Grab the popcorn, grab your friends, and get around your small screen because we made it on Shark Tank! Before we made it onto Shark Tank, there were plenty of highs and lows we faced, from COVID-19 to stigmas. Let’s go down memory lane before what led up to our big break!

Meet Devir Kahan

 

What was before Stryx? Simply put, nothing. Stryx started out during our CEO’s final year at Yeshiva University when he noticed a breakout the day of his wedding.

He asked some friends if they had ever considered using their significant other’s makeup products, and that’s when he realized there was a need for men's skincare and cosmetics.

With the help of investors, family, friends, and current CMO, Jon Shanahan, we’ve been able to take this cosmetics and skincare line to places we dreamed it could be.

From the start, Stryx’s philosophy and mission has been to help men embrace the skin they're in and feel confident and comfortable enough to give themselves self care, even if they don’t necessarily know how to do so. We’ve made everything as easy, accessible, and applicable as possible, even for the guys who are first timers at skincare.

Our biggest competition has always been stigma, and we’re still fighting the fight.

Now in 2022, we’ve hit the shelves at CVS, Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, Target, and we have graced the small screen across the country on Shark Tank. Yup, Shark Tank.

The work we’ve done to get here wasn’t easy, but it’s been so worth it and extremely rewarding.

Even surpassing difficulties that COVID-19 brought to our small startup, we stayed persistent and it paid off. Most importantly, it’s the impact we’ve made for people across the country (and around the world) that has been the most fulfilling.

Since 2017, we’ve grown our team, we’ve added multiple skin tones to our products, and we’re available in stores across the country.

Meet Jon Shanahan

 

In high school, Jon wasn’t the guy passing with flying colors. In fact, he was voted “Class Clown”. He found himself in college doing design and video work and always wanted to do his own thing.

He didn’t see himself as a great employee because he was never fully invested. Despite that, he ended up at Apple, First Insight, and of course, as a YouTuber.

It wasn’t until Devir Kahan reached out saying that he needed someone that could help sell a product.

Little did Jon know that that product would be life changing for him, not just as a CMO, but as a consumer as well. Since day 1, he's loved the mission, the products, and the vision the two of them created.

Fast forward, he checked off his dream goal to get on Shark Tank as that was always an inspiration for him to build his own company. Take this as a sign, if you’ve always known in your gut you wanted to do your own thing or start your own business, do it.

Being able to say the dreams he had turned to goals, now turned into reality, is still sinking in. During this entire experience, there is nothing he would change, he just wishes his dad could see it too.

Meet Elizabeth Ng Glock

 

Started as the first employee, and now here we are. Being at Stryx has meant the world and more. In the last two years, Elizabeth has seen our small startup grow into a product men across the country (and around the world) have made a part of their daily routine.

Her professional bucket list included:

• Becoming the first hire of a startup
• Have an email with only her first name (nerdy, but c’mon, it’s legit and you know it too)
• Actively be working at a company that gets on Shark Tank.

To say all three have happened not only feels so good but is crazy to think about considering how she ended up here.

Like so many, Elizabeth was laid off because of COVID-19, however, it ended up being the biggest blessing because of her opportunity with Stryx. “I’ve never felt happier than I have been at this company.

I’m surrounded by people who push me, I’m constantly learning, and of course, I’m having a blast while doing so.” On top of that, she’s been able to put on a ton of hats and help push the company to be the best it can be.

Meet Silas Bush

 

Time flies when you’re having fun, right? It’s only been five months since Silas started at Stryx, but man has that been a jam packed five months. As Head of Growth, it’s been not only a fulfilling role for him, but also a role he takes so much pride in.

Before this, Silas was an honors graduate from the Cannes Lions Marketers Academy in France. He's been marketer with 9+ years on strategy & leadership teams at Deloitte, UPS, Williams Sonoma, Sony, National Geographic, REI, e-commerce Tech Start Ups, and more.

It wasn’t until Jon reached out telling him about men's cosmetics Stryx. As a man who recognized skincare and cosmetics was an untapped space, he knew this was for him.

Now, since starting at Stryx, we’ve hit the shelves at Target, their brand has started scaling authentically, and we just made it onto Shark Tank!

The “this is awesome, I never knew I needed this” comments never get old, and the testimonies of customers motivate him to get our product in more hands.

So, What Exactly Is Shark Tank? 

Shark Tank is a show on ABC where budding entrepreneurs get the chance to bring their dreams to fruition in this reality show.

They present their ideas to the sharks in the tank -- five titans of various industries who made their own dreams a reality and turned their ideas into lucrative empires. The contestants try to convince any one of the sharks to invest money in their idea.

When more than one of the sharks decide they want a piece of the action, a bidding war can erupt, driving up the price of the investment.

Shark Tank for many entrepreneurs is a massive goal to even get a chance to be in the tank. As a skincare and men’s cosmetics company, this was an opportunity we knew we had to take a chance on, we were just lucky enough to get that chance. 

Be sure to watch us on May 13th at 8pm and shop our Shark Tank Kit here!