How the Busty Blonde Survived the Shark Tank
In the penultimate episode of M-Net and Telkom’s Shark Tank SA tonight, a familiar face to M-Net audiences was able to take her pick when it came to partnering with a Shark to expand her unique swimwear and lingerie brand. Previous Survivor SA: Champions contestant Shona Macdonald has come a long way since her days stranded on a deserted island. Tonight, Shona stepped into the tank as a confident business woman who was not going to leave without a deal. Luckily for her, the five Sharks we all able to recognize that this sassy entrepreneur knew her business inside and out, and had the drive required to nab a worthy investment.
Shona introduced the Sharks to her company called “Thursdays Swimwear and Lingerie”, a brand specially aimed at bigger-busted women. In Shona’s words, she “supports boobs” – quite literally! Even though her business is still a fledgling operation, Shona has spent the last two years on market research and product development and impressed the Sharks with her knowledge of the industry. She was seeking capital from the Sharks in order to roll out the new line for next season’s swimwear garments and to get the lingerie arm of the company up and running. Marketing expert Gil Oved was initially not interested in investing, but Shona’s tenacity won him over and he made her the first offer of the night. Hot on Gil’s heels, Dawn Nathan-Jones – who is passionate about female entrepreneurs – also made Shona an offer, pointing out that of all of the Sharks, she can relate the most to this business. But in the end, it was Silicon Valley-based tech guru Vinny Lingham who won Shona over, as he offered to assist her with capital as well as his technological expertise, in order to take “Thursdays” to new heights in the global online retail space.
