When Kristen Dunning, a Georgia Full-Time MBA student and founder of Gently Soap, launched her sensitive skincare brand in 2021, she made a goal to appear on Shark Tank in 2025.
She got to mark that goal off her bucket list two years early. Dunning appeared this weekend on the Season 15 premiere of the popular business pitch show, landing a deal with Candace Nelson, founder of the Sprinkles Cupcakes bakery chain.
“I’m just so excited to continue to grow Gently,” Dunning said after a viewing party at Studio 225 for the episode, surrounded by family members who traveled from as far away as Delaware to share her moment. “We’re going to pitch to Target. We’re going to pitch to Walmart. And none of that is guaranteed, but it’s happening, and it is beyond what I thought I would be able to achieve at this point in the business.”
Shark Tank premiered in 2009 on ABC. The show invites entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses to a panel of five established business investors known as “sharks” for a chance to strike a deal to grow their business.
Dunning, who received bachelor’s degrees in horticulture and agricultural communication from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 2021, launched Gently Soap in March 2021. She developed the process and formula for the sensitive-skin-friendly soap while working with herbs at the UGArden.
Dunning has struggled with eczema since she was a child and developed the soap to have an option that wouldn’t irritate her skin but also smelled nice. Most soaps for ultra-sensitive skin are devoid of fragrance, and she did not want to use boring soap for the rest of her life.
She continuously developed her business plan and pitching acumen through the UGA Entrepreneurship Program, starting with the Idea Accelerator program.
“I honestly could not have done it without all of the pitching experience I gained from UGA Entrepreneurship,” she said.
Over the last year, she…
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