Let’s get real. Some founders walk into Shark Tank, pitch a product, and walk out millionaires. Others get a few minutes on TV, a polite no thanks, and a tough lesson in business reality. Hip Chixs fits the second club. Their pitch was all heart and hustle—but the Sharks smelled trouble from a mile away.
Hip Chixs Jumps Into Shark Tank
Forget the typical scrappy founder makes it big myth. Hip Chixs is proof that sometimes passion, grit, and a slick pitch just aren’t enough. Two Texan friends stood in front of America’s toughest investors on Season 4, betting everything on a pair of $187 jeans. Their problem wasn’t lack of vision. It was the numbers, and the raw business grind that comes after the cameras cut.
Why did their pitch spark chatter among hustlers and Shark Tank fans? Because they had the story. Young founders, a denim product solving real pain, and total willingness to risk it. But did that give them the business muscle to take down the premium denim market? Let’s break it down.
The Founders: Who Built Hip Chixs?
Aimee Miller and Megan Jackson-Carreker aren’t strangers to the side hustle game. They’re Dallas locals. Friends first, then co-founders with a shared frustration: finding great-fitting, flattering jeans wasn’t easy.
They weren’t industry insiders. No big VC backing. Just real-world experience and a clear gap in the market for jeans that actually made women feel amazing. Like so many founders, they leaned on friendship, late nights, and a stubborn belief they could fill a need better than anyone else.
If you ever launched a product with a friend, you know: trust is your co-pilot, and a blind spot if you’re not careful.
What Made Hip Chixs Jeans Different?
You need more than a sob story to sell denim. Hip Chixs made their mark with design choices most brands ignored. Their jeans focused on unique fit—angled pockets and curved yokes to highlight curves while keeping things comfortable for real bodies.
Aimee and Megan priced their jeans sky-high—$187 a pair. They were gunning for boutique shelves and fashionistas fed up with mass-market sizing. Here’s the kicker: that price can make or break you. The pitch? Confidence in a pair of jeans. The catch? That wallet-busting tag meant most shoppers checked out fast.
They were selling better fit, not just denim. It’s the play you see from brands that want to be the next Bombas or Spanx—find a pain point, fix it, charge premium. Problem is, the math gets brutal without scale.
The Shark Tank Pitch: What Went Down in the Tank?
Let’s get to the pitch—the part every Shark Tank fan rewinds. Aimee and Megan walked in asking for $150,000 for 35% equity. Quick math: they valued Hip Chixs at about $428,000. But their total sales? Just $12,000 after two years. Ouch.
They shared their plan: use the Shark’s cash for wider boutique distribution and marketing. The hope? Move enough product that big orders would bring down their sky-high production costs. It’s a classic if we just scale up, the margins will fix themselves play.
The room got tense as they laid bare their numbers. The Sharks love hustle, but they love profit even more. Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary—none took the bait. Barbara Corcoran and Robert Herjavec? Also passed. You could see why: if you’re a Shark, you smell blood in sluggish sales and retail prices that make even luxury shoppers gasp.
Net Worth and Numbers: What Was Hip Chixs Really Worth?
Here’s where the Shark Tank hype hits the wall. I’ve watched so many founders toss out million-dollar valuations. Founders ignore reality at their own risk.
Aimee and Megan pegged the company at $428,571 (their $150,000 ask for 35%). But the Sharks did the arithmetic—they’d sold just $12,000 in two years. That’s less than some founders make slinging T-shirts out of a trunk at a music festival.
Even if every dollar of that $12,000 was profit (it wasn’t), this was a blip. Premium price, boutique dreams, but nowhere near enough traction. Net worth is about more than a spreadsheet—if investors can’t see the growth curve, they walk.
My take? This wasn’t greed. It was hope. But hope isn’t a business plan when the numbers are this tough.
Shark Reactions: Why No One Bit
The Sharks have seen it all. They passed fast on Hip Chixs, but let’s be real—it wasn’t personal. The low sales, high price point, and production costs that never shrank—those were huge red flags.
Here’s the raw truth: Shark Tank loves underdogs, but only if they show real sales heat or insane momentum. These founders had conviction but couldn’t prove their concept worked at scale. You can have the sharpest brand story, but if the numbers don’t work, you’re walking out empty-handed.
Barbara, the real estate queen, loves fashion plays. But even she tapped out when she saw zero signs of real retail demand. The rest of the Sharks? They saw a denim business with no path to wider distribution or lower prices.
I’ve seen others try this strategy. Sometimes a killer founder (think Jamie Siminoff with Ring) wins, even after a no. But with jeans, if the numbers stink, nobody’s writing checks.
After the Tank: Where Did Hip Chixs Go Next?
Here’s where it gets brutal: a Shark Tank appearance means nothing if you don’t keep grinding after the cameras go dark. Hip Chixs got their moment in the spotlight. They got web traffic, some press, a little boutique buzz. But they never landed the breakout moment they needed.
No Shark, no capital, no big mentor pushing them to tweak, pivot, or drop prices. The founders hustled, but the market is cruel. Retail is tough—especially in denim, where every reinvention is fighting Levi’s and fast fashion giants for shelf space.
Their online store shut down. Social media updates sputtered out. The brand faded, and soon the only trace left was old Shark Tank footage and stories on SharkWorth.
This is a hard pill. Exposure gives you a shot, but there’s no substitute for traction and margin. Some businesses soar after the Tank (think Scrub Daddy, which became a staple), but others get a short publicity bump and fade.
Current Status: Is Hip Chixs Still Kicking?
Let’s call it. Hip Chixs is out of business. No e-commerce. No boutiques stocking inventory. No Amazon listings. They’re done.
The founders moved on. Like a lot of ex-founders, they leveraged the experience—maybe into new careers, maybe into better startups, but Hip Chixs itself is dead in the water.
I’ve seen dozens of brands try to build a movement around a better-fit product, and most fold when the numbers don’t work out. That doesn’t mean the hustle was worthless. But once the supply chain snaps and last season’s inventory sits in a warehouse, the party is over.
So if you were hoping to score a pair now, you’re out of luck. Even resale is a needle in a haystack.
Lessons Learned: Bottom Line for Entrepreneurs
Every pitching founder should study Hip Chixs—for what to do, and what to avoid.
What They Got Right:
- Tackled a real customer pain point.
- Built a brand that stood out, not just another private label knockoff.
- Took a big swing on national TV. Never be scared to step up.
Where They Dropped the Ball:
- Sales were way too low, especially for a premium product.
- Priced themselves into a niche even boutiques couldn’t sustain.
- Banking on if we build it, they’ll come instead of real revenue traction.
You can have a killer vision and all the drive in the world, but if your business can’t scale, you’re headed for a wall. Don’t count on a Shark swooping in to fix your margins, save your cost of goods, or instantly open doors. Do the grind yourself—Sharks want proof you can win without them.
In this game, it’s not enough to be different. You need velocity, solid numbers, and a plan for slaying giants. Otherwise, you’re just another feel-good story, here for a rerun.
FAQs
Is Hip Chixs still in business after Shark Tank?
No, Hip Chixs is no longer in business. The founders shut down operations after struggling to scale sales.
Did any Shark invest in Hip Chixs?
Not a single Shark invested. The team went home empty-handed after the pitch.
Why did Hip Chixs struggle after Shark Tank?
Low sales, a high retail price, and no scalable distribution kept Hip Chixs from gaining real traction, even with Shark Tank exposure.
What was the main criticism from the Sharks?
The Sharks didn’t see enough proof the demand was out there, and they flagged prices as a major barrier.
Where are the founders of Hip Chixs now?
Aimee Miller and Megan Jackson-Carreker moved on to other ventures after closing Hip Chixs.
How much were Hip Chixs jeans selling for?
Hip Chixs retailed their jeans for $187—definitely at the premium end.
Did appearing on Shark Tank help Hip Chixs in any way?
Shark Tank gave a publicity bump, but it wasn’t enough to save the brand or drive sustainable sales.
Can I still buy Hip Chixs jeans anywhere?
Nope. The brand isn’t operating, and there’s no retail or online inventory available anymore.
Curious about more post-Tank stories? SharkWorth has the updates the show won’t tell you. That’s where you’ll find the wins, fails, and the real playbook behind every flashy pitch. Trust, the search for the next sticky business never stops.
