How in the world did two Bills get on ABC’s Shark Tank?

I must give all credit to my father (Bill Sr.); he’s always been a bit of a shoot first aim later kinda guy. Back in the early Spring of 2022 - before we had even finished prototyping our first garage door covers- my Pop jumped on ABC’s open casting call website for Shark Tank. He didn’t even bother telling me, he just signed us up, like a fleeting idea that popped into his head and then was hastily forgotten with a click of a mouse.

Now, in all honestly, I knew very little of Shark Tank, the show. From what I figure, about 30,000 people apply each season to get a chance to pitch the Sharks. Wow!

As any entrepreneur will attest, opportunity can be a painful series of waiting games. Waiting anxiously for the phone to ring or inbox to ding. Well, getting to be on Shark Tank is a series of excruciating waiting games! But, finally in June my dad joyfully clued me in to the fact “we’ve made the first cut on Shark Tank!” Cool!

Be Authentic!

While I can’t divulge the “behind the scenes” activities that would-be participants go through, I can tell you patience is a virtue. Great preparation yields great results. Knowing your business inside and out and being your authentic self is a must. Our audition was hilariously awkward. It looked and sounded like an infomercial and half our takes were scatted with random laughing and mistakes. That’s who we are, we owned it!

Congrats, you’re filming!

Holy molly! The magnitude of all our preparation really sank in the day we found out we were going to be on national television in front of 4 million people! My anxiety level continued to tick up a few notches each day we closed in on our film date. Coincidently, my first-born daughter was due to be born on the same date we were scheduled to shoot. Talk about stressful timing!

Day of

Just being on a real studio lot is cool but going through the front gates of Sony Studios in Culver City was surreal. This is also the point where our nerves really start to be tested. You can’t help it, you’ve rehearsed your pitch a thousand times, but why today, of all days, can we not seem to remember it? Suddenly, we get the call, “you’re on deck!” It’s time to head over to the sound stage, get mic’d up and have a quick hair and makeup session. This is the moment we had waited for. I’d like to say we were both as cool as cucumbers, but I did notice my dad’s hands shaking slightly as they escorted us around backstage.

In the Tank

Here we go! A few last checks and we are standing at the beginning of “The Hallway!” The time had finally come to face the Sharks! I took one last look at my Pop, shook his hand, and listened for the director’s countdown: 5, 4, 3, …, …, go!hark tank