Naman Shrestha
With a history of dealing with tick-borne diseases, the father-daughter duo of Steve and Olivia Abrams came up with the idea for TiCK MiTT, a brand focused on keeping those diseases in check and the pet owners carefree. The founders made an appearance in the 20th episode of ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’ season 16 and pitched their business in front of the Sharks. Steve and Olivia talked about the advantages of their tick-removal mittens and their future plans surrounding the business, hoping to land a deal that would help TiCK MiTT reach newer heights.
TiCK MiTT: Who Are They and What Do They Do?
Before the creation of TiCK MiTT, Steve Abrams and his daughter, Olivia Abrams, led quite different lives. While the former had more than one and a half decades of entrepreneurial experience by running Magnolia Bakery, Olivia was still in the early phase of her professional career. After passing out from the Calhoun School in 2017, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with Honors from Lehigh University in 2021. Between 2019 and 2020, she interned as an Editorial Consumer at Forbes, an HR Summer Analyst at Morgan Stanley, and a Global Programming Intern at Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center.
In 2020, she also pursued a course in Business and International Affairs from IES Abroad. For her first full-time job, she joined Morgan Stanley as an HR Analyst in the Global Capital Markets Campus Recruiting department. From March 2022 to December of the same year, she was an Associate at Branded Hospitality Ventures. However, by then, she had already been thinking about establishing TiCK MiTT due to her experience with Lyme disease early on in her life. At the tender age of seven, when she was in first grade, Olivia was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Describing her experience of the disease, she said, “My left knee really blew up, it was incredibly inflamed. One of the main symptoms of Lyme disease can be arthritis, and I just really couldn’t walk.”
Several months and tests later, she developed a bullseye rash, which eventually led to her diagnosis. All in all, the entire experience made her realize that there weren’t enough tick prevention methods, especially for children and pets. In order to look for a solution to catch the ticks before they caused harm, she started experimenting with different kinds of fabrics in her home and realized that sometimes “ticks and other insects would stick to them and that was really the original inspiration behind TiCK MiTT.” After coming of age, she combined her passion for tackling tick-borne diseases with her father’s determination to come up with a practical solution, and thus, TiCK MiTT was born. Over the years, they worked with several textile scientists and product engineers and came up with a patented fabric.
She revealed, “We used a microfiber, but we changed the microfiber to a very specific loop size…Ticks have hooks, and their legs get stuck in the loops of the fabric. Our patented fabric feels like microfiber because it is a microfiber but it’s different in that it has a very specific loop size and thickness to it where it can pick up ticks of all different sizes and life cycles.” Thus, after several years of research and prototyping, TiCK MiTT was finally launched in March 2023. Besides being the Co-Founder and CEO of the brand, Olivia has also been a Junior Board Member at Project Lyme since November 2023.
The scientifically engineered fabric of TiCK MiTT works effectively to help you easily and effectively remove ticks from skin, clothing, and fur before they transmit any tick-borne diseases, making it a must-have for pet owners. What makes it a stress-free process is that it comes with a dryer bag, allowing users to kill and dispose of ticks without even touching them after catching them. With a mission to raise awareness about the importance of tick checks and reducing the chances of diseases, TiCK MiTT provides a safe and reusable fabric to users, who can enjoy the outdoors without worrying about ticks.
TiCK MiTT: Where Are They Now?
Olivia and Steve Abrams ensured to make TiCK MiTT not just effective but also easy to use. All one has to do is rub the fabric over the skin, clothes, and the pet’s fur, and then place it in the dryer bag for about ten minutes. After that, the ticks can be disposed of and the fabric can be reused. Given its efficiency and usefulness, TiCK MiTT earned the Product of the Year award at the Outdoor Retailer’s Innovation Awards, which took place at the Salt Palace Convention Center in June 2024. Olivia Abrams was also named in Forbes Under 30 in the Social Impact category for co-founding the company. You can shop for the products on their official website. The regular TiCK MiTT Packs are available for different prices, depending on the number of packs: 1 Pack for $19.99, 2 Packs for $36.99, 4 Packs for $71.99, and 10 Packs for $180.
The TiCK MiTT KiDS packs are also priced the same. A Check Yo Self Tote Bag is also available as the company’s merch for $29.99. Besides their website, their products are also available on Amazon and Chewy, as well as various physical stores, including Orvis and more. They also reportedly sell in Doors in countries like Canada, South Korea, Norway, and Sweden. In April 2025, they announced that TiCK MiTT has been made available in 50 Dunham’s Sports stores across the nation. By the end of the same month, the company was also awarded the Silver Stevie® Winner for Startup of the Year – Consumer Products Industries at the 2025 American Business Awards. In May 2025, it was announced that the product is also on the “shelves at all Duluth Trading Co. and Fleet Farm locations.”
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