Pashion Footwear Before Shark Tank
What’s in a shoe? For many it’s just an object that helps us move along preventing our feet from getting burnt by the hot ground, infected by bacteria, or pierced by sharp objects on the ground. The job seems easy enough but a shoe is never just a shoe, it has to be stylish and elegant if the owner is going to be allowed to wear it in some places.
Of course, with the desire for beauty, various shoe designs have come out but they aren’t as popular as the high heel. Only women wear them and they are a fashion statement globally. Whatever the discomfort, they are needed to look good.
Haley Pavone was in her high heels during one sorority spring formal while she was in college and she found herself needing to dance. She was in high heels so she couldn’t dance and she decided to take them off to dance. As she was dancing barefoot, someone else stepped on her wearing high heels impaling Haley.
At that moment, Haley decided that she would find a way to provide women with shoes that were both stylish and functional. She started Pashion Footwear to do this. Pashion Footwear made shoes that had removable heels converting them to flat-soled sandals in an instant. The heels could be easily placed in a handbag.
Pashion Footwear had a smooth start but the going got bumpy midway and Haley needed some capital to grow the business. She knew that a shark could help and so she went to the show seeking an investment. She was featured on episode 14 of season 12.
Pashion Footwear on Shark Tank
Kendra complimented Haley for the design of the shoes saying that she liked a good high heel. Haley then went on to explain how they used a different material for their shoes’ midsoles differentiating them from other shoes in the market.  Their midsoles were much more flexible than the midsoles of other shoes in the market.
The shoe’s aesthetic design was also of interest because as Haley pointed out when the shoe was lifted, it did look like it had an arch but it looked flat when the person stepped down. Lori then confirmed if she had got the heel switching process correct. Haley then did the switching with her. Haley then said that there had been removable heels in the market before but there had been none as convenient as theirs before and their sole was intellectual property.
Lori then said that she assumed that Haley had realized a decent amount of sales. Haley said that they had been in business for slightly over a year and they had realized slightly over $800,000 in sales. Kevin then asked her what her returns were and she said that her exchange percentage was 24%. The footwear average was 20% because the sizing for footwear was slightly higher.
Mark Cuban then asked her what her net sales were and she said that their net sales were $500,000. Barbara then said that women hate their high heels and she asked Haley why she was the one who had decided to do something about this.
Haley said that in her sophomore year in college, she attended a sorority spring formal and she couldn’t dance in her high heels so she took them off. However, as she was dancing she was stepped on by someone else accidentally and it went right through her. Haley was not happy with the societal expectation of women to wear high heels. She got her idea during the incident.
Kendra then told Haley that she was very impressive and she wanted to hear her background a bit. Haley said that when she was in college she had the target of working for herself. After the impalement incident, she started attending and pitching at different events and raised the first $26,500 that she needed.
Haley got her first sales samples before her college graduation. The company had been built enough at that point that when she graduated, she was able to start working immediately. She got a footwear development team, got a COO, and even brought on student volunteers.
She had increased the amount of capital in the company since then. Kevin then asked her what her Cap table looked like. Haley said that she owned her company and had raised a total of $2,500,000, an amount which impressed the sharks. She then said that the amount was in convertible notes and she owned 83% of the business.
Mark Cuban then asked how much the amount was worth if the notes were converted. She said that if they took her deal at that time they would be at 45%. Mark Cuban then asked her if she was aware that she was likely going to own less than 45% of her company on that day if they negotiated. She said that she knew that she would but she would be working with a shark and so the deal was likely going to be worth it.
Mark Cuban then asked her how much cash she had in the bank. She said that she had about $250,000 in cash. Mark Cuban then asked her how much inventory she had. She said that she had about $150,000 in inventory at cost. Mark then asked her what her monthly burn was. Haley said that her monthly burn was about $90,000 before marketing. Kevin and Mark thought her position was undesirable and Mark even confirmed that she really only had about 3 months of cash left.
Haley then said that she would get out of the situation that she was in. Kevin then offered Haley $500,000 for 5% of her company. He also wanted a royalty of $5 per unit sold. Haley said that she wasn’t interested in a royalty offer and Lori then said that it was unbelievable that they didn’t know how much it cost to make the product or sell it.
Haley said that it cost them $36 to make the product and its landed cost was $47. They were then sold for between $150 and $190. Barbara then left. She said that she couldn’t have any chances with Haley given the risks that she was facing. Mark Cuban left after Barbara. He said that he didn’t agree with her ideas to grow the business.
Kendra Scott then left. She said that she knew Haley was going to be a success but she didn’t know if she was going to be a success with that idea. She didn’t think that the product would be comfortable for a long time and she wasn’t sold on it 100%. Lori then left and she said that she liked the shoes but as an investment, the business did not make sense to her so she was out.
Haley could not accept the offer and so she left the Shark Tank without a deal. Haley said that she had invested herself into the business for the past four years and she would keep doing it until she got to the point where she knew where they would go.
Pashion Footwear Now in 2025 – The After Shark Tank Update
Haley and her business Pashion Footwear were beneficiaries of the Shark Tank Effect and the publicity of being on the show boosted sales making them grow by 55% each month. Due to her efforts, Haley has been awarded by the American Association of University Women.
On Facebook, Pashion Footwear has over 9,300 followers and on Instagram, it has over 116,000 followers. It also has over 144,000 followers on Tik Tok and over 1,700 followers on Youtube. Since its time on Shark Tank, it has had several rounds of fundraising that have raised $3,200,000 from these rounds of funding.
Pashion Footwear has an annual revenue of around $5,000,000. The company that was on the brink of closure when it was pitched on Shark Tank appears to have weathered its storm quite well. It is located in California and is an inspiration to everyone who knows how it started and why it started.
