Miami Mocktail Company Stuns Judges on Shark Tank

It was mid-pandemic when Megan Klein realized she was reaching for alcohol, but hated feeling horrible the next day. As someone who had always been into wellness, Klein hated the hangover feeling that alcoholic beverages gave her. Taking on "Dry January," she searched for a non-alcoholic alternative, but couldn't find something to suit her taste — so she created her own.

Three years later, Klein is taking Little Saints to face the "sharks" in tonight's season premiere of ABC's Shark Tank, which airs on Friday, October 18, at 8 p.m.

"Like all entrepreneurs, I've been watching Shark Tank forever," Klein tells New Times. "My grandma loved watching Shark Tank, and she would say, 'You need to go on there.' Everyone would tell me that, but it felt out of reach. It wasn't the right timing until this year when I applied for the casting.'"

Even though Klein was already an entrepreneur, starting a new business is easier said than done. Mocktails and non-alcoholic drinks have their market, and while there are brands she loves to this day, she wanted something different.
"Everything had sugar," she says. "At that point, if I'm going to have sugar I'm just going to have alcohol. I'm really big on scent, and that's why I gravitate towards wines, for example, but nothing felt functional. I couldn't find a drink with a key ingredient that I could tell was good for me."

Klein also hated the idea of changing her lifestyle. At the time, quitting alcohol felt like the equivalent of becoming boring for her. While she ended up quitting alcohol years later, the brand wasn't solely created for people who don't drink alcohol. "It's totally for people that also drink because for me, things used to feel black and white, but I just wanted to drink something better than alcohol."

Her solution: mushrooms.

"I love mushrooms," says Klein. "I've studied them and their functional health for a long time. I found that during COVID, I was reaching more for cocktails because I wanted to take the edge off. I use reishi, and I also use lion's mane for cognition because my dad has Parkinson's. I'm really conscious about my brain health. I found that it gives your brain a little sparkle, and that is kind of what I wanted to bring to a non-alcoholic alternative."

With her knowledge of wellness and by working closely with a food scientist with a master's degree in adaptogens and a bartender, she came up with the first Little Saints product. Her parameters were cocktail flavors, a clean label, and being sugar-free.

Before Shark Tank, There Was Baby Mint

Klein sold the first batch of Little Saints cans out of the mint green vending trailer dubbed “Baby Mint.” It was the summer of 2021, and she drove Baby Mint around Detroit to numerous music events, outdoor events, and any place that would take her.

"I sold and sampled to 1000s of people," she recalls. "So many people had the same story as me of the pandemic. They would come up to the trailer with a beer, saying they wanted to drink less, but it couldn't be too hard for them. They wanted to swap in something that was very familiar and have it be easy."

As the business slowly took shape, Klein launched the brand's website and a small wholesale distribution in November 2021. It was rocky for the first two years, and she says the lack of brand awareness and no luck with distributors made it feel like going the traditional route was impossible.

But Klein knew she had an amazing product. So, with the help of her CMO, Katie Green, in 2023, they made the official move to Miami, and in 2024, their online presence exploded. Today, 95 percent of Little Saints' sales come from their website, and the rest comes from a distributor in Miami to provide for bars, restaurants, and local sales from Sprouts.

Canned highlights include the negroni spritz, spicy margarita, paloma, ginger mule, espresso martini, and the spiced old-fashioned. Little Saints also launched a spirit called "St. Amber" made with organic lion’s mane mushroom for a bold flavor.

Ready to Face The Sharks on Shark Tank

After years of watching Shark Tank, Klein finally felt like it was the right time to apply. She also confides another reason for really wanting to be in the show: a deal with Mark Cuban. While we can't reveal what happened, she tells New Times she really respects him as an entrepreneur.

The episode airs Friday, October 18 at 8 p.m., and Klein will host a free watch party from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Standard Hotel in Miami Beach with unlimited Little Saints. Guests must RSVP for entry.

While Klein is saving the highlights of her appearance for the watch party, she tells New Times she truly gave it her all.

"It's a real business pitch," she recalls. "It's not reality TV. There are questions coming at you, and it's all numbers, not fluff. But I went out there, and I was super prepared — my team helped a lot. I knew at the time what a big deal that was, so, I wasn't going to leave anything on the table, I did my absolute best. I was also thinking about how, when I was growing up, I didn't really have many examples of someone full of life and so happy about what she does for her career. I'm not married, I don't have kids, and I didn't have an example of that, so I wanted to be that example for little girls who watch Shark Tank like I did."