Living just 40 minutes from the Shark Tank casting, OK it was actually 75 because of traffic - BUT usually 40 from my house to Miami, I knew I would have kicked myself for not trying out, even though my intent was not to actually get on the show. The Miami Beach Convention Center was a place I had been before. Art Basel happens there every year which I of course never miss, so it was comforting to know it was at a place I had been before and where awesome things happen.
I did not feel prepared going into this and had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that you get one minute with a casting person and you're done. I didn't know it was an all day thing. I got up and was so tired I contemplated not going. I didn't leave as early as I planned on either. I was foggy and the sky matched how I felt on my drive there. When I got to Miami I knew exactly where to find parking and I somehow found an awesome parking space. I sat in my car, tried to regroup and slap some sense into myself. I texted Eric "Why am I doing this again?" I get out of the car and its quieter than I expected, nobody was around which soon changed.
Walking towards the building, I see a ton of people congregating around the general area and I I have no clue where to go although I pretend I know where to go. I thought there was supposed to be a line but there was nothing apparent. I see a father and son duo who look like they knew where they were going, so I follow their lead and sure enough, someone with purple bracelets comes over to us and I get number 485. Cool. Well as it turns out, 500 was the LAST purple "official" wrist band. After that was pink and those people were dead last. We were told to come back at 3pm. Great. I had five whole hours to kill. I knew exactly what I wanted to do...
Go to Target! (Not really what I wanted to do). So I go to Target in Downtown Miami which is in the arts district - awesome. Get boxes of diapers so I can get my $25 "free" gift card and grab some snacks. As I drive away, I see this AMAZING artscape, really out of nowhere. It was very unexpected as I had seen it before from the freeway but had no idea it was 20 feet from where I was. I had wanted to check it out for over two years but, never got around to it. I was stoked! So I find a killer parking space literally right behind it that apparently nobody knows about which is crazy in Miami. There is NO parking Miami! And this structure is just amazing. I can't stop staring at it. Colorful animals and big huge snails look like they are walking over a bridge of some sort. It is around noon so the sun is high and the sky cleared up. Seriously perfect for viewing this thing. Other people were snapping pics of it too. It is so out of place. Its almost as if it was built in an abandoned lot. It really makes no sense which makes it all the more fascinating. After that I drive around and find more cool places in Wynwood to check out. Painted buildings, graffiti that isn't really graffiti. I mean all of these small businesses were just so colorful and amazing. Each one had a different style with different colors. I can't believe it took me two years to see this.
Its time to get back to the venue and I'm nervous but not as nervous as I should be. I can't find parking of course now that its 3pm, except for this small lot which I happened to find another good space just in time to get there. I wait another two hours in the hot sun, sweating. I don't think anyone else knew what was going on either. We were all just hanging out waiting. Finally we get summoned and lined up. We wait another 45 minutes and get inside the venue where the, yes THE casting director for Shark Tank briefs us. He is super cool. Reminds me of a wilderness tour guide. He has a loud voice where when he talks he doesn't have to shout. I could just picture him in some North Face jacket leading us on an expedition, really its so strange. They are from California so I suppose it makes sense. We are told that there are so many people and that the building needs to close, so we have to do group interviews. Great. You have to line up with like 10 other people in a row in front of a bunch of other people. My worst nightmare. But I keep telling myself I'm not there to be on Shark Tank so if I blow it, oh well. But at the same time I still want to do my best! My lines get jumbled in my head, lines I barely had memorized in the first place. I read them hundreds of times, its not like I didn't prepare but what I wanted to say would not stick in my head. I don't know how to memorize things anymore. My brain with over a year of severe sleep deprivation is always in survival mode, and memorizing lines is just not important enough right now for my scatterbrained self to manage.
People start presenting. Some of them are so quiet I can't hear them. People behind me are talking WAY too loud. Why the hell were they even talking? They were even making fun of people presenting. And their product was lame... Anyway, some of these items were memorable. The Chill Butt, keeps your butt cold in the car. Paints for kids that don't mark surfaces. I'm totally buying those. An insert for a high heel that supposedly makes heels comfortable. And then there was the father-son duo who I remembered from that morning. His Shark Tank pitch was for an app he invented called TiLoTag. You can tag a message, video or picture in a specific location so wherever goes to that location can see these things "left behind" by others. Right away I thought how cool, you can totally use this with the Labor Loop! People can tag where their babies are born. Just one of the thousands of ways to use TiLoTag.
It was my turn and my heart was pounding because I had no idea what I was going to say, again my mind went blank. I mean it was a LONG day. Everything I had prepared for went out the window when it was my turn. The casting lady was not even intimidating, she was nice! (She reminded me of the chick who does the voices for My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. She's in a movie called "A Brony Tale" which is on Netflix. The woman was really nice and I have no idea what happened but I blew it. I had no idea what I was talking about. Everything was so pressured due to time constraints, they even said to make your pitch 30 seconds. But aside from that, my day was awesome. I did things I had been wanting to do for over two years, since we first moved here. My experience as a whole was really great and that is what I was there for, 100%. I know it will never happened again, so I am glad and happy I went and I got a lot out of it. With meeting people, and just being there to see all of the different walks of life. The energy us hopefuls all in one place had was something you don't, well I personally don't get to do often if ever. I'm hoping to see future Shark Tanks where people who auditioned in Miami get on the show.
I can't end my post without thanking everyone who believed in me that day. Who took the time to actually tell me they believed in me and told me good luck. I appreciate the encouragement from everyone who showed and expressed it throughout the day. That was truly awesome!
Side story (feel free to skip): My husband was a presenter for the company we worked for, Nova Musik in or around 2010 at an electronic music convention. (We lived in Milwaukee, WI at the time.) I was able to bring our only child at the time, Cadence who was about 4. It was kind of a mini vacation. We stayed at The Indian Creek Hotel right along South Beach. I cannot describe the feeling I had while I was in South Beach. It blew my mind. I was dead set on living there and at the time that was a joke. How in thew world would that ever happen. Its just something that you don't think would or will ever happen - not in a million years. My husband Eric and myself both had jobs and the thought of ever moving was more than daunting, it seemed impossible. So fast forward 3 whole years and we both had to find new jobs. Nova Musik shut down. Shop was closed, we had to find new jobs. We had a newborn and bills to pay, it was crazy! So Eric applied to a company that was similar to where we worked in that it specialized in selling electronic music gear. Instruments that are all electronic as well as monitors, lights. Anything and everything that the current awesome bands of now use. Well, he got hired and we had to move in ten days. Now we're here and its still hard to call home. But things like Shark Tank and Art Basel and wherever we go help to ground us.