From Daily Herald carrier to ‘Shark Tank’: Ollyball inventor makes his pitch

Joe Burke’s journey to “Shark Tank” began on a nondescript October morning in 2014, when his then-8-year-old daughter, Judith, knocked over a plate with a soccer ball.

“She was crying because she broke something,” recalled Burke, who as a child delivered the Daily Herald in his native Palatine. “And I’m like, ‘How come no one’s made a ball you can play with in the house?’ So we went into the garage, and we got a balloon and some painter’s tape.”

That spark of inspiration led to the creation of Ollyball, a lightweight, inflatable ball designed for damage-free play inside homes. It has sold more than 3 million units in the 12 years since Burke and his daughter first went to work.

Now Burke is turning to ABC’s “Shark Tank” to take Ollyball to the next level. Burke filmed an episode of the show in June, and it airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday on ABC 7.

The show features entrepreneurs like Burke pitching their ideas and products to a panel of celebrity investors — the “Sharks” — hoping for their financial backing and other assistance, typically in exchange for equity in their company.

Burke can’t discuss the outcome of his appearance until after the episode airs, but he was able to provide some insight into his mindset going in.

“I really wanted product and sports people,” he said. “And a product and a sports person who were both from Chicago were on the panel.”

The panel Wednesday includes Rashaun Williams, the South Side-raised founder of Harbinger Sports Partners, and fellow Chicago native Lori Greiner.

Burke turned down “Shark Tank” in 2019 and 2022, telling producers that it was too early for him to jump into a partnership. He would, however, lay the groundwork for this summer’s appearance shortly after that second refusal, drawing up a 10-year plan for the company that included a partnership in 2026.

When the producers came calling again early this year, Burke jumped at the opportunity, with one condition: that he be joined on-air by his 11-year-old son, Jameson.

Jameson has been Burke’s traveling companion over the last few years — whenever school permits, of course — and he’s also starred in social media videos promoting Ollyball, including one for a line with Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Of his experience on “Shark Tank,” Jameson said, “It felt like I’d been there before,” because he’d watched so much of the show in the lead-up to his appearance.

It’s been a family affair from the beginning for the Burkes.

Joe’s wife, Ellen, is a co-owner and serves as Ollyball’s chief operating officer. His 16-year-old daughter, Jaynie, helped with the earliest demo videos and still pitches in to assist with social media marketing and customer service. And Judith, who now plays Division II volleyball at the University of Mary in North Dakota, tested each and every prototype after that first Saturday spent tinkering in the family garage.

“I built something for my daughter initially, and in the evolution of it, I realized that this was something other people could share in,” Burke said. “Other parents could share this joy with their kids.”

After attending St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Burke studied at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He said he’s always had a knack for inventing and regrets not patenting some of his earliest ideas, going all the way back to a nifty keychain that he fashioned out of telephone cords as a teenager.

Yet Burke’s path to founding Ollyball was anything but linear.

He worked as an actor for more than a decade, picking up credits in shows like “Beverly Hills, 90201“ and “CSI: Miami” before pivoting to an executive role at Disney in 2006, where he specialized in national retail campaigns.

He later landed what he described as a “comfortable” position as the chief marketing officer at First Team, a real estate agency that was affiliated with Christie’s until 2023.

But when Ollyball started to gain momentum in 2019, Burke made the call to go all-in.

“I knew it was time,” Burke said. “If I passed on this, I was going to regret it. If I stayed in this job, I would be happy, but I’d have always regretted not trying this.”

hhorowitz@dailyherald.com