BALTIMORE — Dawn says she first created the hair tool called The Mint in 2022 after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
"This happened alongside five surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy," says Dawn Myers, The Richualist CEO.
When she was going through the hardest time of her life, she was able to create something that benefited others.
"We became one of fewer than 100 black women run companies to raise over $1 million in the venture funding that year while we were going through treatment," says Dawn Myers.
WMAR first met Dawn Myers a year ago, in April, when she was pitching her business to investors at a tech-stars event.
She says having to pitch her brand many times over the years became second nature when she was on Shark Tank.
"It was the most picture-perfect experience you could've imagined," Dawn says.
On April 5th Dawn introduced her business, the richualist, in the 19th episode of Shark Tank.
During the show, Dawn had a tough choice to make.
Sharks Mark Cuban and Emma Grede wanted to invest $150,000, but only for a 20% stake in the business.
Dawn says there was a lot of negotiation, but she ended up agreeing to the investment with a 15% stake and the other 5% as advisory shares.
“But at the end of the day, Mark Cuban is sitting across from you and he saying look, are you gonna take this deal or you gonna do this deal with me or not you take the deal I mean I folded like a lawn chair, so it was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of pressure," says Dawn.
Now that she has two new investors in the business, she says she has been learning more ways to grow and reach a larger target audience.
“Growing brands online is extraordinarily expensive, but we’re hoping that with her expertise we can really do this economically," says Dawn Myers.
She also wants to expand the business by creating more products in the future.
The Richualist sold four times more products than it has ever sold since the beginning, in the first 10 days after the episode aired.
