A Shark Ate My Bagel: How We Built Bantam Bagels, A Memoir

From co-founder Elyse Oleksak, discover how Bantam Bagels, the company featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, the Today Show, and Oprah’s Favorite Things, was built! A gut-wrenching, relatable, inspirational memoir offering lessons in how to start, market and grow a business in today’s America.


Elyse and her husband and business partner, Nick, seemingly have done it all. Together, they faced the notorious Sharks of ABC’s Shark Tank, sold millions of bagels on live TV, invented multiple successful lines of frozen breakfast items, and built their company into a recognized national brand.


But they have also faced challenge. In pursuit of their dream, Elyse and Nick spent seven days a week, 24 hours a day, bustling through financial struggles, rejections, pregnancies, births, miscarriages, crisscrossing the country, fighting tooth and nail for the survival of their company. And nearly every time they made a step towards success it was coupled by an equally sized calamity or failure.


Through candor, humor, and raw emotion, Elyse shares her story of pursuing the American Dream. It is the story of the highs, the lows and the sacrifices required to achieve success. Through Elyse’s memoir, you will learn about the vital roles of relationships, hard work, risk, and adaptation when starting a business, and that ultimately failure isn’t the end for an entrepreneur – rather it’s the fuel that keeps the machine churning.


Praise:

“I have loved Elyse and Nick from day one and our experiences together has enriched and touched my life in many ways. Her book is a great and helpful read for anyone looking to start a business, pursue a dream, or seek success on their own terms.” - Lori Greiner, Shark from ABC’s Shark Tank, Entrepreneur, Inventor, Producer, Humanitarian