In between wine tastings on weekends in Northern California, Joelle Flynn would pop into the bathroom to quickly brush her teeth to keep off the wine residue. After brushing her teeth, she’d refresh her lipstick and hop over to the next winery.
“I like my white teeth more than my red wine,” said Flynn, a Dana Point resident.
Flynn carried a full tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush in her clutch bag from winery to winery so that she’d always have clean, white teeth.
On one such occasion after brushing her teeth, Flynn paused in the process of reapplying her lipstick.
“I pulled out my lipstick in the bathroom and had it in the palm of my hand, ready to put it on and thought, ‘Why isn’t there something compact and reusable like my lipstick for my teeth?’ ” Flynn said.
After researching and learning there wasn’t such a product on the market, she started building a prototype and filing patents.
“The original prototype was, actually, I ripped off the round spinning toothbrush head on my toothbrush and stuck it on a ChapStick container and then worked with designers through the years,” Flynn said. “But the invention happened back in 2010, a long time ago.”
Flynn’s invention, “FunkkOFF! Teeth Refreshers,” are a pocket-sized, two-in-one toothbrush and toothpaste dental beauty accessory made to refresh users’ teeth on the go. The teeth refresher can be reused 30 times.
Flynn partnered with childhood friend Sonia Hounsell in 2019 to finish designing FunkkOFF! and prepare the product for the market. In July 2021, the duo officially launched FunkkOFF!
Best friends and business partners Joelle Flynn and Sonia Hounsell appear on the Feb. 17 episode of Shark Tank, pitching their teeth refresher product, FunkkOFF!. Photo: Courtesy of FunkkOFF!
“When she told me about her new product, I was very excited,” Hounsell said. “I’m very passionate about marketing and innovation, and so over the years, we kept talking about it and then ultimately decided to formalize a company in 2019 and figure out how to launch it.”
The two met at a small, all-girls Catholic grade school in Maryland, where they immediately became best friends, Flynn said. As they grew older, the two played lacrosse and soccer together and remained friends when Flynn moved to California and Hounsell moved to New York.
Working together, Hounsell brought in a background in brand marketing and new product innovation to help launch FunkkOFF!
After a social media push of the product in February 2022, a representative of ABC-TV’s Shark Tank reached out to the duo, asking them to apply to appear on the show. In July, Flynn and Hounsell filmed their episode of Shark Tank.
Holding a glass of wine as they entered the “Shark Tank,” Flynn and Hounsell toasted to their friendship before slipping into their pitch.
“You refresh your breath with gum, you refresh your lips with lipstick; now you can refresh your teeth with FunkkOFF! Teeth Refreshers,” Flynn said.
In all, the duo was in the “Shark Tank” pitching the product for close to an hour, Hounsell said.
“I would kind of break it down into four quarters,” Hounsell said. “We were so prepared, and so you go in and the first two quarters of the game were great. We were on it.”
“But, then, you kind of get a little starry-eyed because you have all these cameras on you, and then they’re all talking over each other,” Hounsell continued. “So, we just didn’t remember some of the stuff that we said, but at the end of the day, it was probably one of the most dramatic Shark Tanks I’ve seen.”
After receiving five “no’s” from the investors, or celebrity Sharks, Hounsell and Flynn turned to leave. Taking just a couple of steps toward the door, investor Robert Herjavec piped up, noting that his wife has a habit of finding products that Herjavec passed on that she would have bought.
Adding that he was thinking of his wife with FunkkOFF!’s pitch, Herjavec said it was a great product, noting that he understands Flynn and Hounsell’s struggles and need to sell more products, but that he was willing to invest.
Ultimately, Herjavec offered the duo $250,000 for a 12% stake in the company, which Hounsell and Flynn emphatically accepted.
“We were so thrilled to have Robert, and we are still working through the details of the agreement, which is normal for Shark Tank and those deals,” Hounsell said. “So, we’re still working through those, but his team has been great, and we’re looking forward to digging in and working with him more.”
Since the show’s airing on Feb. 17, Flynn said there’s been an outpouring of support. FunkkOFF!’s products are all available for pre-order since selling out its inventory after the Shark Tank episode aired.
“Shark Tank has really put a huge fire under our business with the response that we’ve gotten so far,” Hounsell said. “We see the brand taking off with the existing products from FunkkOFF! Teeth Refreshers.”
“All along we’ve had plans for newer versions, new flavors,” Hounsell continued. “A lot of people have been reaching out about new colors, which we talked about doing.”
In the future, the two want to create a refillable version and continue to expand the brand.
“Instead of creating a new lane, we’ve actually created a new intersection with oral care and beauty,” Flynn said. “Everybody wants their clean, fresh white teeth. It’s cosmetic, as well as hygiene throughout the day, to keep your teeth refreshed on the go.”
“Think about refreshing your lipstick and refreshing your breath with gum and mints; now you can refresh your teeth on the go.”