A rare deal was made on Sunday's Shark Tank episode when the Young family pitched their late father's invention. Their story made every shark in the tank emotional.
The pitch was made by the late Keith Young's three children: Kaley, Christian and Keira. “It was his dream to pitch it on 'Shark Tank,' ” Kaley said of the Cup Board Pro, a chopping board with a detachable bowl for easy cleanup. “Unfortunately, he passed away before he had that chance, but we’re here today to continue his legacy and make that dream a reality.”
Then a brief video of their father was shown demonstrating the product. The video was actually his original audition tape for ABC's Shark Tank. Kevin Young was a New York City firefighter who helped in the cleanup at Ground Zero after the September 11th terrorist attacks. He died three-months before this taping happened (last May) from cancer related to his work in 9/11. The board even has an inscription number of all the firefighters who passed in their efforts on that tragic day.
Unfortunately that isn't the only tragic thing to happen to the Young family. In 2012, Keith stopped working on his Cup Board Pro to take of his dying wife. There wasn't a dry-eye in the tank as their children told the story.
“As he was getting his first prototypes, our mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and he put everything on hold to be at her side,” Kaley said. “On Aug. 22, 2012, God called our mom home, and our dad showed us what strength was in every moment he continued to show up for us, and in life in general. He was a true inspiration, like our mom."
The children are hoping to honor their parents' legacy through this amazing kitchen product. The three of them (ages ranging from 15 to 24) started an online store and are running the business out of their living room. They are even writing individual thank you notes to everyone buying the product.
“It’s kind of hard to overwhelm the three of us, because of the amount of stress you go through seeing a loved one sick,” Kaley said. “We’re only able to be here because of how strong our parents were.”
After hearing their story, all five sharks - John Higgins, Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary and Lori Greiner – decided to come together to help. Their offer was $100K for a 20 percent stake in the business and a promise that anything they profit from the business they would give to a charity to help firefighters affected on 9/11.
“The story’s amazing,” Cuban said. “You have a million reasons to be proud. Your father will live on forever through each of you and his product.”
Photo: Getty