Rachel Zietz on ABC’s Shark Tank
As the daughter of two entrepreneurs, Rachel Zietz had no trouble carrying on the family legacy. At only 12 years old, Rachel started her own lacrosse equipment company with a $30,000 loan from her parents. Playing lacrosse all her life, Rachel simply was not satisfied with the low quality, high cost products on the market, so she took action. After attending the Young Entrepreneurs Academy she founded Gladiator Lacrosse and within the first year had already reached $200,000 in sales. Not bad for a seventh grader.
When she was fifteen, Rachel was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank where she asked for a $100,000 investment in exchange for 15% equity in her company. Although the sharks did not bite on the offer, they were impressed by her drive, and the episode served as free publicity without the sacrifice of share in her business. Rachel went on to be featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Entrepreneur Magazine, Fortune, Forbes, Inc., and in 2016 was even ranked one of the 30 most influential teens by TIME Magazine. Gladiator Lacrosse was Rachel’s solution to pain she identified through her own experience in sports. Gladiator is recognized
worldwide; it was the official goal sponsor of the World Lacrosse Cup last year in Israel, and features a signature edition line with international lacrosse player Casey Powell. Now a student at Princeton University, Rachel is likely one of the only Freshman with the letters CEO on her resume.
The power of young entrepreneurs to start a steady, profit earning business is incredible. At 12 years old I was not equipped to run a business or go on shark tank. This shows how important it is to act on problems that you see in society in order to make a profit off of it. This shows that you are never too young to pursue a passion, a dream or an idea. Young entrepreneurs are paving the way for future generations.
This is really amazing. I’m impressed by her willingness to step out and take action on the problem at such a young age, when she could have been thinking of so many other things that 12 year olds usually think about. I like that it was her own problem of terrible over priced equipment that she was solving, and not a problem that didn’t relate to her whatsoever. There’s a simplicity to that which I can often overlook.
As a fellow lacrosse player myself I found your blog post to be particularly interesting. For a young girl to have such a drive and motivation at such a young age is incredible to hear about. At 12 years old she is doing more than most people are doing in their 30’s. Thanks for sharing Meredith.
I can totally relate to the low quality, high priced gear as a lacrosse player myself. That is so awesome to hear about how her drive and passion has led to her successful company. This is inspirational as this teaches that it does not matter how old you are, we are all capable of coming up with an idea and stepping out to take action. I will be looking out for gear from Gladiator Lacrosse!