LOS ANGELES, CA. (THECOUNT) — They laughed, they jeered, but the sharks from popular TV reality show, Shark Tank, may be kicking themselves over passing on a line of fashion face masks way back in 2016.
Irina Blok was literally laughed out of the tank during season 7 after she unveiled “Face Blok,” a line of fashion face masks. Who’s laughing now?
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Needless to say, a stoic Blok was ultimately sent packing, but not before being mocked by the sharks for her idea to produce the fashion conscience line of printed face masks.
Via GazetteReview in 2016:
Most of Blok’s family members are engineers and reside outside of the United States, but she wanted to break the mold and try something a little different. At the young age of 18, Irena packed up her things, got on an airplane, and took to the United States. Why? Well, she wanted to be able to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer.
However, her career didn’t necessarily take her exactly where she wanted to go. Instead of designing clothes, Irina worked for a plethora of other companies such as Apple, Adobe, FedEx, and a few others. Though she remained in the designing department, that wasn’t exactly where she wanted to be.
Blok was struck with a quirky idea during the swine flu outbreak. With everyone being in such dull spirits, wearing bleak and boring surgical masks to cover their faces and protect themselves from the harmful sickness, she was inspired with a desire to lighten the atmosphere.
In an attempt to bring back a little more cheer into everyone’s lives, Blok created designer surgical masks. Instead of having just a plain white one to cover your face, she made masks with animal noses on them or just simple designs that are pleasing to the eye.
These new masks became rather popular pretty quickly, but Blok did not have the funds to properly supply her business. What she needed was someone with a better financial standing to become partners with so that Face Blok could really get its feet off the ground.
In hopes of finding that partner, Irina brought her product to the Shark Tank. It didn’t go well…
Can you say, “do-over anyone?”
Geo quick facts: Los Angeles is a sprawling Southern California city and the center of the nation’s film and television industry. Near its iconic Hollywood sign, studios such as Paramount Pictures, Universal and Warner Brothers offer behind-the-scenes tours. On Hollywood Boulevard, TCL Chinese Theatre displays celebrities’ hand- and footprints, the Walk of Fame honors thousands of luminaries and vendors sell maps to stars’ homes – wikipedia.