DALLAS —Aimee Segura and Megan Jackson own a denim business in Dallas called Hip Chixs. They took their slimming, figure-forgiving women's jeans on the popular ABC program Shark Tank in 2013.
"We sold out of our jeans right after the show," they said.
That should have been good enough, because they revealed that they went on the show just to get exposure for their business... they didn't really want to make a deal with the sharks.
But that strategy soon changed. "You get out there and you're like, 'We want the money!'"
They explain there's just something about being in that studio with all those cameras.
"There were 13 cameras. They were everywhere."
And Jackson was thinking about all the possibilities.
"It's like being a teenager and telling your parents you are pregnant when you are out there," she said." Your heart is like boom, boom, boom. And you are standing trying to decide if you are going to make it, or if you will need some air. And then... all of a sudden... you are on, and you have to do it."
Jackson and Segura pitched; even uttered their sassy motto "Y'all want some of this?"
But the Sharks wanted none of that; one of the potential investors even telling them the "probability of success in this market is zero, so the more time you spend pursuing this dream, the more you will be wasting your precious time."
How bad did that make them feel?
"I probably can't say, because there is an F-bomb in it," Segura admitted. "It was a mind-blowing experience for sure."
By the time it ended, there were tears in the tank.
"It was upsetting," Jackson said. "When we left there and we went to dinner — and it was really late when we got to the restaurant — and I told the waiter I needed two glasses of wine, and he said, 'What kind do you all want?' And I said, 'No, I want two — one in each hand for me. And Aimee said, 'Me, too,' and we 'cheersed' with four glasses of wine. We didn't need to talk. We got the biggest piece of chocolate cake because we felt so bad."
Segua and Jackson left empty-handed and more determined. Since their Shark Tank appearance, on the show, the two have developed T-shirts and totes. They've been running Hip Chixs out of boxes from home, selling online and at trunk shows.
They also created a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of scraping together enough money to start a third mass production of jeans.
They like that they don't have to keep a Shark Tank investor happy, but they acknowledge that staying in business on their own has been a real struggle.
"It's still hard. You have to treat it like a precious baby and every little bit of money you have to make the best decision for that precious baby."
They're certain that "baby" has got some great jeans; that this business will grow.
When it does, they hope that painful memory of appearing on Shark Tank will fade out like an old pair of jeans.
