Bishop Fenwick High School freshman Carson Grill is your typical busy teen. He loves to golf, go fishing and hang out with his friends.
The 15-year-old from Liberty Township also has quite the entrepreneurial spirit, and he’ll get a chance to show his chops on a national stage when he appears on Season 12 of ABC's "Shark Tank" when it premieres this week (8 p.m. Friday).
Grill, who will pitch a paint-saving product he invented called the Touch Up Cup alongside his father, Jason, is one of the youngest contestants to ever appear on the show. "Shark Tank" pits entrepreneurs against a panel of judges – aka sharks – for a chance to secure business deals potentially worth millions.
“My dad and I, for as long as I can remember, have been avid 'Shark Tank' fans,” Carson Grill told me. “When I first came up with my products, we sat on them for a little bit, but when they were becoming more successful, we knew we needed a great business partner. So what better way to do than to apply for 'Shark Tank?' ”
Cincinnati is no stranger to "Shark Tank." No fewer than five local companies have made pitches on the hit show.
Grill came up with his idea a few years ago, he said, when he was doing some touch-up painting with his dad around the house. He had left some scuff marks on the walls, and it was time to clean them up. The two opened some leftover paint cans, only to discover the product inside was rusty, clumpy and smelled.
“Paint can cost up to $70 a gallon,” Carson Grill said. “I thought we needed to find a better way to store it, so we didn’t have to do this every time I marked up the wall. And when I looked into different options for storing paint, there really weren’t any.”
The Touch Up Cup, Carson Grill said, is a 13-ounce polypropylene container optimized for storing paint. It has a stainless-steel rapid mixing blending sphere – which means less mess – and extra-tight silicone seal. The Grills said the product has been lab tested and will keep paint fresh for more than 10 years.
“There was a lot of trial and error,” Carson Grill said.
Touch Up Cup receives a bulk of its orders online, about 70%, the Grills said. The product is available through the company’s website on Shopify, and at retailers like Home Depot, Lowes, Amazon, Houzz, Do It Best hardware stores and Meijer locations in the Midwest. Jason Grill said they have a private label partner, FrogTape, which sells the cup under its own moniker. Carson said they’re starting a 2,000-store test with Walmart.
The cup retails for $6.99 or $14.99 for a three-pack online. Carson Grill has also invented a product called Fresh Line Keepers, food savers designed for muffins, donuts and bagels, also available at www.touchupcup.com. The air-tight and water-proof design, he said, keeps pastries fresh for days.
On the show, the Grills are seeking a $150,000 investment from the sharks for a 10% stake in the company. Because of a non-disclosure, they can’t reveal the outcome, Jason Grill said. Season 12 was taped at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas.
"Whether we got a deal or not, it’s been a great experience," Jason Grill said. "I’m really proud of Carson. This has really taken off, and I think with the Shark Tank exposure, it’s going to explode."
Bishop Fenwick plans to livestream the show on its Facebook page. Principal Blane Collison said it’s likely the first time a student from the high school has been on national television. The Grills are also hosting a small watch party Friday night in their backyard, socially distanced.
