Xero Shoes—the huaraches sandals company founded by Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix—is going to be on ABC's Shark Tank at 9:00PM tomorrow night, February 1, 2013!
If you're not familiar with Shark Tank, it's a show where entrepreneurs pitch their business to five investors. The investors then have the opportunity to bid on investing in the business. The show is great entertainment as it has that live edginess provided by the investors as they ask questions, poke holes, and comment on the pitch presented.
With a barefoot running sandal business being the investment at foot Friday night, you can be sure things are going to get interesting!
Of course, I say "barefoot running sandal" and you hear "huaraches" — the sandals now made famous through Born to Run. As huaraches go, there's no better bang for your buck than those produced by Xero Shoes' whether you run in them or just wear them as your everyday footwear. And this is regardless of whether you you DIY a pair or have them make them custom for your feet. Xero Shoes is the only huaraches or huaraches-inspired sandal manufacturer that produces a custom, made-for-huaraches outsole (In two thicknesses, both of which I've reviewed at length).
Confession time. I'm a little biased towards watching (and promoting) this particular episode of Shark Tank. Why? Well, it's not just because I know Steven or just like Xero Shoes (or that BirthdayShoes.com is supported via affiliated sales of Xeros!); in this case, it's because the cute photo of my oldest daughter was used in the pitch to the sharks (The photo was from a kid's huaraches review)!
So in theory, my girl is going to get a couple seconds of prime time tomorrow night! I don't know for sure she'll be seen on tomorrow night's episode, but my toes will be crossed. Humorously, she'll probably be sleeping when it airs at 9PM EST and even if she was awake, would get almost zero excitement out of being seen on TV. Kids!
As for what might happen on the show, all I can say is that it's my view that Xero Shoes is an incredible business with a bright future. Whether or not the investors on Shark Tank have the prescience to see that or not ... well does it really matter? It's going to make good television regardless!
Bottom line: you can catch Xero Shoes on ABC's Shark Tank at 9PM! If you do, keep an eye out for Avi!
And if you're looking for those barefoot running sandals seen on the show, look no further than XeroShoes.com:
About the Author — I founded BirthdayShoes.com in April 2009 on realizing just how much I enjoyed having "free feet" - I mostly wanted to use them for weights, sprints, and plyometrics (I'm not much of a runner!). I'm a Googler by day and minimalist footwear aficionado by night; you can find me 'round Atlanta. If you want to catch up with what I'm doing outside of the site here, follow me on twitter @bdayshoes or @justinno or check out my personal site JustinOwings.com.Justin Owings+ has written 845 articles and 379 comments.
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Wow! I hope someone picks up the product, I love Shark Tank. Good luck and good work for everyone who has gotten the barefoot movement to where it is today. Can't wait to watch the episode. 
After watching steven's flick "s*it barefoot runners say" (can be found on youtube) I must say the man is
I agree 100% with Bob. Steven and Lena are going to rock tonight. He is 100% personality and they really know how to promote and sell their huaraches in an honest and positive way. 
I am excited for this episode to air. My wife and I regularly watch this show and it is always interesting. The fact that a product that appeals to us is going to be showcased makes it all the more enjoyable. Hopefully Avi's will get a little airtime. 
definitely watching this tonight! 
I think the Sharks on Shark tank were wrong to not support Zero Shoes. I will be buying some shortly!! I liked both of the people presenting, and I LOVE the product! I'm a future buyer :) 
Think they were wrong personally. I've come to love my Xero's and thinking of actually doing a mud run in May with them just for fun. That said Xero shoe's will go places. I think they'll get a big investor regardless of what happened on the show tonight. 
I'm not at all surprised they didn't get a deal with the sharks. They were asking for way too much for way too little equity for a company that is still very young. It's not the sharks' fault. The owners were being too optimistic. If you want a deal on that show, you have to go in with realistic expectations and, if you've watched the series with any sort of consistency, there is no way what they were wanting was realistic.
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