Yesterday I was invited by a good friend to come to the set of the TV Show Shark Tank. Shark Tank happens to be one of my favorite shows on television today because I absolutely love it from an educational standpoint on all the lessons it can teach entrepreneurs.  Each week as I watch the show with my children I pause the show and say to my kids “what is the pre-money valuation on the company?” and “what is the post money valuation?” and “why wouldn’t you want to invest in this company?” or “what is wrong with the market they have chosen to go into?” etc etc.  I have used this show the last several years to teach my kids lessons on presenting a proper pitch on your company, and how to negotiate with a shark, and what good marketing looks like, and sales lessons that can be learned from good and bad presentations on the show.  The show is the perfect way to educate our young people today on so many business topics.

For years I have wanted to see a show like Shark Tank be used in the classroom settings of High Schools and Universities to teach our children.  I firmly believe that using multimedia such as the show Shark Tank is the ideal way to engage our kids in learning.  It is so dynamic to teach using these real life examples and with the power of a good teacher and a handy pause button the teacher can literally do what I have been doing with my own kids at home to teach their students in a way that the students will retain the information they are learning because it is such an exciting and engaging way to learn!  We need more of these types of shows that can be used as learning tools in the Universities and High Schools.  I hope the new show American Gnuity (which is a blend of Shark Tank and American Idol) will provide that same educational experience as Shark Tank does and that is why I agreed to get involved with them when they approached me.  What a great way to teach the masses in a fun and entertaining way!

My time with the Sharks was fantastic.  I was able to talk with each one of them, Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful, and Lori Greiner.  Daymond John wasn’t on set that day so I wasn’t able to meet him.  I have to tell you that they are truly great people.  They are down to earth, open, and authentic and I was happy to see that.  Each had a passion for seeing these companies succeed and each has experience from their own lives that they desire to use to help these companies they invest in.  Regardless of how shark-like they may appear at times on the show, I can personally tell you that they are Sharks I would go swimming with anytime.  I enjoyed getting to know them.

Here are a few fun photos from my day:

Mark Cuban

Robert Herjavec

Barbara Corcoran

Kevin O’Leary aka Mr Wonderful

Lori Greiner

Rapper 2 Chainz stops by

A great day on the set

What an awesome day it was and what great people to spend time with.  Glad I could share a little of my experience with all of you.

Have a great weekend everyone!

~Amy