Krista Woods-How She Got On Shark Tank!

Welcome to the Mike Hartman show. Mike is a performance coach and former Stanley cup champion with the New York Rangers. Topics on this show are focused around stories, mindset and champions. Mike will also go into details about helping you with your pain points and struggles and finding motivational solutions on how to have the mindset of a champion. Now, here's your host, Mike Hartman.

Welcome to another episode. Today my guest is Krista Woods. Krista is an entrepreneur. You have to hear her story. She really understands how to get in front of the right people. She understands how to get it done. And we are so excited to have Krista here today. Krista, how are you?

I'm fantastic. How are you doing?

I'm doing great. I'm doing really well. So it was, boy, four months ago, I was sitting by the TV and I turn it on and I see this product and I said, wow. And I know we're just jumping into the product, but I want people to understand how I, how we met and how we connected. So I see this product. I loved your presentation. It was great. And you were on Shark Tank and you had a product that really resonated with me being a, being a dad. My son played lacrosse, being a former athlete and it's amazing. So I just wanted you to share your story, tell us a little bit about you, and we'll get more into the Shark Tank and we'll go from there.

Okay, great. So I'm a mother of three children and I've always worked in sort of a customer service or sales type industry. And about 15 years ago, I became self employed. I realized my personality, that I had certain skills as far as training skills and sales skills that I connected with people easily. So I wanted to train those skills to other people. So I started my own company and I actually became a certified color code trainer, which is like personality assessments. And we did team building and I ran workshops and it was amazing. It's my favorite job. I absolutely love it because I love people and I'm just so, I'm always so enamored by people's differences and how unique we are and how wonderful that is. So I like when people embrace those differences. And so I was doing that for many years because I was self employed. I was afforded the opportunities to be able to travel with my son when he would play lacrosse. He was a lacrosse player where he played year round and he, when he was in middle school, we went traveling with the team. So it was then that actually I started my second business. It's because my son and his lacrosse Gear stunk so bad, and I honestly, it was like I just wanted to throw up. And so his lacrosse gloves, his arm pads, he would get those things near me, and I thought I was going to die. So I spent about a year trying every product on the market, and I was just absolutely flabbergasted, A, that they didn't work, B, that most of them were full of chemicals and had all these warning labels, like, you know, on the bottles. And also, my son would get to the point where he was like, don't spray any of that fruity stuff or scent stuff anywhere near my stuff. So one time, driving on the way home from his. One of his lacrosse tournaments, he falls asleep in the back seat. And I call him sir. I used to call him Sir Stinks a Lot. So Sir Stinks a Lot is literally a sound asleep in the backseat. And I am just like, that's it. He's stinking up the whole car. His gear stinks up the whole car. You know, we had an suv, so you can't hide it in the trunk. And I told my husband that day, I was like, that's it. I'm going to invent something. And my husband looked at me while we were driving, and he was like, sure, honey. Like, who just invents things? But I was determined. So I spent about three months researching what causes the odor, why nothing works. I wanted to get to the root of the problem. I didn't want to just mass sense. And I spent about three months doing that. And that's when I came up with my product idea.

Well, it's a great idea. So when I was young, my mother would go crazy, and we didn't have anything back then. My mother might spray Lysol, you know, the chemicals that are in Lysol. And I would say, mom, you're going to ruin my gloves. I don't care. Get this stuff outside. And I remember, without going into too much detail, there were family fights about it. My father would say, get this stuff out of here. Get it, please. Like, air it outside. And in. Last year, Even now at 53, I did a lot of charity games, and we lived in a little place we in outside of New York City. And I'd come home and my girlfriend would say, there's no way you're bringing this stuff inside. I said, well, we don't have a cover for the balcony. The stuff's cold outside. There's no way. So. So you come up with this product that everybody needs, every level, Kids, professional athletes. You have the perfect solution. And so you do. It's a perfect solution. I know I, I have it right in my hand because I was fortunate enough to get them. And this is great. I mean, and you could use it for so many things people might think. Are you doing an infomercial, people? No, my, our listeners know we don. Do commercials. But I want to hear the story a little bit about the product. But also how did you get on Shark Tank? Because that is my favorite show. I used to spend my Friday nights eight years ago in my chair. I would order sometimes healthier, I'd have a pizza and I would watch Shark Tank. And how did you get on the show?

So I invented a product that's very unique, that actually they're, you know, glove sticks. And I actually have a second product now called stink stick sticks. So they work in everything. But it started with trying to solve the problem in my son's lacrosse gloves. And so I figured out that it was bacteria which is causing the odor. So the sticks eliminate the bacteria, they absorb the moisture and they deodorize and they do all the work for you. You just insert them in the gear, let them sit until the next time they use them. So I wanted something that was easy to use, parent friendly when you're traveling. I wanted something affordable. More most importantly, I wanted something safe and non toxic. And once I realized that I was able to do all that and make it an affordable price and we tested the product, all my sons across team wanted one when my son was testing them. So that was a good sign. But it took me about a year to go through the process. Between by the time I started the research, then inventing the product before I had a product to sell was about a year. I am the type of person that if I decide to do something, I do it 150%. So I wasn't going to spend all this time researching coming up with a product and then not go for it. Life is short, right? Sometimes you just got to do it. But we calculate, we made very calculated risks the whole time. And so about a year into the process, I came out with product. When we first started, I literally would just go to sporting events. So we didn't have any money, we didn't have any investors. I used a home equity loan and my one of my college sons, part of his college fund to invest in the company. And then we would set up on the weekends so I still had another job. And we'd set up just selling because I was in the people business. I just wanted to meet and talk to people who had the same problem I did. So we're not the best place to do that at those tournaments. So I became a vendor and my husband and I would travel around with my kids and we would just sell the product. And about a year into that, there was an opportunity to try out for a pitch contest on the Today show. And it was called the Next Big Thing. So every time I would get a review, every time I'd meet people, they would give me like, you're going to go on Shark Tank? Are you going to go on Shark Tank? This is awesome. This is amazing. I'd be like, no way. I'm way too scared to go on Shark Tank. No way. And I said that for years, but I was, as I was building the business and scaling it, I was challenging myself in doing more things that made me uncomfortable, and I was succeeding. So the Today show, you had to go on, you pitch live to America. America votes. And I actually won. So a year into my business, I was on national television winning the Today Show's Next Big Thing. And that really gave me the most amazing confidence. Like, okay, I really have something here. But that was a step towards Shark Tank, right? For me just to go bold and try something out and then go to Shark Tank, I was way too nervous. I've. I have no experience in manufacturing or running a business like this. The business I have now is 150% different than the business I was doing before. So I felt like if I was going to go on Shark Tank, I had to be much more prepared. Going on the Today show, winning that, I got to go to qvc. So, like, I've, I've been on qvc. I've been able to sell live. I sold out in seven and a half minutes. So that was like, so exciting. And then one thing after the other, I entered my product into some award shows and award things and I won or I got silver. And every time I would do something like that, I got more and more confidence. But I have to tell you, I have to tell you that the interesting thing about why Shark Tank is because everywhere I went, it was my customers telling me that I should be doing this. And I was too scared at the time, you know.

Well, you did it. I mean, so many of us dream to be on Shark Tank. I don't know if it's a dream of mine, but I talk to a lot of different people and it's a dream to be on Shark Tank. And you really have one chance to, to, to show what you can do. And is there a process? I mean, you get to Shark Tank in the morning and do they. It. Let's say there's. Do they re record a scene? Do they stop it is straight through.

Yeah. So what's crazy about Shark Tank is, you know, Shark Tank's a TV show, so they want to make sure you have energy. You may have a good personality, you're outgoing, you're gonna make good tv. It has to be interesting. But they also care about the product. So they do a lot of due diligence. They do a lot of checking on you, your background, your. Your business. So by the time when I first applied for Shark Tank, I went through an open casting call and my business was about 2 years old. And I went to an open casting call in New York City, waited at line, got there at 6am and that's how I did the process. Some people do mail in, but then I made it past that round. And then you get a call from a producer saying, okay, now you need to send in a video. Then I made it past that round. And then you do a speaker with several producers. And so there's several different rounds in the process. And you just go through this process over several, you know, months period, and then you finally make it to filming. So I started the process in April of 2017, and then I went through to. I got sent to LA for filming at the end of June 2017.

That is fantastic. And we have a lot in common and you don't know it. So when I reached out to you to share just some, some of my thoughts about your product, which I fell in love with, I don't know if you knew this, but I've been in the assessment business and the coaching business for 17 years. So I did the behaviors and motivators and axiology and values assessments. So we have a lot in common. And I invented a hockey puck with a friend of mine, Detroit, and that we took all over the country and ended up selling that. And it's similar to this now. We never went on Shark Tank. It was a little hockey puck that glided. It had a. It was called the what A puck. And it had the hockey player spinning a puck on his finger for some branding like these, like you spin a basketball. So. So we have a lot in common. And I, and I envy, you know, just what you have done because it's hard to do. And. But you mentioned something earlier. You mentioned confidence. And a lot of us have to understand, like, you took a risk. So you had a little bit of confidence going in Because I believe confidence just doesn't happen when something good happens. You had to make that initial step forward. How did you do that? How did you take that step forward? You're on national tv, and did you do some deep breathing? Did you talk to yourself? What did you do to say, okay, here it is. It's your time. Like, yeah.

So I actually. I just wrote this story on my Facebook page the other day, actually. And it's funny how I. I'm a firm believer that you create your confidence. I made lots of poor choices when I was young. I. I dropped out of school. I did lots of things that, you know, I'm sure when I was in my late teens, my parents were like, oh, my word, who is this child? But I quickly got out of that in my early 20s. But I went into my early 20s lacking some confidence in really who I was. And I built that over a period of time with successes in my career. I met a great. Have great husband. We had our kids. And so I'm a believer of, like, when you make mistakes, you come back from mistakes better because you're creating confidence. And by making mistakes and able to rebound from mistakes, that's how you do it. It's about trying new things and harder things each time. And so you slowly build that confidence in yourself. Like, hey, not that I'm going to always win, but I know that no matter what happens, I'm going to give it 150% because that's all that really matters. And I've always just believed that. And I did the same thing with glove sticks as I do in my did in my personal life and in my career. And when I was starting glove sticks, throughout the whole process, I just would take one step, new challenge at a time. And I build my confidence in this business because I really didn't know what I was doing. In all honesty, Mike, when I'm telling you I was clueless. I was absolutely clueless. I had to. So I had to start a business with no money and no idea what I was doing. And it was constantly learning. I made several hiring mistakes. I made several bad decisions, and then it was just recovering from those. But I learned to use my gifts. So my gift is people, right? I realized that I actually made really good tv. So that's how I had the confidence to go on Shark Tank. It was like, you know what? I can do this. I'm very faithful. So I love exercise. So I work out for stress relief. I exercise, I pray, I definitely take deep breaths. But more importantly, I challenge Myself so that I have confidence. I studied. You would not believe how hard I studied about this business to go on Shark Tank. For three months, night and day, I practiced. Even if I didn't know, even when I didn't know that I was going to filming, I didn't want to get in that. In that tank and look stupid. So I learned. I went and watched four seasons. Every single night, I watch a different episodes of Shark Tank, write down every question they asked, put them on index card, and then study them the next day. About my business. How does that question pertain to me? We actually set up a set in the back of my sunroom, in my sunroom in my house. And every night, my husband, my kids, they'd pretend to be sharks. They'd ask me questions, they drill me, they'd get me off my game to see how I rebounded. So by the time that I went into the tank, I was able to be confident because I knew I had done everything in my power to have all the answers, no matter what they said to me.

That. See, see, what you said is everything that we talk about. I mean, everything you said in about five minutes is everything that we do. So we do what was called, like we talk about story. So you had a story within, within what you did, and the story brought you back to, to not finishing school. And, and, and that was adversity. And you learned from that. And then you talked a little bit about taking baby steps. And then that's the mindset. Your mindset of preparing and being ready and being determined and giving it a shot. And a champion is not somebody that wins a championship all the time. I have a lot of champions on. I consider you a champion. It's somebody that just goes for it. So you did all of those, I call those the littlest things. You had the mindset because you were focused. And it's like being an athlete. So it's the same thing. Business and sports are the same because we've. I've worked with some major Fortune 500 companies and, and I also have done work with athletes. And I tell people it's the same mindset. You focus in on a little thing, you focus in on a goal and you go for it. And I could hear it in your voice. And I'm sure the listeners, too, that you're, you're persistent. You said, okay, I'm, I'm gonna make it happen. I'm gonna practice. It's like an athlete watching video and repetition. And I'm, and you watch all these different seasons of it and, and, and that's what it takes. And I think the message to, to all of us should be just keep plugging away, just keep working hard.

Yeah. And that's what it's all about. I mean, I can't tell you how many times in the last five years, even after Shark Tank, how many times that I've had setbacks and defeats. I just, I had a huge setback last this past year. I had my first defect and having to overcome that and now Covid and all sports are canceled. Right. It's always going to be something. There's nothing that's ever perfect, but it's how we get through it that makes us stronger in the end. And I truly, I don't just say that, I truly believe it because that's how my entire life has been. Everything that has happened to me at a certain period of time, that even though when I was going through it, it was the most difficult thing and it was so hard, I look back at that and I thank God that that happened to me at the time because I'm so much better off for that experience.

When did you finally realize that you had the right idea? Was it when all the players gravitated toward the glove sticks on the, on the, on the field? Or what was that moment when you said this is it? I, I, I, I, besides must or Shark Tank? I'm gonna let you answer that. I don't want to answer your question, but how did you know when you had the right idea?

So I think I knew when it was actually when my son, he was 14 and he had been testing them for months and I was really nervous. So I'm kind of a tight wad with money. It's not like I'm a huge risk take her financially. I'm a pretty conservative with our budgets. We had two about to go to college. Like it was a really financially harder time for us. And so this was a big risk. And my son looked at me and he said to me, he was 14 year old boy, he goes, mom, these work so well. Everyone on my team wants one. And if you don't do it, then that will be a, the dumbest thing, the dumbest decision you'll ever make. And I looked at him and I looked at my husband and I was like, okay, really, like I'm really gonna do it because my 14 year old says so. But I did because he was my market. Like I'm trying to get these young athletes to, to, to use a stink product. I mean, I can't tell you and then to have to have, be at tournaments and have, you know, 12, 13, 14, 15 year old boys bring their friends up going, oh my God, I have these. You have to get some. Like, it was that process by being able to interact with my customers face to face. Hard work, like every weekend traveling, every profit went back into the company. I didn't mean, I didn't even take money. I couldn't even afford to pay myself for the first three years. Like everything went back in just to be able to travel and grow. And it was that one on one time as I built my business, being able to talk to my consumer. What do you like about the product? What don't you like about the product? And it was at that time that I was able to listen to their feedback. That's also what helped me get other product ideas, like what they work in, right? People like, I put them in my shoes, I put them in my helmet, I put them in my garbage can, I put them in my laundry basket. They're amazing. And I would be like, what? So I think that's when, and then when I won the Today Show's next big thing, I think that really solidified. Okay. I have a real business here. Don't mess this up, Krista.

Well, you have a case study. Yeah, yeah. I mean your own son who's, who's an athlete and he, he was the case study. And that's how you, you know if something's going to work or not, sometimes you have to give it to our children. I even my own logo. So my, my daughter was helping me with, with things and she was helping me with my business. Dad, you have to reach out to the millennials. I said, well, that's not my target market with our podcast. Well, it better be, dad. And, and they're smart. They know. And when you have, when you could use a case study with your own family member and then you could see the smiles on, on the moms were probably smiling more and the dads more than the kids liking the product. But that, that's such a great, that's a great testimonial in itself.

Yeah. And, and, and you know what? I love the fact that moms and dads love the product. I really do. But what makes me happy is when even more is when the kids love it. Like, because, you know, nobody's going, hey mom, like bring, you know, bring me this Lysol can. Buy me this Lysol can, please. Right? So when the kids were loving it and were wanting it and were using It, I think that was my biggest reward. I knew parents would love it. I mean that's kind of obvious, but I wasn't, that wasn't my goal. I also wanted the kid to love it too because the kid has to actually put it in his gear.

Right, right. And for, for, you know, for, for a boy or girl playing sports, I mean it's phenomenal. So I, I have to ask this question because we knew as an athlete that sometimes when you're, when you're equipment. Not even that, it's that it smells so bad but it's really wet and it's drying. It could deteriorate it. Can it be. There's bacteria that builds up and I can't make any, I'm not making any claims but this must help with other areas as well. Like, does it help with like. Because it's, it's a, it's natural. Right? You said it. The, the ingredients.

So they're at the plastic part. The plastic outsides are antimicrobial. So the actual sticks themselves have silver ions in them. It's a hospital grade silver antimicrobial. Silver is an all natural antibacterial and it will inhibit. The actual silver will inhibit 99.9 of odor causing bacteria growth in 24 hours. And then on the insides they absorb moisture. So they have minerals and plant based essential oils. So they absorb moisture and deodorize because what causes the bacteria to grow is moisture. So by doing both of those things, it's the only thing that does both of those things at the same time. Right. So you put the sticks in, they absorb moisture, deodorize and prevent the bacteria from growing. That's how they work so well.

That's what I'm. So what I need to get from you because a lot of our listeners are entrepreneurs. I just had Dr. Todd shack and on and, and we talked about one of the things we talked about. He was. His family brought Labat's Baron to America and that worked out but then they did other things that didn't work out and, but now he's got, he has one of the largest mini dental implant businesses in the world. And I asked him how did he do it? So I'd like for you to give us a lesson. I know you're a teacher, a coach. Can you give us a little lesson on entrepreneurial ship and give us some advice? And I'm throwing you on the spot but is there anything that you can give to our listeners that could help us? Including myself.

I think the most important thing that I have been able to do is be real and be vulnerable and be myself. And I think that's so important when you're an entrepreneur, to reach out and ask for help. I ask for help. I ask when I need something. I'm not afraid to say, I don't know how to do this. Can anyone help me? I. When I tell you that I built my business for the first two years on Facebook, I am not joking you when I'm telling you. I would post questions to my personal friends on Facebook that maybe I should have known, but I was not embarrassed to be vulnerable. And I can't tell you how much free help I got because I didn't know and I was able to put myself out there. And I think so many times we feel like we have to know everything before we do something, and that is not true. You learn as you go, because no matter what, you're going to make mistakes. I don't care if you think you know everything, you don't. And guess what? Things always change. So just do it and learn as you go. And be open to feedback, be open to asking for help, be opening to reaching out and saying, hey, hear me out, right? And I can't tell you how important that was for my success. And that is why I honestly feel like that's why I've been able to do what I do. Even on my Shark Tank episode, you saw it, I told them, I am so scared right now, but I'm fighting, fighting my fears. I'm doing this anyway. And I think people connected with my Shark Tank episode. I've had thousands of emails saying I inspired them or whatever, but it's because when I went on Shark Tank, I was my real self. I did not try to be somebody else. And I think people can see that from you and people want to help you if you're just honest about it.

That's so true. So we, we talked to even, like some of our. Some of our athletes. We've had a lot of athletes that, that have won championships. And, and one of them came on and this was a really interesting story. Right before the 25th anniversary we had in New York, he went out and said, yeah, I may have done this. I'm a champion. I did what I had to do as a player. I don't want to say his name, but he, he came out and told everybody, listen, he's had issues for a lot of years and he had setbacks and struggles, but everybody respected that. So when you're your real self, your authentic self, that's what people want. Because all of us make mistakes. All of us have, have setbacks. And that's what you did. You went out there and you went for it. And that's what we have to do. Some of us, there's procrastinators and you didn't procrastinate. But I have to ask you, was there anything, was there ever a time that you said, you know what? I just. Because I don't want to start up and stuff? Did you ever say, I don't want to do this anymore? Like in the beginning, did you almost. I hate the word.

What do you mean in the beginning? I still say that now.

Okay. I love, yeah, what do you mean? I love your honesty. I, I, I, I love you. I, I tell you, I still say.

What have I done? I used to love my job. Yeah, no, because that's what, and what I mean is like, there are always new challenges. You know, life is like a wheel. Sometimes you're on the top and sometimes you're on the bottom. But the wheels go round and round. So you have to, right when you're on the bottom, you have to wait. You have to just work through it and keep going and keep taking baby steps so that wheel can go back around. Because then something great is going to happen. But the business that I'm in, this E Commerce business, is the most challenging thing I have ever done. But my other job was really easy because it came natural to me. I am naturally a trainer. I've never had professional training to be a sales trainer or a team building consultant. That's just my personality. So it was natural, it was easy. It wasn't even like a job. There's running a business like glove sticks, which is E Commerce. There are so many things that don't come natural to me. There are so many things that I've had to learn and try to wrap my head around and that I still am learning. There are constantly things that happen that I'm like, what with your warehouse losing 1500 units. Right. You're like, like and all. And you're, you're paying for it. Like, there are constant every, there's always new challenges. So. Yes. Do I say, what have I done? Absolutely. And I still say it now, but I will, I would never have the rewards that I have had over the last five years. I'm sitting here looking at trophies. Shark tank pictures today show pictures like, of, of meeting all these famous people. Those rewards don't come easy if you're not challenging yourself.

That's the experience you, you had is, is a lifetime of memories. And I'll just share this with you. So, like, like in sports or in business, we learn you never get too high. You never get too high. You might remember this sometimes, even with assessments, you want to be neutral because as fast as it gets good, it could be bad just as quick. So we always want to be in the middle and never get too high. Krista, it was so great having you, but I would. We have a lot of moms that listen, I have a lot of hockey moms, soccer moms, tennis moms, dads, athletes. Is it. Is your stuff on Amazon or where can people actually. Okay, share, please. Please share that with us, your website or where we can get this.

So my website for More information is glovesticks.com and it's G L O V E S T I X. And I have two products. One has a removable handle. So for taller boots and cleats, those are the stank sticks. So I have those two products and you can buy them on my website. You can also buy them on Amazon. So I'm an Amazon choice product. I've. I'm Amazon prime so that you can get them shipped in two days that way or. We love having customers on our website. So we do give 10% off your first order if you subscribe to our newsletter. So they're a little bit less expensive on our website for your first order.

Tell us the website one more time. Again, what's the one?

It's glovesticks.com G L O V E S T I X.com and I highly.

Recommend this to everybody. And Krista, it was so great having you on here on the show. I'm glad I actually reached out to you. I saw the product, fell in love with it. I have two of them here and fantastic. Great job, great energy. Thank you so much. And it was great having you.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you reaching out to me. That is such an honor that I'm on your show and that I've been able to get to know you. I really appreciate it.

Yeah, the feeling's mutual.

Have a great one. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Mike Hartman Show Show. If you're enjoying what you've heard so far, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review on your preferred podcast listening platform. We really appreciate that effort. We'll catch you in the next episode of the Mike Hartman Show.