“Shark Tank” Season 8 alum Elena Petzold introduced the Sharks to her breastfeeding apparel startup Mama’s Milk Box back in January 2017. As a mother of two, Petzold launched her subscription-based service for trendy breastfeeding apparel after realizing how much of a struggle it was to find stylish and functional nursing clothes. Fans will remember hers was one of numerous subscription services to pitch in Season 8, including Bitsbox. Petzold asked the Sharks for a $200,000 investment in exchange for 20% equity in her business. Then, as always, the hard questions began.
After a rapid-fire number of inquiries from the panel of investors, it was revealed that Elena’s business had only made $83,000 in sales. She argued that she hoped to scale it with the help of a Shark, but alas, things didn’t go as planned. Those wealthy “Shark Tank” judges had serious concerns about her business model — particularly the cost of acquiring customers and managing inventory. When Elena couldn’t answer basic questions about her financials, the Sharks backed out one by one, leaving Elena without a deal. But what happened after that? Unfortunately, Mama’s Milk Box eventually folded.
Shark Tank marked the beginning of the end for Mama’s Milk Box
Despite founder Elena Petzold’s own enthusiasm for Mama’s Milk Box, the company just couldn’t survive without a Shark on board, and she wouldn’t be one of the contestants who went on to great success. The subscription service continued on for more than a year after her appearance on the show. But, unfortunately, the post-“Shark Tank” boost wasn’t enough of a help. According to Petzold’s LinkedIn, the subscription service shut down in November 2018 — just shy of two years after her appearance on Season 8 of the show.
Today, Elena Petzold has moved on to a new chapter in her career. Her LinkedIn profile says she now works as a Chief Marketing Officer in Pittsburgh, leaving her dream of becoming a “Shark Tank” entrepreneur behind her for now. Though her trendy breastfeeding apparel business might not have succeeded in the long run, her efforts to create an innovative solution for an underrepresented niche — nursing moms — certainly did a commendable job of shining a light on the challenges many new mothers face.
