Bear-shaped charms, sparkly straws and adhesive hooks for giant water bottles are just some of the accessories sold by Wheeling-based CharCharms.
On Friday, founder Charlotte Trecartin, 25, will pitch her startup on ABC’s reality TV show Shark Tank. She will vie with other entrepreneurs for investment from “Sharks” like Mark Cuban, minority owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks.
Shark Tank, now in its 16th season, can draw more than three million viewers per episode. Trecartin anticipates a flood of orders for CharCharms products, which include animal-shaped straw covers and lip gloss holders that hang off water bottle hooks.
Ahead of the show, the company has ramped up production and stocked up inventory at its Wheeling warehouse.
“We’re treating this like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get CharCharms in front of a national audience, so every detail counts,” Trecartin said.
CharCharms reported $8 million in sales last year, according to Trecartin. It’s a lot of water bottle accessories considering a heart-shapped hook sells for $6.99 and a six-pack of straws costs $11.99.
The company piggybacked off the over-sized water bottle craze from brands such as Stanley and Owala. Stanley tumblers can hold up to 40 ounces, leaving ample room to hang charms, lip gloss, pompoms and other accessories. “Bottle boots” — silicone bases for Stanley tumblers — are also CharCharms’ bestseller.
“People love customizing their water bottles,” Trecartin said.
Her target customer is millennial women who own multiple Stanley cups and accessorizes them. CharCharms also caters to Gen Z and Gen Alpha women, she said.
In January 2023, Trecartin first applied online to appear on Shark Tank but didn’t make the cut. That summer, she went to an open casting call in Indianapolis, but wasn’t selected. She went to another casting call in January 2024 in Las Vegas and was finally picked.
After the third audition, the “long and intense” process still included multiple rounds of interviews, video submissions and deep dives into the business. “The scary part is that you can be cut anytime, without notice,” Trecartin said.
It took months of preparation from her first audition in 2023 to filming Shark Tank in Los Angeles in June 2024. “The producers really want to make sure you’re ready for the Sharks, know your numbers and have a compelling story,” she said.
Launching the company
Trecartin grew up in La Grange then moved to Long Grove. In 2020, she was a junior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying business while minoring in chemistry and exercise science. She was also a competitive body builder and cycling instructor at a Lifetime Fitness in Vernon Hills.
As a student and athlete, she carried a water bottle all the time. One night, she had the idea of hanging her hair tie from her water bottle instead of in a pocket or around her wrist. Over the next few months, Trecartin started designing a hook that could stick to the side of a water bottle to hold hair ties.
She funded the business using her personal savings and reinvested early profits.
In May 2020, she sought a mentor and help with developing her business and connected with Andrew Fogaty, executive director of 36Squared, a nonprofit business incubator in McKinley Park.
In the summer of 2021, Trecartin got a sales job selling coupon booklets door-to-door, which gave her the capital to buy a 3D printer and materials to start making prototypes. After meeting an intellectual property lawyer, she prepared to file a patent for a water bottle hook. By September 2021, CharCharms rolled out its first products.
Trecartin started making TikTok content “religiously,” she said, and focused on growing the brand’s presence on the social media platform. CharCharms quickly gained over 50,000 TikTok followers and sales ticked up.
In 2022, the company’s first full year of operations, revenue was $80,000. That year, she graduated from college and joined The Gallery, a business incubator in Evanston, and was mentored by investor Bob Easter, managing director at Central Piedmont Investment Group.
CharCharms was a small online brand sold in one boutique — Ross’s in Highland Park. But it expanded nationwide when it got distribution with Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2023 then Target in 2024. The company has three full-time employees, plus a team of warehouse staff and contractors.
This year, Trecartin expects CharCharms to reach $15 million in revenue, launch in more retailers and expand beyond water bottle accessories to bag charms, shoe charms and other accessories. She also plans to double down on influencer partnerships, brand ambassadors and live shopping on TikTok and online marketplace WhatNot.
“2025 is all about scaling smart and focusing on sustainable growth while keeping our brand fun and community-driven,” Trecartin said.
