How I Got On Shark Tank
If you haven’t yet heard, on Friday, May 6th I’m going to be on Shark Tank slinging gourmet frosting!
!!!!!
That’s in two days, for those of you who don’t know that we’re in May already.
I’m extremely excited. It took a lot of work, patience, and belief in myself to get here. There were so many times I didn’t think I’d ever see this day come, even though deep down inside I truly did believe that I would.
I know that not everyone understands how hard it is to get on a super popular show on primetime television so let me show you the numbers:
This season 40,000 people applied to be on Shark Tank.
Out of those 40,000 people, 180 of them pitched and filmed in front of the sharks.
Out of those 180 people who filmed, 116 of them get to air.
40,000 ---> 116
It’s not an easy task to air on Shark Tank. And anyone who gets the opportunity, whether they get a deal or not, has accomplished something special.
Now you might be wondering how do you even get on Shark Tank. It’s a long process. Having gone through a similar process for Cupcake Wars, most of it was not a surprise to me. I’ll share with you as much as I can while being cognizant of the fact that I signed a confidential statement precluding me from saying too much. And well, if I were to get sued for this blog post that would throw a polar bear sized wet blanket on all this excitement.
Step #1: I sent an email to the casting email address on ABC’s website.
Step #2: I waited for someone to contact me.
Step #3: I asked myself why hasn’t anyone contacted me??
Step #4: I finally received a call, or maybe it was an email, from the casting director. This was last April so forgive me, my memory is fuzzy. I answered the call (or email) and we chatted for a bit about organic frosting and the details of my business. She requested an audition video to be submitted within the week. I said sure! (Always say sure.)
Step #5: My friend Jason filmed a very basic audition video for me. I stood in his dining room and described my business and my story. It was super basic. This was nothing like the song and dance with Cupcake Wars. There were no cupcake costumes and no wedding dresses. I uploaded the video to YouTube and sent the casting director a link.
Step #6: I waited.
Step #7: I waited.
Step #8: I was contacted by the casting director with more questions.
Step #9: I waited.
Step #10: I waited.
You pretty much get the gist. There are really no magic bullets here. I decided I wanted to try to get on Shark Tank, I took the steps, followed the directions, and then I waited. Wash, rinse, repeat.
You don’t know what the producers are looking for. You don’t know what other entrepreneurs you’re up against. All you can do is put yourself out there, have extreme amounts of patience, and believe that you have what it takes. You really have to believe.
Maybe next season I’ll be watching YOU in the tank.
Until then, you can watch me in just two days!
And tune in here next week when I’ll go a little deeper with you and share more of what happened after the show.
P.S. A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me with Dollop Gourmet along the way. I keep going in large part to make you proud and show you that anyone can do it.
P.P.S. The new Dollop Gourmet e-commerce site is live! We have all kinds of frosting specials and packages and even T-Shirts and tanks made by a great friend, amazing company, and huge supporter of mine since the very beginning, Rochester, NY company, CrazyDog T-Shirts. Check it out and stay sweet!
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