Bala
Natalie Holloway and Max Kislevitz redesigned the ankle weight into something people actually wanted to wear, closed a $900K deal with Mark Cuban and Maria Sharapova, and the episode aired the week the world locked down.
Natalie Holloway and Max Kislevitz took one of the least glamorous products in fitness, the ankle weight, and redesigned it into a colorful, minimalist object people actually wanted to wear. They pitched it on Shark Tank and walked out with $900,000 from Mark Cuban and guest shark Maria Sharapova. Then the episode aired in March 2020, just as the world locked down and everyone started working out at home.
The timing was accidental and perfect. Bala’s stylish wearable weights went from a roughly $5,000 idea to $2 million in sales in 2019, then, as the pandemic turned living rooms into gyms and celebrities like Reese Witherspoon posted themselves wearing the bangles, to $20 million by the end of 2020. Today Bala generates around $29 million a year.
At a glance:
| Founded | 2018, by Natalie Holloway and Max Kislevitz |
| Product | Bala Bangles, design-forward wearable weights |
| Shark Tank | Season 11, aired March 2020 |
| Deal | $900,000 for 30% from Mark Cuban and Maria Sharapova |
| Growth | $2M (2019) to $20M (2020), a 10x pandemic jump |
| Revenue | ~$29 million annually |
The Story
Making the ugliest thing in fitness beautiful
Ankle and wrist weights were a relic, clunky, Velcro-and-neoprene throwbacks to 1980s workout gear that nobody wanted to be seen wearing. Holloway and Kislevitz saw an opportunity hiding in that ugliness: take a product with real utility and terrible design, and make it something beautiful. Bala Bangles were sleek, colorful, minimalist weights you’d leave out on a shelf, and that redesign was the entire business.
From a $5,000 idea to Bloomingdale’s
The couple started Bala in 2018 on a tiny budget, roughly $5,000, and the aesthetic did the work immediately. They earned about $260,000 in sales in their first six months and $1.2 million in their first year, and landed purchase orders from Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom. By 2019, Bala hit $2 million, picked up by tastemaker retailers like Free People, Goop, and Bandier that positioned it as a lifestyle object, not gym equipment.
The Shark Tank deal
Holloway and Kislevitz went on Shark Tank’s Season 11 asking for $400,000 for 10% of the company. They left with a bigger deal: $900,000 for 30%, from Mark Cuban and guest shark Maria Sharapova, a tennis champion whose athletic credibility fit the brand perfectly. It was validation, capital, and a national spotlight all at once.
The pandemic 10x
Then luck met preparation. The episode aired in March 2020, the same moment gyms closed and millions of people were suddenly exercising in their living rooms. Bala was exactly the right product at exactly the right time, and as celebrities from Reese Witherspoon to Adam Levine posted themselves wearing the bangles, sales exploded, from $2 million in 2019 to $20 million by the end of 2020, a tenfold jump in a single year. Revenue has since grown to around $29 million.
The Strategy
Redesign a commodity into an object of desire
Bala’s core move was pure design. The function of a wearable weight was decades old, but by making it beautiful, the founders created a product people wanted to display and wear, not hide. Taking a useful, unglamorous commodity and redesigning it into something aspirational is one of the most powerful and underused strategies in consumer goods.
Aspirational placement over gym aisles
Bala didn’t sell itself as fitness equipment in a sporting-goods store. It placed itself in Free People, Goop, and Bandier, alongside lifestyle and fashion, which framed the product as design and self-care rather than exercise gear. Where you sell shapes how customers value what you sell, and Bala’s placement made a weight feel like a want.
The right product at the right moment
Bala’s pandemic surge was partly luck, the timing of the episode was pure chance, but the founders had built a product perfectly suited to home fitness and a brand ready to scale when demand hit. Luck rewards the prepared, and Bala converted a fortunate moment into a 10x year because the product and brand were already right.
The Marketing
Design that begs to be posted
Bala’s biggest marketing engine was its own look. The bangles are photogenic and covetable, so customers and celebrities posted themselves using them without being paid to, turning the product into its own advertisement. When a fitness product is beautiful enough to show off, the earned attention does what an ad budget can’t.
Shark Tank as a launch platform
The show gave Bala a national audience and a credibility stamp from Cuban and Sharapova at the exact moment demand spiked. A televised pitch, well-timed, is both marketing and validation, and Bala rode that exposure straight into its breakout year.
The Numbers
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Bala founded on roughly $5,000; $260K in first six months |
| 2019 | $2 million in sales; picked up by Free People, Goop, Bandier |
| March 2020 | Shark Tank deal airs: $900K for 30% from Cuban and Sharapova |
| End of 2020 | Grows 10x to $20 million as home fitness booms |
| Ongoing | Around $29 million in annual revenue |
A 10x year: Bala’s jump from $2 million to $20 million in 2020 is the headline, and it came from a beautiful product meeting a once-in-a-generation shift to home fitness. The lesson isn’t just luck, it’s that a well-designed, ready-to-scale brand can capture a sudden wave that a scrappier one would miss.
What You Can Learn
Redesign a commodity into a want. Bala took a decades-old, ugly product and made it beautiful, and that was the whole business. A useful thing with bad design is an opportunity, because you can win on desirability without inventing anything new.
Placement shapes value. Selling in Free People and Goop instead of a gym aisle made a weight feel like a lifestyle object. Where you sell tells customers how to think about your product and what it’s worth.
Be ready for luck. Bala’s pandemic timing was chance, but the founders had a product and brand ready to scale the instant demand arrived. You can’t control the wave, but you can be built to ride it when it comes.
Make the product its own ad. Bala’s beauty got celebrities and customers posting for free. A product photogenic enough to show off generates earned attention that a marketing budget can’t buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who founded Bala?
Bala was founded in 2018 by married couple Natalie Holloway and Max Kislevitz, who redesigned wearable weights into a colorful, minimalist, design-forward product.
What was Bala’s Shark Tank deal?
On Shark Tank’s Season 11, Bala’s founders asked for $400,000 for 10% and instead closed a deal for $900,000 in exchange for 30% equity, with Mark Cuban and guest shark Maria Sharapova.
How much revenue does Bala make?
Bala grew from $2 million in 2019 to $20 million by the end of 2020, a tenfold jump driven by the pandemic home-fitness boom, and generates around $29 million in annual revenue.
What does Bala sell?
Bala is best known for Bala Bangles, stylish wearable weights for wrists and ankles, and has expanded into a broader line of design-forward fitness and movement products.
Sources
- CNBC, “Shark Tank: Mark Cuban and Maria Sharapova invested nearly $1 million in a wearable weights company,” 2020. The pitch and the $900K deal.
- Forbes, “How Bala Fitness Equipment Pumped Up Sales From $2 Million To $20 Million During The Pandemic,” 2021. The 10x growth and tastemaker retail placement.
- Clear.co, “How Bala Bangles Turned a $5K Idea Into a $900K Shark Tank Deal”. The $5,000 start and celebrity-driven virality.
- Shark Tank Recap, “Bala Bangles Update, Season 11”. The deal terms and ~$29 million annual revenue.