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The Woobles founders, Adrian Zhang and Justine Tiu, are all set to appear on Shark Tank on September 30, 2022, at 8/7c on ABC, where they will attempt to market the popular art of crocheting.
In episode 2, the company's founders will "pitch their step-by-step kit made to teach beginners how to create cuddly and cute animal characters" to the investors on the reality show.
The wife and husband team will have to impress Sharks Daymond John, Kevin O'Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Mark Cuban, and Robert Herjavec for them to invest in The Wobbles and help them grow their business.
The Woobles, a Durham-based crochet startup, was launched in July 2020 and instantly became a hit among people. In two years, they have sold over $5 million in products. The DIY crochet animal kit, which uses the art of amigurumi, helps people make cute creatures like Jojo the Bunny, Felix the Fox, and the best-seller Pierre the Penguin.
Details about The Woobles founders appearing on Shark Tank
The upcoming episode of Shark Tank will feature Adrian Zhang and Justine Tiu, 33, who met as undergrads at Duke University. After going through what they referred to as "career disappointments," they came up with the concept for The Woobles.
Before starting the crochet business, Adrian spent seven years as a trader on Wall Street, while Justine worked as a Google designer. She quit her job in 2018 to learn new skills and develop a stronger sense of self. The idea to start the business came when she crocheted her first plushie, as she wanted to make a handmade gift for a friend.
Though she found the process difficult, she kept going and finally decided to start The Woobles to give beginners a "easiest way to learn crochet." Mentioning about the process on the official website, thewoobles.com, she wrote:
“I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I spent weeks piecing together YouTube videos, diagrams, and crochet blogs. I tried to rejigger what I found to fit what I was working on. I made a lot of mistakes. And I did a lot more of hoping for the best.”
After mastering the technique, Justin felt incredibly self-assured and she wanted to share this feeling with everyone. As per newsdeal.in, Justine said:
“The confidence boost I got from learning how to crochet is what inspired The Woobles. And that’s why we say it’s not actually about crocheting with The Woobles, it’s about confidence.”
It wasn't until 2016 that Tiu picked up a needle and thread. Zhang learned the technique from one of Tiu's kits. Regardless, they both quit their jobs to devote their time solely to Woobles.
Both Zhang and Tiu are interested in ed-tech. The Woobles, according to the couple, is an ed-tech experiment rather than a crochet company. Putting emphasis on the learning aspect of the company, Zhang told The Business Journal,
"As you get older, you just tend to stop learning new things. Anyone has the capacity to learn. We just want to make it easy for you."
Shark Tank producer reached to The Woobles founders
Earlier this year, a Shark Tank producer reached out to the founders of The Woobles after learning about their crochet business in a magazine feature. The producers gave them the idea to appear on the show. Although they were a little hesitant to be on Shark Tank, the couple finally agreed. Adrian said:
“We originally were hesitant because we don’t have TV-type personalities. We thought you had to be charismatic or create a lot of drama, but I think at the end of the day, what they cared about was having a good story.”
The company sells a rotation of limited edition kits. Each individual kit generally costs $30. The kit includes a crochet hook, customized yarn, a pair of beaded eyes, and access to a step-by-step online tutorial for beginners, both left-handed and right-handed individuals.
Tune in on Friday on ABC to watch the couple pitch for The Wobbles on Shark Tank.
