Here's What Went Down With Swoveralls After Shark Tank
Ever worn overalls but wished they were a little more comfortable, like sweatpants? Well, Kyle Bergman has a solution. The entrepreneur is the brain behind Swoveralls, a company that combines the look of overalls with the comfort of sweatpants. Bergman got the idea after looking online for a pair of sweatpants overalls for himself but realized exactly what he was looking for just didn't exist. "The big aha moment came when I used Google's keyword search planner tool and discovered that about 500 people per month were also Googling sweatpant overalls just like me. That's when it went from being a personal problem to a business opportunity," he explained to Medium.
After deciding to put his sweatpants overalls into production and create an official company, he found out that one of his business connections knew a producer on "Shark Tank" and offered to put in a good word to get Swoveralls onto the show. In an Instagram reel posted to the company's page in March, Bergman admitted he initially turned down the opportunity to pitch to the Sharks because he didn't believe he and the company were quite ready for it. But the friend put his name forward anyway. And, with that, Swoveralls was off to "Shark Tank" — ready or not.
Swoveralls didn't impress the Sharks enough to land a deal
In 2019, during Season 10, Kyle Bergman pitched his idea to Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, and Daymond John on "Shark Tank." The businessman entered the Tank looking to give away 15% of the company for a $150,000 investment. He explained that he wanted to increase his inventory with the cash investment and create more shapes and sizes of the product. He also revealed that the business had already sold $230,000 worth of products so far, which was a pretty impressive feat.
But that wasn't enough for the Sharks to part with the six-figure sum. Cuban told Bergman that he didn't think there was enough demand for the product and declared himself out. O'Leary was next to drop out, making it clear he didn't have much enthusiasm to get involved with the sweatpants and overalls mix. "I just can't get excited about it. I don't know how I'd get my $150,000 back. And it's not just about getting $150,000 back. I want to get $2 million back and I don't think that's going to happen here," he said. John was out next after claiming he didn't believe Bergman had one niche product to draw customers in, while Greiner followed suit because she felt the entrepreneur would have to do too much marketing to get the product out there. So, similar to businesses like Liberate, there was no deal to be had here.
Kyle Bergman kept working on Swoveralls, despite leaving the Tank without a deal
Kyle Bergman saw the positive side of not getting the investment he was looking for from the "Shark Tank" entrepreneurs. Writing on Swoveralls's official website, he made it very clear that he wasn't giving up on the business just because the Sharks weren't interested. "While I was initially bummed I didn't get the chance to create a partnership with one of them, I realized I still owned 100% of my company, and had thousands of incredible customers that loved what we're doing," he explained, making it clear he wasn't about to give up.
Bergman admitted to Medium in a 2022 interview that he was most hoping to land a deal with Lori Greiner or Mark Cuban, but wasn't dwelling on things not going the way he wanted. "While a part of me wonders what could have happened if I made a deal ... I'm happy with the way things have turned out," he said. Bergman also opened up about the Shark Tank effect, which many companies — including hair turban brand Go Natural — experience after appearing on the show. The term refers to when a business gets a sudden surge in customers due to the exposure on the ABC show. Bergman shared he wished they'd had a little more inventory on the back burner to deal with the increased attention, but added, "It was a wild ride and I have no regrets."
Swoveralls is still in business and collecting followers on social media
Proving a company doesn't always need a "Shark Tank" investment to keep going, Swoveralls continued on its path to bring comfort to the masses after failing to secure an investment. As of April 2024, Swoveralls sells a wide range of products on its website for men, women, and children, and has also expanded its collection since its "Shark Tank" episode aired to include a short version of its overalls.
The company has also stepped up its marketing game. In a video shared to Instagram in 2023, Kyle Bergman headed to the streets of New York City to let people test out Swoveralls for themselves. Another video shared to the social media site that same year tied into the Barbie trend that was all over the place in 2023, as the company showed off green and pink Swoveralls to cure our pink cravings. Thanks to attention-grabbing marketing like this, the company has amassed over 33,000 followers on Instagram, over 3,200 followers on Facebook, and almost 56,000 followers on TikTok (where the brand impressively has more than 1.5 million likes).
Swoveralls has plans to keep growing
Swoveralls is clearly flourishing post-"Shark Tank." Kyle Bergman told Medium that the company had planned its new releases two years in advance, which meant it had new ideas scheduled until fall 2024 when it appeared on the hit show. And it sounds like Bergman has big plans to keep the company moving forward. "Creating new Swoveralls styles gives us an opportunity to do three things," he explained to the outlet. "One, improve our existing offering based on customer/market feedback. Two, engage completely new customers who may not have been interested in what we currently offer or didn't know about us ... and three, maybe the most important — provide additional opportunities for our existing and most loyal customers to grow their comfy collection."
But that's not the only way the entrepreneur is looking to grow the company. He also revealed that one of his biggest ways to get the word out there about Swoveralls is via social media. Bergman is the proud face of the company and shares humorous videos that feature himself across the brand's accounts. "[I] love creating fun and informative stories to generate awareness that yes, sweatpant overalls do exist," he revealed.
Swoveralls isn't Bergman's only business focus. On LinkedIn, in addition to being the founder of Sowveralls, he also lists himself as being the partner and COO at Pinkberg, a marketing strategy company, since 2023, and has been co-founder and coach of Keep The Pace, which offers exercise programs, since 2021.