Annabel Hay broke all records when she caught the eye of the judges on Shark Tank this season
By Alex Driscoll, journalist
Despite only being 26, Annabel Hay has developed a product that can already be found on shelves across the world – Clutch Glue. The entrepreneur’s confidence, along with her product, made her the judges’ pick on a recent episode of Channel 10’s Shark Tank.
Displeased with the wastefulness of adhesive body tape, Annabel’s inspiration for Clutch Glue, a liquid fashion tape that applies to the skin and holds clothing in place, arrived after a simple wardrobe malfunction.
Twelve months on from developing Clutch Glue, the former Manly resident has big plans going forward for her brand, and her appearance on Shark Tank has helped those plans.
“[I] came across as incredibly confident, genuine and passionate about my product, which I am. It’s something that I made because I knew it was a product that I needed,” says Annabel. That same confidence has helped to launch both Clutch Glue and Annabel and her sister Lucy’s company, AHAY Society, into the international market.
Shark Tank wasn’t the beginning; it was one stop on a dedicated and thoroughly planned entrepreneurial journey. “I was incredibly over-prepared. We did these mock Shark Tank nights and we named them ‘fish bowl’ nights,” Annabel recalls, saying she’d have around 40 friends take part.
By the time their appearance on Shark Tank came around, the Clutch Glue pitch was a well-oiled machine. And it did not take long for history to be written.
The second the pitch finished, Jane Lu of Showpo made an offer to Annabel. By the end of it all, every shark was vying to invest in the product. Eventually, Annabel chose to go with Davie Forgarty and Robert Herjavec’s combined offer of $200,000 and a 10% stake each in the company. “I was absolutely stoked,” recalls Annabel. “It made me really excited because I knew from there that I was really confident that the edit was going to be authentic and good, because nothing bad happened.”
Shark Tank has not been the only milestone reached by Clutch Glue. Online they sold 25,000 units and then the product made its way onto Priceline Pharmacy shelves in December 2023. And after taking a punt at guessing the email of pharmacy chain CVS, the product is now on American shelves. “It just goes to show that getting email addresses and maybe just being a little bit smarter than the next person is what got us there,” Annabel says.
Throughout this, Annabel’s sister and best friend, Lucy, has been right by her side. When Annabel needed someone to help create the packaging for her, she could think of no one better than her sister. Lucy, who already had experience working for large marketing firms, jumped on the opportunity and on Christmas day 2022, Annabel officially offered the role of chief marketing officer to her. It has only been upwards since.
Family run affairs appear to be a Hay specialty, with the sisters’ grandparents, Jeanne and David Hay both former mayors of Manly Council at some point. “You just can’t get rid of us Hays!” Annabel jokes.
In terms of the future, Annabel is obviously very optimistic, thanks to the success of her company. “We are now just really focusing on global expansion because we’ve got an incredible global customer base,” she states. “The direction that we’re going down as a company is being a more sustainable and effective solution to (existing) products on the market.”
Watch Annabel on season six of Shark Tank on 10 Play.