Erica Gray knew that her business partner had pitched ABC’s “Shark Tank” during an open casting call in Portland last fall.
The Winthrop native didn’t know until two weeks ago that their company made it on the show, in an episode to air Friday night.
She’d declared early on that she didn’t want to be on TV.
“I think I would probably pass out if Mark Cuban yelled at me,” Gray, 40, said laughing.
“You definitely would,” business partner Alanna York teased on Wednesday.
During the episode, which airs on ABC at 9 p.m., York asks shark investors to back the rebranding and relaunch of their hair care line, focusing on one product: Controlled Chaos Curl Creme.
It was the company’s third try to get on “Shark Tank.” York, 42, of Falmouth thinks that past efforts got bogged down in the details: Different haircuts complement each of the 12 products in the sulfate-free, paraffin-free, organic, sourced-in-the-U.S. line.
“I think it was just too much,” she said. “We were given the advice to simplify and just do the curl creme. It was easy to understand and easy to pitch, so it was just, ‘Here — best curl creme ever.'”
York, the owner of Head Games Salon in Portland, met Gray several years ago when she approached with an idea for franchising the salon. Gray, who owns Gray Capital Investments, invested in a line of hair care products York had developed, and four years ago, Use Me! Products was born.
Use Me! sells to more than 50 salons in the U.S. and direct to customers online, but it grew too big, too fast, York said. At one time, it supplied a chain of 100 salons out of Canada, “but we couldn’t keep up with demand because we’re still a tiny company.”
That’s part of the reason she played coy with Gray after landing on “Shark Tank.”
“I kind of knew something was going on because (York) said, ‘Well, we have a potential investor, but I can’t tell you about it,'” Gray said. “She was just being really sketchy. She flew out to California for a trip and I asked, ‘Where are you going?’ because we’re also good friends, and she’s like, ‘None of your business.'”
York made light of the trip to the taping to try to throw her partner off.
“This has been a struggle for us, and we were considering not continuing with the company at all,” York said. “We’ve invested so much money and we haven’t had our big break yet. I was like, ‘I’m not going to tell her until I know for sure, because she can’t handle another disappointment, either.'”
York called the actual pitching experience “surreal.”
“When they open the doors, when you walk into the room, it was like I was watching the show,” she said. “Quite honestly, I couldn’t do any spoiling. There’s a part of me that’s blacked out about everything.”
Gray, who lives now in Scarborough, expects York to be funny.
“They wanted us to be TV-worthy and I think (based on a commercial for the episode) she pulled it off,” Gray said.
Controlled Chaos’ new packaging will roll out in the next 10 weeks. They hope to reintroduce the line one product at a time. The women said just having landed the spot on “Shark Tank” is already garnering more interest from other salons.
“We’re prepared now and we just weren’t before,” York said. “We’re ready for it to blow up this time.”
Business partners Alanna York of Falmouth, left, and Erica Gray, a Winthrop native now living in Scarborough, pose for a photo. York recently pitched the rebranding and relaunch of their hair care company, Controlled Chaos, to ABC’s “Shark Tank.” The episode and big reveal will air Friday.
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