Garret “Buddy” Lamp, an Iowa State alumnus and one of the founders for Muff Waders, a multifunctional twist on mud waders, will appear on ABC 7’s “Shark Tank” this Friday.

“[Muff Waders] is a pair of normal, overall work bibs,” Lamp said, “with a six-pack insulated cooler on the chest and multiple other features that are primarily centered around drinking and socializing.”

Lamp elaborated on the history of his product by explaining that “Shark Tank” was not the first time he pitched his idea.

“We pitched on Barstool Big Brain in the spring of 2018,” Lamp said. “We pitched in front of Jon Taffer and Dave Portnoy. That was their version of ‘Shark Tank,’ so it was really always our dream to pitch on ‘Shark Tank’ once we had all our ducks in a row. For Big Brain, we only had one prototype.”

Actually getting the chance to appear on “Shark Tank” is a time-consuming feat.

“They called us a year ago,” Lamp said. “[The episode] was filmed back in September. They let us know we were going to be on [TV] about three weeks ago.” 

Lamp went on to tell how his experience at Iowa State helped him in his pitch on “Shark Tank.”

“I majored in advertising and I minored in entrepreneurial studies,” Lamp said. “That helped me so much in getting this company as a startup, how to design our website, how to put out a brand that people will remember. Entrepreneurial studies had a few classes where I pitched multiple ideas for the finals. Iowa State definitely helped.”

Lamp ended the interview by sharing some lesser-known tidbits about filming on “Shark Tank.”

“When you first walk in front of the sharks, it’s super awkward,” Lamp said. “There’s no music, no small talk going on. You walk in, you stop and you have to look at the sharks for about 90 seconds while the camera crew gets some frontal shots.”

Lamp went into the specifics of pitching to the sharks.

“Your pitch is cut down to 7 to 13 minutes long [of footage],” Lamp said. “There’s no limit on how long you pitch to the sharks. The company before us, their pitch lasted almost two hours long.”

The episode of “Shark Tank” that Lamp will appear on will air at 7 p.m. Friday Central on ABC 7.