Body Walking Update | Season 4
Tod Miller entered the tank to pitch his “revolutionary” massage service. His company, Body Walking, licensed specialized massage therapists in the art of “body walking”, wherein the therapist will literally walk on a client’s back using a set of handrails to manage their weight. Will he walk away with a deal on
Shark Tank Body Walking Update
- Entrepreneur: Tod Miller
- Business: Body walking massage
- Ask: $100,000 for 10% equity
- Result: No deal
- Shark: None
Tod’s company Body Walking, is both a product and a service. This approach to massage therapy involved walking on a client’s back using a series of freestanding handrails.
Although the application looked goofy and invited jokes from the sharks, Barbara Corcoran said the massage actually felt excellent.
During the
Unfortunately, the sharks also learned that between 2005 and 2012, Tod had only licensed 30 total body walkers. That’s not 30 per year. That’s 30 total, or 4 per year.
The fact was very sobering and the tone of the tank changed immediately.
Tod tried salvaging the sharks’ enthusiasm by divulging that he’s a triathlete that’s completed multiple IronMan triathlons, and that his background in massage therapy and athletics vouches for the effectiveness of his technique.
Unfortunately, Mark Cuban just questioned where Tod’s focus was, so he went out.
Barbara, despite receiving the nice massage, said the concept wasn’t unique. Daymond John was disappointed by there being no sales.
Robert Herjavec said there was no real plan. Kevin O’Leary had already told Tod that he found “nothing proprietary” about Body Walking.
Although Tod didn’t receive a deal on
Research for our Body Walking update finds that after the episode aired, Tod was featured on the show The Doctors months later. This helped to establish himself as a thought leader in the massage industry.
He would go on to create the Body Walking Institute, which helped train new body walkers on a larger scale. Body Walking remains in business, and is now a major provider of massage therapy in the United States.
With successful growth since
Would you like to learn about the other companies featured on Season 4 Episode 1? Follow the links below for our other updates from the episode.
For even more on companies and products, be sure to stop by our Season 4 Products Page!
Andrew Smith is the founder and owner of Shark Tank Recap. He is a longtime Shark Tank fan that has been watching it for years and has seen every episode multiple times. His friends know him as the Shark Tank expert, because he can answer any question about the show! His favorite Shark Tank products are Bertello's pizza oven and Bug Bite Thing!