From $18 in their pocket to more than $1.1 million in sales, James and Johanna Windon lived the American dream on a recent episode of “Shark Tank.”

The founders of Buena Papa Fry Bar, a Latin street food restaurant chain in North Carolina, have been open since July 2021, and the company is bringing in seven figures from three restaurant locations. And for their efforts, they struck a $400,000 deal with shark Robert Herjavec for 19 per cent of the business.

With no prior experience in the food industry, the couple started Buena Papa to make ends meet after shutting down their cleaning business due to the impacts of COVID-19. They took $40,000, their life savings, and began their food journey.

“Our first year, we did $1.1 million,” James said about starting Buena Papa with his wife, Johanna, who has Columbian roots. We took all the profits (from the first store) and invested it in the second store… This year, we will finish at about $2 million (with proceeds from all stores).”

James and Johanna came in looking for $400,000 for seven per cent to continue growth and expansion plans. They explained they already sold the rights to franchise four new sites; their goal was to use the money from the “Shark Tank” investment to grow their own business by building one new location annually for the following five years.

Four sharks passed on the offer, but Herjavec stepped up and countered with a $400,000 for 20 per cent offer, which the Buena Papa owners rebutted at 15 per cent. They ended up settling on 19 per cent for the same dollar amount.

“We’re going to take Buena Papa from Raleigh, North Carolina, and it’s going to travel all over the United States until it’s in every metropolitan city,” James said. “The sky is the limit.”