Whatever Happened To ShredSkinz Sauna Suit After Shark Tank?
Even though its owners left without an investment, technical surf apparel company Driftline grew after "Shark Tank," proving there's a market for even niche sports apparel technology. On "Shark Tank" Season 14, Episode 8, entrepreneur Kalaii Griffin II pitched the sharks on a business he founded and runs called ShredSkinz. Its sole offering is a disposable version of something called a sauna suit, intended to increase the amount of sweat its wearer produces. Fighters, in particular, need to maximize sweat in order to cut weight before a fight, whereas some sauna suit users simply enjoy the experience of a good sweat during or after an intense workout.
The issue with reusable sauna suits is that without proper cleaning, they can irritate their wearer's skin. They're also costly to replace. When he played college football and worked out in a sauna suit, Griffin switched from a prefabricated option to wearing trash bags. Because he felt embarrassed to be out in public in a trash bag, he decided to create his own product to address the issue. While the ShredSkinz sauna suit is a single-use plastic product, it is produced to maximize biodegradability.
Griffin entered the tank seeking $60,000 in exchange for 20% of his company. Here's what happened to ShredSkinz during and after "Shark Tank."
What happened to ShredSkinz on Shark Tank?
Once ShredSkinz founder Kalaii Griffin II starts talking numbers with the "Shark Tank" panel, he reveals that his company got off to a hot start. Thanks to marketing on TikTok, on which the brand has a sizable following, ShredSkinz amassed $15,000 in sales during its first two months as a business. Then the company made $190,000 in 2021, and during its "Shark Tank" appearance in 2022 Griffin revealed the company was on track to net about $250,000 for the year.
But it isn't just Griffin's sales figures that impress the panel. The entrepreneur opens up about his tough past and shows that he's not afraid to cry in the tank, which particularly impresses guest shark Daniel Lubetzky. After Kevin O'Leary and Lori Greiner back out of negotiations, Lubetzky gets out of his seat and praises Griffin before offering his desired $60,000 for 20% equity. Before he can respond, however, Mark Cuban chimes in and offers him the same deal. As proof of the value he can bring to ShredSkinz, Cuban proposes that the company abandon its pricier packaging in order to increase revenue immediately.
Griffin decides to accept Cuban's deal, explaining in a short interview that he thinks the company will expand more under Cuban's guidance than it could under Lubetzky's. Griffin personally thanks Lubetzky and even offers to clean up his mess on his way out, which a couple of sharks note is a "Shark Tank" first.
ShredSkinz after Shark Tank
As "Shark Tank" fans are well aware, one of the sharks promising to invest in a business on the air doesn't always mean they end up closing on that proposed deal. In Kalaii Griffin II's case, however, Mark Cuban did in fact go through with his $60,000 investment and is currently Griffin's business partner.
A few months after his episode aired, Griffin guested on a YouTube interview series titled "What's Your Hustle?" and had nothing but good things to say about his "Shark Tank" experience. "'Shark Tank' is literally everything you can imagine. Everything and anything you think that happens — from emotions to results — happens," he said.
Although he doesn't talk numbers, this latter point implies that ShredSkinz benefited from the so-called "Shark Tank" effect and saw its sales increase after the episode aired. Also of note in this interview is a clip of a TikTok video in which a ShredSkinz customer is opening a new package of sauna suits. Its packaging is visibly simpler in design than what Griffin showcased on "Shark Tank," indicating that the company did, in fact, implement the cheaper packaging idea Cuban proposed on-air.
Is ShredSkinz still in business?
ShredSkinz is still in business to this day, maintaining its online store in addition to opening up bulk sales to gyms. The official ShredSkinz website now offers more than just the flagship sauna suit five-pack product Griffin featured on "Shark Tank." Sauna suits, for instance, now come in a 10-pack option and can be purchased through monthly subscriptions. Customers can choose between black, yellow, pink, and blue colors. Also new to the company's line of fitness products is a single-use body wrap called SlimSkinz, available in a single size and color. Additionally, ShredSkinz is branching out into merch, including a sweatshirt showcasing the company logo and a graphic T-shirt.
On "Shark Tank," one of the key strengths Kalaii Griffin II highlights is a sizable follower count on TikTok. ShredSkinz is still active on TikTok with a following of approximately 200,000 users, and some of its videos have view counts in the millions. One notable area of expansion for ShredSkinz is its online availability. Now the product is on Amazon, albeit without some of the options available to customers shopping on the brand's website.
What's next for ShredSkinz?
Something Kalaii Griffin II emphasized on "Shark Tank" is that he was working a day job even as he was attempting to grow ShredSkinz. Griffin now seems to have left his job and committed himself to ShredSkinz full-time, suggesting the company is on an upward trajectory.
One way ShredSkinz is already expanding is through an increased presence on e-commerce platforms, landing a spot, for example, on the Walmart website. The brand is also growing through athletic partnerships — Griffin told the hosts of the YouTube show "Tha Boxing Voice" that the company's most famous advocate was UFC fighter Max Griffin as of their conversation in May 2023. That said, he's looking to partner not just with more athletes but also with athletic organizations in general in the company's future.
The ShredSkinz clothing line is also something Griffin hopes to grow, but he noted in this same interview that apparel sales numbers weren't yet justifying growth at that time. Griffin's vision for the company's future, then, involves ShredSkinz growing in popularity to the extent that the company's logo becomes legitimately fashionable.