I'm pretty sure I'm the ideal customer for the sleep styler" and even Barbara Corcoran excitedly proclaiming, "Sleep Styler's gorgeous hair makes me want everything she's selling!"

On Season 9, an update segment centering on Sleep Styler aired. In it, founder Tara Brown reveals that on the night of the segment's March 2017 airing, the company sold out within five minutes. In 24 hours, Sleep Styler brought in $1.5 million. The team sold out again once investor Lori Greiner featured the Sleep Styler on QVC. Greiner helped get the product into such retailers as Walmart and Bed, Bath, & Beyond, with the company bringing in $50 million in retail sales alone within three months. "The response after the Sleep Styler aired was unbelievable," Greiner shared in the update segment. "I've never hit this kind of number in that amount of time with any of my 'Shark Tank' entrepreneurs." Coming from the shark who helped build some of the show's most successful brands such as Scrub Daddy and Squatty Potty, that's no small compliment. 

Greiner also took on the responsibility of manufacturing and fulfillment from Brown, who desired to spend more time on her medical practice and with her family. Greiner licensed the Sleep Styler to Allstar Innovations, who's products include ShamWow and the Snuggie.

It might be surprising to learn that one of the fastest-growing "Shark Tank" businesses has not seen much activity in recent years. Sleep Styler's website presents visitors with a single homepage showcasing a series of step-by-step photos along with a video. The only information available is an email address for wholesale opportunities. Similarly, not much has been moving social media wise either. The company's Instagram and Facebook have not been updated since 2022, while its Twitter has been similarly inactive since 2018. 

You can still purchase Sleep Styler from such retailers as Walmart and Amazon. However, the product has received increasingly mixed reviews in recent years, with a 3.6 star average on Walmart based on six reviews and a 3 star average on Amazon from over 4,400 commenters. The results seem to vary between individuals, but a good few were unpleased by the inconsistency in their hair quality while also finding that their hair gets caught in the velcro strap. Sleep Styler's YouTube channel, while not having been updated since 2017, contains many tutorials and tips on how to use its products. 

Nevertheless, Sleep Styler is still largely seen as a "Shark Tank" success story. Many sources such as CNBC, Investopdia, and Failory list the brand as one of the best "Shark Tank" sellers of all time.

While it's easy to assume that Sleep Styler's recent inactivity indicates that founder Tara Brown has been left out of the loop, that's not entirely true. Brown has taken a big step back from running the company, but she remains listed as Sleep Styler's CEO on her LinkedIn. In a 2020 interview with Tamara Thompson, Brown explained her current role, stating, "Now I don't do any day-to-day stuff, except occasionally go to QVC."

Nevertheless, Brown's time has been more dedicated to advancing her medical career. Along with her skill set in ophthalmology, she also specializes in various anti-aging and rejuvenation procedures such as dermal fillers, microneeding, facials, and neurotoxin injections. 

As for the future of Sleep Styler itself, it appears that the product is continuing to find its place amongst Allstar's lineup. Lori Greiner still has it listed on her website as one of her "Shark Tank" businesses, indicating that the brand is in good hands. With the massive success and notoriety gained by Sleep Styler and its "Shark Tank" appearance, there”s little doubt that the product will come bouncing back.