"Back in 2011, Overtone Acoustics was started in a garage when I convinced a group of friends to help me build a pro recording studio in our house. Over the last 6 years, I've given my everything to turn this idea of creating great sounding spaces into a successful business.
The journey has not been an easy one...
In October of last year, I was on the brink of losing it all. I had no money to pay employees and had to move into the showroom of our shop just to keep the doors open. I was at a pretty low point and considered throwing in the towel...
Luckily, I've been blessed to have people in my corner that love me and kept me strong and pushing forward.
I'd been following Marcus Lemonis for some time; taking the lessons he'd teach others and applying them to my business in hopes that it would have a similar impact. Well, I was out of moves and needed to take action - asking "What would Marcus do?" would no longer cut it. This was make or break and too many people have sacrificed to see this business succeed!
I made the call for help and it was answered... In the BIGGEST way possible! I'm so beyond blessed to announce that we'll be featured on The Profit next Tuesday @ 10pm EST on CNBC!!!!
A truly sincere THANK YOU to everybody that's ever shown support over the years and throughout this entire process. To all of my family, friends, mentors, former employees, haters, and naysayers - without you, none of this would have been possible! All of you have kept the drive strong and my passion genuine.
This is for LEGACY. This is for FAMILY. This is for PRIDE.
This is for #TeamOA 🙏🙌💪"

• Here is the Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders website and Facebook Page.
• Here are the Yelp reviews for all of the Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders stores which are overwhelmingly positive and average about 4.5 stars out of 5. Orange, CA; Anaheim Hills, CA; Santa Clarita, CA; Placentia, CA.
• The Santa Clarita, CA location opened in April 2017 (Link)
• The Placentia, CA location opened a few months ago in May 2017. (Link)
• Bodhi Leaf Coffee has their products available for sale on Amazon.

Photo - Facebook

• Here is the Zoe's Chocolate website and Facebook Page.
• Zoe's has these four sayings on the bottom of every page of their website: 1. Third Generation Chocolatiers 2. Handcrafted, fresh, pure, and all-natural 3. Made from local and sustainable products 4. Mediterranean heritage and classic American flavors
• Here is a link to all of the press Zoe's Chocolate Co. has received over the years.
• The remodeling of the Waynesboro, PA store happened in February 2017 and Zoe's was closed for for a little over a month for the renovations.
• Zoe's Chocolate Co. has a location in Waynesboro, PA and also has another location in Frederick, MD.
• Here are the Yelp Reviews of Zoe's Chocolate Company for Waynesboro, PA and Frederick, MD.  They are pretty much all positive and the Frederick location has a lot more reviews than Waynesboro (46 vs. 3).
• Zoe's Chocolate bars are available on Amazon at the same price that they are on their website.
• Here is the Facebook Live video and  Twitter video (periscope) of Marcus Lemonis asking fans to place orders on www.zoeschocolate.com.  You can read the comments under those to see what kind of feedback people left regarding the website and their orders.
• Norwegian Cruise Line is advertising their upcoming appearance on The Profit where Zoe's Chocolate will try to pitch their product. (Link)

• The Deal: Initial offer - $250,000 for 50% of the business. They agreed on $200,000 for 40% of the business.  The money would be used to pay down debt, organize the facility, product development, address online sales and design a prototype store.
• In a recent interview, Zoe said they are focused on growing the business and their short-term goals are filling orders that come with the airing of their episode and also preparing for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• Zoe's offers bars with peanuts, pretzels, toffee, hazelnuts, bacon, coconut, etc.  They also offer other items such as S'mores, chocolate covered pretzels and drinking chocolate.
• The logo used on the Zoe's website and on their social media looks somewhat different than the new logo developed on the show.
• In a CNBC update, Pantelis said they "hope to expand Zoe's Chocolate to two or three more U.S. locations and perhaps even a flagship store, as well as expanding overseas."

Amazing Grapes in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, which was featured on season two of The Profit has closed.  According to the Amazing Grapes Facebook Page, they shut down in early July 2017.  The closure comes about three years after Marcus Lemonis originally invested in Amazing Grapes.

"Amazing Grapes closes its doors for good!

With all the speculation circulating, it is important to state the facts as to why AG is now closed.

In December 2013, Marcus Lemonis purchased 74% of Amazing Grapes from the original partnership that opened the business in 2005.

After an initial investment of $300K to pay off old debt, Marcus Lemonis, through the show The Profit, closed AG 12/28/13 and invested an additional $400K of his money to reinvent AG. We re-opened on 2/7/14 and the business continued to operate with its new look and new vibe successfully for the next year and half.

Realizing the restaurant had reached maximum production output with its limited kitchen space (it was more of a food prep space with several hot plates, and an oven that limited what we could turn out food-wise) we sat down with Marcus in August of 2015 and he verbally agreed to expand the kitchen and add two bathrooms (to bring us to code) and directed us to acquire an additional 1800 sq feet space directly to the west of our existing space. We immediately signed a lease for the new space and began the design phase of a new kitchen and bathrooms. The blueprints for the space as well as new changes that would be made to improve the existing space were drawn up in fall 2015. But this is when things started getting dicey.

For the next 18 months and after little communication from Marcus Lemonis and his team at ML Foods (believe me we tried everything to get their ear and to get them to approve the new work that needed to be done) it was becoming evident that the new improvements weren't going to happen any time soon.

Then in late 2016, a disgruntled former food server, who was let go for poor performance, filed a lawsuit against AG, citing sexual harassment and a complaint that AG management 'did not have scheduled breaks for the waitstaff' during their part time shift. After months of back and forth and $75K in paid legal bills, the sexual harassment charge was dropped (it was a complete fabrication). Now we would have to deal with the 'break' issue.

The payment of $75K that was paid to our lawyers drained down AG's operating cash. It is at this point that things began to decline rapidly.

In April, ML Foods made a decision to stop paying rent on our space. In addition, our vendors also began having to wait to get paid. The only operating cash we had on hand was cash that was generated daily from retail sales and restaurant/bar business. You can imagine the struggle to keep current. We needed an infusion of cash and we were led to believe that the infusion was in the works and we were mildly optimistic.

From April until July, we worked hard to reduce inventory and tightened things up so that we were operating as efficiently as possible. We always paid our employees and our taxes first.

In May, we learned that to settle the lawsuit for not providing scheduled breaks, it was going to cost AG $190K minimum - cash that we did not have on hand and would require an even bigger cash infusion from ML Foods. The real kicker is most of this money to settle the suit would go to the State of California (believe me, they suck every dollar they can away from small businesses) and the attorneys, but very little to the plaintiff.

Then, about 8 weeks ago, a former employee and 'creator of the nutty goat' piled onto the lawsuit siting 'no scheduled breaks'. Mind you, breaks were taken daily by ALL kitchen and service staff, they simply weren't scheduled, and in fact, the working environment was slow at times and employees would take their break often in increments longer than required by law. Anyone that knows anything about the restaurant business knows that you take breaks when you can when it's busy. But CA law is clear and we were guilty of unintentionally breaking the law.

The flow of business changes from one day to the next and so flexibility with employee breaks was always allowed. We are guilty of stupidity but not purposely abusing our staff. Did we work outside California labor law? Yes.

When the second lawsuit came forward to pile on the original suit filed by the same ambulance chasing lawyers, ML Foods and Marcus Lemonis went silent. It is also important to point out, that as of early July, and after 3.5 years of "ownership" Marcus Lemonis DID NOT legally own AG even though ML Foods had been operating the business since their takeover in Dec 2013.

He did not LEGALLY own AG because he dragged his feet and NEVER finished the necessary tenant improvements and ABC license applications, that would have allowed a legal ownership transfer to ML Foods and removed any future liability away from the original owners.

Being a savvy businessman and realizing the dire straights that AG had fallen deeper into, Marcus turned his back on AG and used the fact that he did not LEGALLY own AG to his advantage. After months of back and forth with the original AG partners and Marcus' attorney, it was becoming clear that AG was not going to be saved.

Although the original owners had tried desperately to negotiate a plan that would save AG and its employees, it is important to remember, this entire mess was dumped back on them by Marcus Lemonis. He dragged his feet for the last two years and NEVER lived up to his end of the agreement to expand the kitchen and make the improvements that were verbally agreed upon. Had Marcus stayed on schedule, he would be the LEGAL owner today and the original owners, who had a handshake deal on TV in December 2013, would not be left with the mess that was dumped on them.

Would the frivolous lawsuits mean the ultimate end of AG if Marcus actually owned the business? We'll never know.

In the end, and I know how difficult this decision was, to protect themselves from the frivolous lawsuits and growing debt, the original owners of AG made a decision to protect themselves personally and filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection - thus closing the doors at AG after 12 years.

Was it Marcus' plan all along, after the sh&t hit the fan, and realizing he would not be legally liable since he did not own the business, to let the dust settle and buy AG out of bankruptcy? We don't know. But one thing is certain. Marcus was never in any hurry to finish the improvements that he had agreed to 2 years ago and in the end, this bailed him out legally.

Will he walk away from his sizable investment? Only he knows. Meanwhile, 20+ employees who worked hard to save AG are now out of a job and the millionaire businessman continues to buy businesses. Many are successful, but many too, are struggling just as AG has struggled for the past 2 years, because ML Foods simply isn't organized at the level it should be. Glaciers melt faster than projects get completed at ML Foods.

Thank you all for friendship, patronage and support for the past 12 years. We are indebted to each of you and we wish the outcome were different. AG was a special place and we wanted and had plans to make it even more special.

It should also be said, that the original owners stood by us and worked through the blitzkrieg of getting all sold wine that we had in storage to our customers. They never left our side and they feel terrible for what transpired. Ironic, isn't it?

Dan Isenhart
Wine Buyer & Managing Partner"

• "On the show, Defendant Lemonis handed a Three Hundred Fifty Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($350,000.00) check to the Plaintiffs, but after the filming of this segment, a producer asked for the check back. The Plaintiffs were directed to return the check to Defendant Lemonis, and were advised it was a only "prop."
• "Lemonis, or an entity controlled by Lemonis, did provide funding to remodel and restructure three locations, including Mt. Lebanon, McMurray and Market Square, and also opened a new franchise in Highland Park, Illinois. The Plaintiffs were told by Lemonis that the $350,000.00 was invested in the rebranding and redesigning of the existing locations. The Plaintiffs did not receive any money from this investment."
• "Defendants, Lemonis and ML Foods, LLC caused the formation of The Simple Greek, LLC in Delaware on January 21, 2015. However, Defendants Lemonis and ML Foods, LLC organized and operated The Simple Greek, LLC as a business owned wholly by ML Foods, LLC, an entity either wholly owned or controlled by Defendant Lemonis. Defendant Lemonis apparently appointed Sam Lundy to be its President. The Plaintiffs were not included in this organization, which was unknown to them at that time."
• "In early January of 2016, an update and second episode of "The Profit" show was filmed featuring the Plaintiffs and Lemonis at Simple Greek restaurants in both Pittsburgh and Highland Park, Illinois. That show aired on CNBC on January 26, 2016. During the filming of the second show, which was not aired, Defendant Lemonis handed the Plaintiffs a typed document titled "Memorandum of Understanding" (the "MOU"). The Memorandum of Understanding stated that it "clarifies the compensation for Kathleen and Michael Ference who holds [sic] Forty-Five (45%) percent interest in The Simple Greek, LLC." The document was dated January 7, 2016, and was signed by Marcus Lemonis, "President." Plaintiffs also signed the document. A true and correct copy is attached hereto, incorporated herewith and is marked as Plaintiffs' Exhibit A."
• "During the filming of the second episode in Chicago, Defendant Lemonis suddenly offered to "buy out" the Plaintiffs' interest in The Simple Greek, LLC, but the Plaintiffs declined the offer."
• "After the filming of the second episode, the relationship between the Plaintiffs and Defendants began to deteriorate. Sam Lundy had assumed the general management and operations of The Simple Greek, LLC and began to exclude the Plaintiffs from involvement in the business. This also included withholding information about the business operations from the Plaintiffs." 
• "Defendant Lemonis reported that there were more than One Hundred Fifty (150) new franchises sold and opening soon. Plaintiffs believe and aver that there now are more than Two Hundred Fifty (250) franchises of The Simple Greek, LLC that are under contract and in the developmental stages throughout the country. Defendant The Simple Greek, LLC is and has been operating numerous franchises across the country without providing an accounting or any financial information to the Plaintiffs and without acknowledging, but denying the Plaintiffs' ownership interest in The Simple Greek. Plaintiffs believe and aver that The Simple Greek is transacting millions of dollars in business while denying Plaintiffs' involvement in the business and failing to account to the Plaintiff."
• "Finally, on August 16, 2016, Defendant The Simple Greek, LLC sent correspondence to the Plaintiffs unilaterally terminating Plaintiffs' rights to royalties from the franchises. A true and correct copy of this correspondence is attached hereto, incorporated herewith and marked Exhibit F."
• "The Defendants purported to terminate Plaintiffs, have wrongfully withheld royalties from the Plaintiffs, and have excluded them from the operations of the business with the purpose and intent of having them relinquish their ownership rights in The Simple Greek."
• "Finally, on August 16, 2016, Defendant The Simple Greek, LLC sent correspondence to the Plaintiffs unilaterally terminating Plaintiffs' rights to royalties from the franchises. A true and correct copy of this correspondence is attached hereto, incorporated herewith and marked Exhibit F. 49. The Defendants purported to terminate Plaintiffs, have wrongfully withheld royalties from the Plaintiffs, and have excluded them from the operations of the business with the purpose and intent of having them relinquish their ownership rights in The Simple Greek."
• "Defendants established The Simple Greek using Plaintiffs' established business, recipes, know-how and experience, Defendants instituted a plan to freeze Plaintiffs out of their interests."

• Detroit Denim – Detroit, MI
• Faded Royalty – New York, NY
• JD Custom Design – Fullerton, CA
• Monica Potter Home – Cleveland, OH & Garrettsville, OH
• Mr Cory's Cookies – Englewood, NJ
• Southern Culture – Atlanta, GA
• Tumbleweed Tiny House – Colorado Springs, CO

• Here is the Mr. Cory's Cookies website and Facebook Page which has over 30,000 likes.
• Cory has over 30,000 followers on Instagram.
• Cory's mother Lisa does the baking of the cookies as child labor laws prevent Cory from working in a commercial kitchen.
• Here is a video of Cory on Ellen where Ellen DeGeneres gives him $10,000 and a car for his mother. 
• Cory Nieves appeared on season 3 of MasterChef Junior on Fox. 
• Cory is also an actor and model and has been featured in campaigns for Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. (Link)
• Cory has appeared on many news segments and other TV shows such as The View, so there is a good chance you may recognize him.
• Here is an IndieGoGo campaign that Cory created a while ago to help raise funds to offer cookies and cookie dough online. (Link)

• Here is the Faded Royalty website which has been recently updated.
• Here is the Faded Royalty Facebook page which seems fairly new and only has 17 likes at the moment.
• The Faded Royalty Instagram page has over 10,000 followers.
• Here is the casting video that Roc submitted to get on the show.
• Rocco was in the music industry before deciding to start Faded Royalty in 2010.  
• When Roc was asked why the company was called Faded Royalty, he responded, "If a king has two sons, the son that will not be the heir, the youngest son is Faded Royalty. He basically doesn’t have to have the burden of being perfect like the older son, because the older son has to carry the name of the family, has to carry the pressures of being king one day. The second son could do what he wants, and say what he wants. A great example is William and Harry, if you look at them, Harry does whatever he wants. He lives how… if you’re royalty how you want to live. For us, being in the fashion business we put out clothes we want to put out, we don’t have to listen to anyone. A lot of brands are restricted by stores." (Link)

• The Deal - 
• Faded Royalty is now apart of the ML Fashion Group with many other companies that have appeared on the show. (Link)

• Here is the Southern Culture Artisan Foods website and Facebook Page that has about 17k likes.
• Southern Culture Artisan Foods appeared on ABC's Shark Tank in 2014 and agreed to a deal with Barbara Corcoran for $100,000 for 38% of the company.  That deal later fell through, so the only thing they gained was publicity.
• Here is a link to a video of the Shark Tank episode.
• In a 2016 interview, owner Erica Barrett said her business exploded after being on Shark Tank and sales went from $150,000 in sales to $500,000 in sales in 12 months.
• She also said in that interview that she planned to open a catering business in New York.  An Instagram post in 2016 advertised catering at www.shortstacksbreakfast.com, but that domain has since expired.
• Erica got a $10,000 loan on the website Kiva to gain working capital and move into a bigger warehouse. (Link)
• In July 2017, Marcus Lemonis posted a six-minute video on social media from Southern Culture Artisan Foods.  He explained they were liquidating all inventory and asked fans to go to the website to purchase at a discounted rate.  
• Southern Culture Artisan Foods sells their products on Amazon, and there are actually more options on Amazon than their website at the moment.

• The Deal - $75,000 to find co-packers, pay down debt, get rid of excess inventory and improve packaging.  Once Erica proves herself, they will talk about equity.  Erica proved herself and Marcus allowed her to cash the check with Marcus receiving 50.1% equity.  Marcus later gave up some of his equity to Erica's mother.
• Owner Erica Barrett said the following about being on The Profit - "It was an awesome experience.  I had a lot of debt but I felt like I had a great viable business. Marcus was able to fix and identify the problems. He really helped us re-brand our business and gave us some home." (Link)
• The Southern Culture Artisan Foods website was updated and the items offered for sale are fried chicken mix $6.99, cornbread mix $5.99, pancake & waffle mix $5.99, and a recipe box $24.  The pancake & waffle mix was listed as sold out before the episode even aired.
• The Southern Culture Foods Instagram page says they plan to launch Southern Culture TV on YouTube in February. (Link)
• Here is a trailer of Southern Culture TV which Erica says will launch Thursday.
• Pelican Bay, the co-packer on the episode, has "Southern" pancake, fried chicken, cornbread, and biscuit mixes on their website as new products. All of these items seem to be out of stock at the moment. (Link)
• Southern Culture Artisan Foods are available on Mouth.com with the fried chicken, pancake & waffle, and cornbread mixes all selling for $14.  The sizes look the same, so I am not sure why it is more expensive than buying directly from Southern Culture's website. (Link)  UPDATE - The price is now $7 for the mixes.

• Baby Bump Maternity – New Orleans, LA
• The Casery – Santa Monica, CA
• Diaper Dude – Los Angeles, CA
• Ellison Eyewear – Chicago, IL
• Hangout Lighting – Chicago, IL
• Montiel – Los Angeles, CA
• NYC Bagel Deli – Chicago, IL
• Queork – New Orleans, LA
• Simply Slices – Chicago, IL
• Tankfarm & Co. – Seal Beach and Huntington Beach, CA

• Here is The Casery website and Facebook Page which as of today hasn't posted since April.  Their Instagram has over 131k followers and they post more frequently on there.
• The phone cases available on their website are all for the iPhone and are $32 each.
• When filming in March, Marcus Lemonis reached out to his fans for help on Facebook.  He asked fans to go to The Casery website and give comments on the new designs.  The designs were 50% off and fans could also for their favorite designs.  Most commented that the designs were too girly, cases too expensive, and they didn't have designs for all phone types. (Link)
• The Casery does have some phone cases available for sale on Amazon, but it seems the stock is limited.
• Here is the LinkedIn profile of CEO Matthew Harlow.  Matthew lists accomplishments such as being a world Yo-Yo champion as well as skills in ping pong, billiards, foosball and checkers.
• Here are some reviews from previous employees (mostly interns) on Glassdoor.com. (Link)
• Employee/part owner of The Casery Charlotte Hennington has a LinkedIn profile which was updated in April 2018 to list her as the CEO of a new phone case company called Everkin.  It appears this will be something that happens during this episode of The Profit.
• Skyler Milligan-Lecroy also updated his LinkedIn profile in April to list himself as the founder and COO of Everkin.
• Here is the Everkin website, which as of posting this is not live, but will probably be live when the episode airs.

• The Deal - $700,000 for 41% of the business to be put towards working capital.  Marcus would also buy out Charlotte's dad's loan and make the term longer.  Marcus will also double Charlotte (14%) and Skylar's (6%) equity, but will have their voting power.  Matthew's percentage is 49% and Marcus's is 31%.
• Marcus later had to give an addition $150,000 to help pay vendors during a "cash crisis."
• Marcus then walked away from the deal and took his $150,000 back after Matthew didn't like not being in control.
• As stated above, Charlotte is listed as the CEO of a new phone case company called Everkin and Skyler is listed as founder/COO. 
• The Everkin website is not yet live, but there is a signup to be the first to know when they launch.
• UPDATE - If you are looking for the follow up episode, Marcus said it will not air til the fall. (Link).