Rutgers Grad Wins Backing on Shark Tank for Therapeutic Soap

A therapeutic soap massage bar cooked up in the kitchen of a Rutgers physical therapy graduate earned the backing of a billionaire on the TV show Shark Tank.

"It's been a crazy few weeks," said Daniel Staats, who created the soap bar in his kitchen in Point Pleasant that is specially shaped to soothe aches and pains. He cofounded SorSoap with David Restiano, who had been a physical therapy patient. The pair accepted a $100,000 investment offer from Shark Tank's Mark Cuban.

Staats, who graduated from the School of Health Professions Doctor of Physical Therapy program in 2004, and Restiano pitched their product on the show in June - but had to keep the exciting news to themselves until the showaired on April 12.

"We had three weeks' notice that it was going to be on, so we made sure we had enough of everything in stock and had a big party at a local restaurant," Staats said.

Even so, they are trying to keep up with the demand - their total sales have doubled since the show aired two weeks ago.

The idea came out of a physical therapy session.

Two years ago, Staats, who operates Staats Physical Therapy practice in Brick, was working on Restiano's hip flexor with a therapy tool. A week later, Restiano called to say that, while using soap in his shower, he had an idea for a massage bar made of soap that could be designed to replicate the tool used by Staats.

"He thought, this is similar to what Dr. Dan was doing. When he called me, I said that's great," said Staats. "And I started making soap in the kitchen, but there's a byproduct called lye and it's highly poisonous. I had to dress in Ghostbusters protective clothing and get everybody in my family out of the house."

Using a silicone mold, he designed a bar of soap with a grip handle and curved edges that could be used while showering to soothe daily aches and pains.

He conducted a study on the effectiveness of the soap, testing it out on deli meat slicers who worked at Jersey Mike's sandwich shops. The 30-day trial showed the use of the soap significantly improved muscle and soft tissue performance and function. The study led to an article co-authored by Staats that was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Occupational Diseases and Environmental Medicinein August 2022.

He said the Shark Tank producers were impressed that he could validate the results of the product with science.

Still, the first four investors on Shark Tank passed on the product, with one saying that it would be too difficult to mass-market. But Cuban, owner of the basketball team the Dallas Mavericks, had been using the SorSoap during the pitch to massage his sore neck - and he liked the results.

"My neck has been killing me," Cuban said. "It fixed my damn neck. That's the reason I'm giving you an offer."

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