Life After Shark Tank: The AU Baby Update You’ve Been Waiting For

If you’re here, you must be curious about AU Baby’s journey since airing on Shark Tank almost 3 years ago. Yes, we are still in business, and honestly, what happened after the Tank is a more interesting story than what happened in it. If you watched Episode 13 of Season 15, then you saw me enter a battle that culminated in making a deal with Mr. Wonderful, perhaps the least likely partner for a burgeoning baby brand. 

And if you’ve read the comments on YouTube, you know that many took notice of my calm, confident and studied approach to the fierce negotiation process. Funnily, there’s a theory throughout that thread that (1) I must be AI and (2) have a face full of Botox for staying so cool under pressure. Neither are true. You see, as a patented material innovator turned stay at home mom during COVID, I did not come to play. I came to make a deal. And I was not about to let anything get in my way, not even the out-of-body nerves or the extreme dry mouth that hit me in the beginning of the Q&A. One of my super powers (thanks, childhood trauma!) is appearing completely self-possessed during moments of intensity. And the Tank is intense. 

My roundtable of Sharks and the one who bit. 

Although the producers did a great job prepping me for the experience, nothing really comes close to actually having the Sharks sitting in front of you. All eyes, all cameras, and all the questions coming at once in rapid fire. I prepared by watching the show. Learning each Shark’s interests and what motivates them to connect, to invest. It’s not always the business, sometimes it’s the entrepreneur and their spirit. What people didn’t see was the real BTS of my preparation as a stay at home mom of a 2 year old. I edited my pitch during nap time. I answered the Shark’s imagined questions in my head late at night after a long day raising my little human. And quickly realized that wasn’t enough - I had to verbalize them out loud. And at first they were..less than eloquent. 

While I didn’t have much quiet, focused time to prepare, I did have the moral support of my family and friends. My husband, Josh, who works in institutional investing, helped me build the most rigorous business model that room had probably ever seen for a brand AU Baby’s size. We decided together how much I would seek and for what percentage. We landed on 20% for $80,000 — an extremely reasonable number that paired with a valuation firmly rooted in reality, not wishful thinking. 

My actual pitch filmed on Father’s Day the summer before airing. I was the last entrepreneur to pitch that day and before the double doors opened, I heard the Sharks cheering that the filming day was almost over. I did not have a warm audience. In the Tank sat Mark Cuban, Emma Grede, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, and Robert Herjavec. The good news — they loved my product. They oohed and ahhed over the softness, they cozied up with the blankets, eyes alight following along on the product journey from sustainable merino to Italian plant dye. Then came the retail price - $160. Their faces twisted into confusion and disapproval.

Fueling up on the big filming day at Erewhon with my entourage (and sneaking in some snuggles).

If that weren't enough, in 2022 the conversation around microplastics and synthetic fabrics was just beginning. So, I had to educate them first about the problem with most baby blankets before delivering my solution. This is when Kevin’s question stood out to me, “Why are most baby blankets made of plastic?” He quickly answered his own question while I echoed, “Cost.” Mr. Wonderful was the one who got it and understood our value proposition - that people would pay the premium for such a safe and effective alternative. The rest of the negotiation, I'll leave to your imagination — and to the episode itself, which you can watch it here. What I can tell you is that I left the Tank with a deal.

Once our episode aired, about 8 months later, the feeling was electric. I watched in ecstatic shock as hundreds of orders poured in overnight. Connecting the product I had spent years perfecting with the customers who both understood and wanted it was a very satisfying moment. We doubled our lifetime sales in one month, with my mother and me fulfilling them all by hand in my home office. Thanks mom!! I quickly learned that our customers are located all over the country (and globally) in varied locations not limited to major cities. They live in small towns, on homesteads and farms. The biggest orders skew toward grandparents, (who, once they find the perfect product) order for all the grandkids at the same time. These valuable insights help us understand and connect with our customers today. 

Our viewing party and the mountain of orders that streamed in during.

In the years since Shark Tank, we’ve continued our mission to provide babies with true security blankets with all the benefits of merino wool and none of the chemicals that come with the industry standard. Because we believe everyone should enjoy the non-toxic, therapeutic comfort of our blankets, we expanded our product offering to include adult sizes. As I said in the Tank, “I created this category and I’m ready to dominate it.” These words ring true as we fight against the deluge of chemically laden, hormone disrupting and microplastic shedding 100% polyester throw blankets that make up the majority of the marketplace. 

Our blankets became the first FSA/HSA eligible blankets ever. The science behind merino’s abilities to improve sleep quality and soothe sensitive skin conditions is so compelling that we partnered with Flex to allow customers to pay with their pre-tax health savings plans easily at checkout. We also launched new beanies and accessories (also FSA/HSA eligible!) and expanded our monogrammed offering. Now everyone on your gift list is covered. Our Heirloom Merino collection transitioned to NATIVA certification — the most comprehensive regenerative farming and ethically sourced wool program available. We also shifted our production to the EU from the USA so that we could produce our adult and baby sizes at the same location. We got a fulfillment center and the team has grown modestly to include Francesca, our Marketing Director, and Jack, our freelance embroiderer. Partnering with Francesca and actually having a co-worker for the first time has been so fun and rewarding. 

Amidst the business growth has come personal changes and some challenges. Along with the blessing of adding to our family, 2025 came with a complicated pregnancy, multiple hospitalizations, and a long NICU stay following the birth of my son at 31 weeks. Embodying the role of a DTC E-commerce CEO with the skill set of a product designer has involved some long stretches of learning and making do in the moment. Running my company as the sole full-time employee while recovering and caring for my newborn and now 5 year old was a season of difficulty that most didn’t see. What I learned about myself as a founder during a difficult season is that I’ve never been more dedicated to this work. And I’ve never been more hopeful or excited for what the future holds for us. 

If you found AU Baby through the Tank and have been curious ever since — welcome. We've been here the whole time, making the same blankets with the same obsessive attention to what goes into them. Browse our full collection, explore our adult blankets, or learn how to use your FSA/HSA funds to shop with us. We're so glad you found us.