Baby Jack on Shark Tank!

#shadowsharktank featured entrepreneurs that attended the US Cellular Shark Tank Casting Call for Season 6.

In July 2014 Jack, Bailey, my mother in law Nancy and I ventured to Milwaukee's open casting call at the Milwaukee Art Museum and we had the pleasure to audition for Shark Tank Season 6. It was a fun and thrilling experience that turned into a lot of press and open doors for our Baby Jack brand. I was elated that US Cellular would bring Shark Tank Casting Calls to #Milwaukee as they sponsored this year's open casting and having it in our backyard at the Milwaukee Art Museum made this mom's audition with kids an easier task.  I had NO CLUE I would be followed around with cameras throughout the day and asked to return to interview that same day. I literally just got home the night before from a work trip in NYC and nap schedules were my main focus. 

The day for me starting out at 6AM, per usual. I received a text from two amazing friends that they secured my place in line at 5:55AM. They got #073 in line for me and we were able to get in the doors first round of pitching! Thank you Julie and Karen. Bailey was dropped off at a play date in the AM and we drove downtown. I arrived with Jack and my mother in law Nancy around 8AM and packed some goods to keep Jack entertained, i.e. Angry Birds, Cheese crackers and a bottle of water. He was content!

Once the doors opened and they had us sit in the WADING ROOM, instructions were given. Bring your A game, personality and smile. Be yourself and show your passion. Check and check. I know my product and feel confident that I have been successful, the only thing that I was unsure about was Jack. Would he talk? Would he contribute? Smile? Throw a tantrum?  Kids are unpredictable and I just had to go with the flow and not really have any expectations. 

The producers and casting of Shark Tank ABC were beyond accommodating. They were literally excited for you, cheering you on and wanted to know about your story. I was sought out while standing in line as they must have known about my business from social media. They asked about my product, my pitch and where we want our business to go. I tend to send random tweets and hash tag like crazy and we also we received some great mentions / coverage from WISN prior to the audition so I assume that is how they heard of us. 

Inside I was approached by casting and asked if they can film the entire pitch. Sure, of course (I thought they did that anyway). They then asked if I could return for a post pitch interview - with the kids. Naps were essential (for me too!) so I set it up for 3pm. Knowing that I had kids, they kindly bumped me to pitch #26 instead of #73. Amazing right!? 

The pitch literally is a room of 5 tables. Five brands walk in, move to an open table and pitch...in under 90 seconds. The crew is energetic and they made it comforting to talk. We were done until 3PM. 

 Read about Baby Jack Blankets Shark audition on our blog!