The Night Before
A few days before I filmed my Shark Tank segment pitching Rip Tie, the tangle free hair tie, I was a nervous wreck.
I'd made it through rounds of applications, held my breath through every waiting period, and lived with the constant fear that I could get cut from the lineup at any moment. 2024 had been a hard year for Rip Tie. 2025 was looking better, but I still wanted this shot more than I could explain.
The day before filming, I drove up to LA from San Diego alone. I left my husband and infant son at home. I really wanted them there, but they couldn't come to the set, plus my son still wasn't sleeping through the night reliably, and I needed every hour of sleep I could get. I spent the evening alone in my hotel room in Carson City, trying to distract myself from thinking too hard about what was coming.
I wasn't allowed to tell anyone I was filming. It was killing me.
4 am Hair and Makeup
My call time was 6 am, which meant the makeup artist arrived at my room at 4 am.
I was so nervous I woke up before my 3:30 am alarm.
The makeup artist Erica Elizabeth, who I cannot recommend highly enough if you need someone in LA, was incredible. Honestly? Better than my wedding makeup. The moment she was done, something shifted. I felt confident. Ready. Like me, but turned up.
The Sony Lot
I met the van at 6 am. There were other entrepreneur teams there too, and just like at the open casting call in Vegas, the conversations I had with them became an unexpected highlight of the day. Every business was different. Every story was inspiring. I loved it. I still keep in touch with them!
We loaded into a van and headed to the Sony lot, and if you've never been, just know that it is cool. You're surrounded by the places where movies and television actually get made.
The first thing we did was visit the Shark Tank stage before filming. The production crew had our sets mocked up so we could walk through everything in advance. And then we walked into the Tank itself.
It's so much bigger than it looks on TV. I was genuinely surprised.
The set manager walked us through how filming works. He showed us the iconic doors, the ones every entrepreneur walks through, and the hallway beyond them. There was an X marked on the floor. That's your mark, he explained. That's where the sound and lighting are best. Stay there.
We practiced walking the hallway a couple of times. Then we were taken to the green room to wait.
The Green Room
I skipped my morning coffee. I was worried it would push my nerves over the edge. I tried to answer emails, but I couldn't focus on a single one.
After what felt like a very long time, a producer came to tell me I was next.
They put me in a golf cart and drove me back to the set. Wardrobe came by to check my outfit and took my wetsuit away to steam because it was too wrinkled. Last-minute hair and makeup touch-ups. They helped me secure the wig so it would stay put but still come off cleanly when the moment came.
And then, before I fully processed any of it, I was standing behind those double doors.
The Doors
I've read blog posts from other founders who'd been on the show. Almost all of them mentioned the same surprising detail: the music isn't playing as you walk down the hallway. They add it in post-production.
I honestly have no memory of thinking about the music at all.
All I was focused on was hitting that X on the floor, setting down the surfboard, and starting my pitch.
I had practiced it so many times I was certain it would go perfectly. The Q&A that follows the pitch — the part where the Sharks dig into your numbers, your margins, your everything — that's the part I couldn't fully prepare for. That's the scariest part of Shark Tank. All I could do was trust that I knew my business better than anyone else in that room.
I was standing there in a wig and a wetsuit. Heart pounding. The producers beside me, counting down.
The doors opened.
What happened next? Tune in Wednesday, March 11 at 10/9c on ABC — streaming the next day on Hulu.
This is Part 2 of the Road to Shark Tank series.
← Start with Part 1: How Rip Tie Started
