Florida State grads Ilana Karcinski and Kelly Nova will appear on ABC’s “Shark Tank” at 8 pm Oct. 20 to make a pitch of a lifetime for their wedding day pet care service.
The business is called FairyTail Pet Care. Launched in 2015, childhood friends Karcinski and Nova say their business filled a niche that seemed to go unnoticed amid the long to-do to to-do list.
“But as soon as we graduated, we got a job working at the Hilton here in Tampa and started seeing this problem come up all the time,” Karcinski told the Tallahassee Democrat. “For the first time, everyone you trust is unavailable because they’re going to attend your wedding.”
“It’s the last thing you want to worry about. They’re literally your children, and who’s going to take care of them on one of the biggest days of your life?”
Just like that, a business was born.
However, the first two years were rough considering the concept was foreign to the wedding industry. They lean on a network of photographers and wedding planners who have witnessed the chaos and anxiety of couples at a wedding day care for the couple’s best friend.
Now, says Nova, the FairyTale is a reality. The business, based in Tampa, is expanding into other markets through franchises in West Palm Beach, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh.
“Since the beginning of our business, we’ve been hearing from people that this is a brilliant and unique idea,” Nova said. “So many people said, ‘Wait, you should go on Shark Tank.’
“We were big fans of the show, but we just never seriously looked into it.”
So how did FairyTail Pet Care get on ‘Shark Tank’?
Karcinski and Nova have been best friends since middle school and their friendship continued throughout high school and their time at FSU, where they were also college classmates.
In 2013, Karcinski, 32, earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology. Nova, 33, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in business. They have always been animal lovers and have taken in rescue dogs over the years, including their fur babies Cooper, Rowdie and Grizzie, who inspired their logo.
They spent nearly a decade creating the blueprint that would inspire the creation of the wedding pet care industry, they say.
A year ago, they received an email so incredible they thought it was spam. But, here’s the real deal: a “Shark Tank” casting producer contacted them and invited them to appear on the show.
Shock ensued, followed by excitement and nerves. They spent the next six months preparing to enter the Tank, armed with business numbers and every supposed question the show sharks would fire at them. In June, they flew to the set of “Shark Tank”.
They appeared on the show with several four-legged companions, all wearing tuxedo bandanas.
“So that’s really special to have them be a part of our pitch,” Karcinski said. “I think it’s really created quite a large entrance of explaining what we do and how it all works.”
Karcinski and Nova aren’t the first FSU graduates to appear on Shark Tank.
In 2020, FSU alum Michael Benarde and his sister made a pitch for the NightCap — a protective drink cap that doubles as a hair scrunchie designed to prevent spiking drinks in public. The duo received a $60,000 investment from Lori Greiner, an inventor of more than 500 products.
Contact Reporter TaMaryn Waters at [email protected]. Follow @TaMarynWaters on X.
