THERE'S MONEY IN SCRATCHBUILDING.

Some kids are too small, and too wriggly, to sit in a grocery cart.

Father and daughter alumni Stan Valiulis and Lindsey Valiulis Fleischhauer received $100,000 for 25% equity on “Shark Tank” for their Totes Babies business. The two appeared in season 12, episode 17 for their Car Seat Carrier that attaches to shopping carts to make shopping easier for parents.

Valiulis Fleischhauer graduated in 2004 with a degree in theater and Valiulis graduated in 1984 with a music degree.

Sometimes, it helps to understand what power tools the property masters are using.

Valiulis Fleischhauer said the Totes Babies Car Seat Carrier idea came from when her son was a baby and the cart had no room to fit his carrier and the groceries. She went to her dad in 2017 who then sketched out the idea and went to Home Depot to create the prototype.

“It was a curtain, adjustable curtain rod and drop cloth,” Valiulis said. “I made it using a stapler and scissors, so I had a functioning prototype and you (Valiulis Fleischhauer) still have it. It works great.”

Valiulis Fleischhauer decided they needed to make it a real product because moms would come up to her at grocery stores asking her about it. The product was launched in August 2018.

The goal of Totes Babies is to help parents shop easier and lower their anxiety levels.

“Parents can also put the toddlers in the front part too that opens up,” Valiulis Fleischhauer said. “So like for me when I had my second son, I’d put my toddler in the front and then the Totes Babies behind it (and) still get all my groceries.”

There are other products under development.  Let's see if this enterprise does well enough that the entrepreneurs can become Shark Tank venture capitalists themselves some day.