Lori Greiner

Lori Greiner was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, developing an early interest in business by making and selling jewelry as a college student. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a bachelor's degree in communications, initially working as a writer and producer for television shows while selling costume jewelry on the side and freelancing at the Chicago Tribune. Her entrepreneurial breakthrough came in 1996 when she invented a plastic jewelry organizer out of personal necessity, investing her life savings of $300,000 to prototype, patent, and pitch it on QVC after initial rejections. The jewelry organizer sold thousands in minutes on QVC starting in 1998, launching her career and spawning her company For Your Ease Only, which expanded into home organization, kitchen gadgets, beauty tools, and more. Greiner became a QVC staple, known as the 'Queen of QVC,' hosting her own show and generating hundreds of millions in sales with over 600–1,000 inventions across her businesses, including a patent and licensing firm. In 2012, Greiner joined Shark Tank as a recurring investor, applying her retail expertise to pitches and achieving high success rates with investments like Scrub Daddy sponges. She has authored books on entrepreneurship, spoken on innovation for groups like the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, and received awards such as 'Entrepreneur of the Year' from the University of Tennessee and 'Woman of the Year' from the National Association of Professional Women. Married to Dan Greiner, she splits time between Chicago and Los Angeles, continuing to drive her empire through tenacity and problem-solving.