Shark Tank Success: Ice Chips Owner Stops by La Grange's EcoManiacs

As La Grange's environmentally friendly store EcoManiacs celebrated its green certification, a special guest from the ABC show Shark Tank paid a visit and displayed her product, Ice Chips, which is sold in the store. 

If you aren't familiar with Shark Tank or haven't seen the episode featuring the Ice Chips candy, here's a quick primer: 

Shark Tank airs Friday nights on ABC and features investors deciding whether to put their money into a business or product. Season 5 of the show premieres tonight, Sept. 20, at 8 p.m. on ABC/Channel 7. 

The video above explains Ice Chips, but the most notable thing is that it's a healthy (but still delicious) candy. The product is sweetened naturally with birchwood xylitol, which helps strengthen teeth and reduce cavity-causing bacteria, among many more benefits. The product comes in a variety of flavors, including traditional after-meal flavors like peppermint and spearmint, and more unique ones like root beer float and margarita. 

Co-owner Charlotte Clary said she thought the organic product was a good fit in EcoManiacs, and during the celebration explained what it was like to be on Shark Tank. 

"Terrifying fun," she said. "People don't realize you're there talking for a lot longer than the eight-minute segment on TV. We were there for 52 minutes.

"But we had heard stories that the longer you stay, you're probably doing pretty good. We went in there knowing our business inside and out. We were prepared."

Clary and longtime friend Beverly Vines-Haines have 37 grandchildren between them, but they stayed even busier by starting their business in Washington. 

Learn more about Ice Chips Candy on the company's website. 

Their pitch on Shark Tank got them a deal with investors Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran: $250,000 for a 40 percent of the company. The deal eventually fell through (Clary is contractually obligated not to say why), but just being on the show has helped. 

"The exposure was amazing," Clary said. "Seven weeks after the show aired, we made more money than we had asked from them. When the show re-aired in May, we did it again." 

Their story airing on Shark Tank hasn't just helped their business. Clary said she's heard from other people about how they were inspired to chase their dreams. 

"Especially from people in our older age group, it's inspired people to pick up their dreams again or continue what they were doing."