Nov. 16—TRAVERSE CITY — A nearly 10-year-old Traverse City company has been on stages, beaches and slopes large and small.

ActionGlow — an aftermarket LED lighting system for sports equipment in a variety of colors — has even made an appearance on an ABC television reality series, "The Ultimate Surfer." Founded by Traverse City brothers Dakota and Garret Porter, ActionGlow lit the way for a night surfing competition on the show, which was viewed by an estimated 1.27 million people when the episode aired in the fall of 2021.

ActionGlow lit up boards and competitors for the Caraïbos Surf de Nuit in Anglet, France. Some 25,000 people packed the beach on the Atlantic Ocean to watch the competition.

"It's the European surf championship," said Dakota Porter, the 27-year-old co-founder and CEO of ActionGlow. "It's the largest turnout they've ever had at a single event."

All of that is about to be a small part of the story of ActionGlow on Friday night. That's when the Porter brothers will be a part of an episode of "Shark Tank."

The show starts at 8 p.m. and will usher the Porters into a whole new stage of their company.

"We are off to the races," Dakota Porter said.

Of course just making it air is a major accomplishment for the young entrepreneurs, who started the company when Garret was 13 years old and Dakota 16. About 40,000 people apply to the show each year and only about 100 are invited to Los Angeles for a taping. About 80 of those ever make it on television.

Since learning the air date, the Porters have been busy ensuring their website won't crash from the expected jump in activity. ActionGlow.com will need to be capable of handling 75,000 people at any time.

Garret Porter, the 24-year-old co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of ActionGlow, said an appearance on "Shark Tank" is said to be worth "$5 to $10 million in advertising in one night." The younger brother said hitting the airwaves a week before the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season "will multiply what a traditional airing will do."

The Porters — who can't divulge much information about their performance on "Shark Tank" — will watch along with everyone else when the episode airs Friday night on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. The Porters went on the show seeking funding for ActionGlow and offered a portion of their company in return.

Rules forbid the Porters from divulging what happened in the show until it airs. Dakota and Garret Porter will watch the show at a private party at the City Opera House on Friday.

"We've been running the company in Traverse City the last 10 years," Dakota said. "We have just been blown away by the unbelievable support in the community here. Everybody has lent us a hand and supported us. This is our way to say thank you to the people who have helped us."

"It's a big thank you for everyone," Garret Porter added. "It will also be out first time watching the episode as well."

Not that the Porters remember much about the Sept. 9 taping at Sony Studios in Los Angeles. The Porters flew from Traverse City to the West Coast on Sept. 8 and returned on Sept. 10 in what was a whirlwind visit in more ways than one.

"It was a real surreal experience being in the tank," Dakota Porter said. "But it's so rewarding to be selected and have an opportunity to fly out to LA and do a show like this."

"We don't remember what happened," said Garret Porter, who said the sharks have no prior knowledge about the company when the presentation begins. "You're so elevated and your emotions and adrenaline is just pumping. Once you start, you're just relying on muscle memory. It's just a blank space in your head."

Other entrepreneurs have also talked about a similar post-show experience. Show producers also said what it would feel like after the taping, but the two 20-year-olds didn't believe it until plans to hit the town for a drink or a celebratory meal turned into a three-hour nap in their hotel room.

"We were absolutely drained afterward," Dakota Porter recalled. "It felt like we had run a marathon."

While the brothers — both Eagle Scouts — can't say how they did, what they asked for or how much they value their company, they did say they were looking at Robert Herjavec and Mark Cuban.

"Mark has lots of sports connections," Garret Porter said. "He's the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, he has lot of contacts and he has a real good team behind him. Robert Herjavec is the tech guy. He's in the tech industry and we know that he has some real connections with manufacturing.

"For those reasons we were targeting those two sharks."

"Robert is a very outdoors, active guy," Dakota added, echoing his brother. "When you watch the show, not only is he very charismatic, but he also seems like a person that will be very invested in the company."

The Porters got ready for their appearance on "Shark Tank" in front of local investors like Casey Cowell and some of his colleagues at Boomerang Catapult.

"We said, 'we want you to hound us like the sharks would,'" Garret Porter recalled. "That was part of our preparation for going into the 'Shark Tank.'"

The Porters also have plans post-show. The brothers plan to hit the road in 2023 in a renovated school bus the duo purchased a handful of years ago.

The action tour bus has a mural on one side depicting summer uses for ActionGlow products with winter scenes on the other side. The back of the bus shows the two worlds coming together. See-through vinyl windows from Britten Banner complete the look.

"It's our plan to go back to the grassroots way of selling and it's us living the American Dream," Dakota Porter said. "We also want to document the entire thing and push out YouTube videos."

ActionGlow LED kits range in price, retailing for $69 for a longboard to $169 for one going on a kayak. A snowboard kit retails for $129.

"That's our top seller," Garret Porter said of the snowboard. "It's our flag ship product, so to speak."

As the Porters prepare to hit the road in 2023, they couldn't help but reflect on the journey. It all started in Traverse City and it will always be at the heart of ActionGlow.

The brothers remember making presentations at Northwestern Michigan College, elementary schools, TCNewTech and the Economic Club of Traverse City as networking and getting their idea out there became a driving force. Dakota Porter joked the brothers have been "the poster children for young entrepreneurs in Traverse City," which given they were on a Traverse City Area Public Schools billboard, is not an exaggeration.

The brothers also remember starting their company in their dad's name because they were too young in Michigan to do it under their own names. Finding access to funding capital as teenagers was also tough.

"There's things like that," Garret Porter said. "But also what a time to take that risk of starting a company. We don't have kids to feed or families relying on us.

"Entrepreneurship is a big gamble anyway, that's the whole thing. It's take that leap and minimize the risk."

Now the Porters are taking another leap in front of the bright lights of "Shark Tank." The Porters have long been hearing that ActionGlow should be on the show or the concept comes straight from it.

"We've gone nearly 10 years hearing that phrase thrown at us," Garret Porter said.

"That's why it's so surreal (it's about to come true)," Dakota Porter said.