Stress Free Kids from Shark Tank

Stress Free Kids shark tank

Stress Free Kids is a set of children’s bedtime stories that teach children ways to manage stress and anxiety. The books contain fictional characters that help kids follow along with different breathing techniques, muscle relaxations, and visualization ways that help them sleep peacefully without night terrors.

Lori Lite is the author of these books. As a mom of two kids, she soon discovered that facing stress-filled night terrors was becoming a big issue. Her kids would be unable to sleep, and bedtime was becoming a chaotic daily routine.

She searched for various stress management ways and eventually devised a few effective ones, which she incorporated into bedtime stories. After noticing that her kids started to sleep better and didn’t look as stressed as before, her husband told her to write them down. The idea was to help parents going through similar problems.

The bestselling point of Stress Free Kids is that it can reach the kids on their comprehension level by incorporating these techniques into their bedtime stories. Instead of using complicated jargon that kids won’t understand, Stress Free Kids aims to provide a solution in their language.

Before coming to Shark Tank, Lori had been selling these books and CDs from her home. She wanted the investment from Shark Tank to make the books available on a larger scale.

Are They Still an Active Company?

Yes, Stress Free Kids is still an active company. Their book, Angry Octopus, is available on Amazon and their website.

How Did the Shark Tank Pitch Go?

Lori entered the Tank with an initial ask of $250,000 in return for 20% equity in her business.

She began her pitch by telling the Sharks that many kids cannot manage their stress and communicate it properly. She continued that those kids don’t understand much of what is happening to them with their limited knowledge and vocabulary. Many kids go through night terrors, and parents find it challenging to help them through it. This is where her books come in. They provide parents with a way to help their kids in ‘their language.’

Lori then read to the Sharks a segment from her bestseller Angry Octopus, and stated that she had made $50,000 by selling around 30,000 of her books. Kevin’s concern was why she hadn’t partnered up with any publishers, to which Lori replied that she liked self-publishing.

Their next issue was why she hadn’t sold more books if her books were as good as she claims them to be. With concerns about her valuation, Robert was the first Shark to say he was out. Harrington followed, claiming that he prefers to invest in a single product.

O’Leary then stepped in with an offer: $250,000 for 100% of the business. Lori rejected this instantly as she was not looking to give up her company. That was it for O’Leary. Daymond offered $250,000 in exchange for a 51% equity, and Barbara offered the same money but a 50% equity.

Lori attempted to counter Barbara’s offer with 40% equity, but Barbara took it off the table. After seeing that Daymond was unwilling to budge from 51%, Lori closed the deal with Barbara.

Our Review of Stress Free Kids

We asked parents who purchased these books what they thought.

The good news is that they reported their kids were enjoying taking part along with them rather than just having a story read out to them. Parents were also using the coloring books to arouse interest in their kids and showing them how to express their anger in a healthier manner.

The bad news is that the book was long and a few parents couldn’t get their kids to focus on the book for long. They also felt that a few things became repetitive throughout the novel and the kids stopped enjoying halfway through.

Pros of Stress Free Kids:

  • Helps kids get a good night’s sleep
  • Interesting characters for the kids
  • Easy to read books with simple vocabulary
  • The books are readily available and are affordable
  • Colorful illustrations to capture the child’s attention
  • Used by therapists and pediatricians as well

Cons of Stress Free Kids:

  • The books are a little long, therefore keeping the child’s attention could be challenging
  • The techniques also depend on how the parent reads it out to the kids. They might not be effective if not explained properly.
  • If the child is scared of the fictional characters, then seeing their pictures might make their night terrors worse.

Who Is Stress Free Kids for?

Stress Free Kids is for all parents who are concerned about their child’s sleeping habits. It’s also a good bedtime story for parents who want to just educate their kids about how to manage their stress and anxiety. Plus, these books are also used by psychotherapists as it teaches kids anger management.

Are There Any Alternatives?

Although Stress Free Kids is pretty unique, there are a few other options available.

Cool Down and Work Through Anger is a good alternative to Stress Free Kids. Just like Stress Free Kids, it has great visuals and focuses on incorporating anger management into children’s books. It has a whole series with each book focused on teaching kids a good habit. The target audience is kids between 2-6 years hence the language is pretty simple and easy to understand.

Unlike Stress Free Kids, it focuses on giving kids lessons passively without follow along steps. Another major concern is that the brown kids are primarily portrayed as the mean kids which makes the book a little racist. Parents might dislike reading out books like these to their kids.

Our Final Thoughts

Overall, we believe that these books are a great way for parents to engage kids in a simple manner. Parents can spend more time with their kids and instill healthy ways to deal with their problems from an early age. The story can also be changed to fit your child’s needs by making it about anxiety instead of stress or anger.