Shark Tank update: What happened to Heather's Choice after the show?

Heather Kelly first appeared on Shark Tank in season 15 episode 10 to pitch her food company, Heather's Choice. She revealed during her pitch that her gourmet camping meals company "was barely surviving."

While Heather Kelly didn't receive any deals, her Shark Tank appearance helped boost her business. She returned in season 16, episode 7, which aired on December 13, to announce that her company is still thriving, with around $1 million in sales in the recent seven months.

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Shark Tank: Heather's Choice went from $5 million in lifetime revenue to $1 million in sales in seven months

Heather Kelly returned to Shark Tank season 16 episode 7 to update viewers on her company's rise since her first appearance on the reality show.

When filming her first appearance in the previous season, the founder shared that Heather's Choice was barely sustaining. She wasn't able to pay her employees on time and her company was in a poor financial position.

"The reason I feel really beat up is I didn't make payroll yesterday. And if you were to look at our balance sheet you'd be like, 'How on God's green earth is this girl still alive?'" Heather said during her initial appearance.

While none of the Sharks closed any deal with the founder, they gave their valuable advice. Mark Cuban encouraged Heather to face all her problems on her own and suggested her to stop overthinking about the situation.

During that time, Heather had been running her business for nine years, achieving approximately $5 million in lifetime revenue. However, she was burdened with $1 million in debt and had completely run out of cash.

Heather shared in the recent episode that when she got her "final no from the Sharks," she walked out of the Tank feeling like "it was all over". She added that she either had to accept the fate of the business or continue to push through and put up a fight.

After the air date of the earlier episode, January 12, 2024, she received outreach from the Sharks. She additionally received a "ton of feedback" from their customers and Shark Tank viewers. Everyone loudly asked her to not compromise the quality of her product and encouraged her to "just keep going".

The really loud advice from the Sharks was whether feeding college students or busy moms we would need to be selling to a much wider audience of people and finding fulfillment partners in the lower 48. With this move to a co-manufacturing model we're able to essentially save tens of thousands of dollars every year just on freight to and from Alaska," she continued.

Heather added that by the end of 2024, they are now expecting to have a "co-packing partner a 3PL, and to be fully set up in the lower 48" so that Heather's Choice can take off.

After taking the Sharks' advice and expanding into new markets, the founder stated that her company earned a million in revenue in the past seven months. She added the firm is slowly chipping away at its debt and her business is currently "healthier than it's ever been".

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Heather Kelly shares her learnings from Shark Tank

Recently, Heather's Choice celebrated its 10th anniversary and the founder shared that she was excited for the next decade. She further went on to share her learnings from her appearance on the ABC show and called it "an eye-opening moment".

"Going on 'Shark Tank' was such an eye-opening moment for me because I wasn't thinking big enough which is wild, and I also wasn't open to the possibility of Heather's Choice being more than a backpacking food brand," the Shark Tank contestant said.

Heather also called the Sharks the "catalyst" as they helped her break free of the one thing that was holding her back, and that was herself.

"The advice I would give to other entrepreneurs is to surround yourself with people like the Sharks who are going to force you to think bigger and to be more audacious in the goals that you set," she concluded.

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes air every Friday on ABC.