Lois K. Solomon
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) “Flasky Flowers” is a 12-ounce plastic flask that holds a flower arrangement. There’s a foam sphere on top so the designer can stick in artificial or real flowers to hide the cup. The founders Ryan and Kelly Moynihan will soon be featured with their product on an upcoming episode of “Sharl Tank”
Delray Beach
Sometimes, brides and bridesmaids holding bouquets really need a drink.
Ryan and Kelly Moynihan of Delray Beach pitched their solution to this problem on a new episode of “Shark Tank,” which will air at 8 p.m. Friday on WPLG-Ch. 10 and WPBF-Ch. 25. They aren’t allowed to say if the investors agreed to finance their invention, “Flasky Flowers,” but the couple said on Thursday they were thrilled with the experience and left Los Angeles motivated to continue selling their drink containers that can be masked with a posy.
Flasky Flowers is a 12-ounce plastic flask that holds a flower arrangement. There’s a foam sphere on top so the designer can stick in artificial or real flowers to hide the cup. The Moynihans recommend customers cover the flask’s straw with the flowers, allowing the holder to keep the contents of her drink a secret. Or she can imbibe openly if she prefers, with the flask’s flexible straw reaching out beyond the bouquet.
“No more awkwardly juggling bouquet and cocktail,” according to the Shark Tank website.
The Moynihans are not the only South Floridians to appear on “Shark Tank” in recent months with a product designed for women. The brother-sister team of Michael and Shirah Benarde went to the tank in February to pitch NightCap, a drink spiking prevention device. They got a deal with investor Lori Greiner, who offered $60,000 for 25% of the company.
The sharks also visited Olympic Heights High School in West Boca in 2019 after student Madison Borman won the Shark Tank High School Sweepstakes.
Kelly Moynihan, 38, who works as a hairdresser, said she got the idea for Flasky Flowers as she styled hair for a bridal party about eight years ago. When the bride and bridesmaids got called in for the ceremony, they had to hastily discard their drinks and grab their flowers.
“That was an a-ha moment,” she said. “I started drawing an idea on paper and showed it to Ryan.”
Ryan, 41, thought there was potential beyond bridesmaids.
“My reaction was, ‘Where’s mine?’ ” he said.
They hired an attorney, got a patent, designed a website, found a manufacturer and began traveling to bridal shows. They sell the flasks for $25.
“We would sell out within minutes of arriving,” Ryan said.
The couple grew up a mile from each other in the Tropic Palms neighborhood of Delray Beach. She went to Atlantic High in Delray Beach; he went to Boca Raton High School. They married in 2012, have seven kids and still live in Tropic Palms.
Kelly said her mom recommended they appear on “Shark Tank.” The couple applied in 2019 but were rejected because Kelly would give birth within weeks to their youngest child, Copper Lynn. Copper Lynn needed heart surgery shortly after birth, which delayed their second application. Then COVID-19 impeded another try. Finally, late last year, they made it through several rounds of Zoom auditions and got an invitation to fly to Los Angeles in July.
They said they aren’t advocating alcoholic beverages during the wedding ceremony. They see the flask as a fun gift for a bachelorette party or a rehearsal dinner. It can hold water or iced tea as non-alcoholic alternatives in Florida’s heat.
“We knew whether or not we got a deal, the Sharks were talking to us like young entrepreneurs with a new company,” Kelly said. “We felt validated that our product doesn’t need to sit in a box in a storage unit.”
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
