Jordan and Project Unicorn Pitch to The Rachael Ray Show and Shark Tank

Talk about a power combination! Jordan and I had a chance to spend 22 hours in New York City earlier this week. It was so fast, we only had enough time to take a walk through Times Square, eat, sleep and record a segment on The Rachael Ray Show WITH members of the Shark Tank.

Woah.

Thanks to our experience with Autodesk and Kid Inventors Day, the producers of The Rachael Ray Show contacted us to possibly take part in this week’s show. In a crazy fast development of events, we found out Jordan would have a chance to pitch two of her inventions to the Sharks! We didn’t find out which members of the Shark Tank would appear until right before the segment was taped!

We had a short turnaround between finding out about this opportunity and going to the show taping. The biggest task was helping Jordan put together her pitch to the Sharks. She had one minute to share her “paper towel puller” concept and her glitter blaster. Jordan had not watched a lot of Shark Tank before, so we set out to binge watch the show a bit so Jordan could understand how to create a successful pitch. But watching so much Shark Tank got her really nervous about meeting highly opinionated billionaires. We reminded Jordan how the show producers would never set her up to have a bad experience. She practiced and practiced and practiced.

Jordan and I hopped on a plane and headed to New York City. We were asked to keep the trip quiet so I didn’t write or post anything until television stations started advertising the episode. But that didn’t stop us from walking through Times Square and eating a touristy meal. We shopped a little and went back to our room to test out the newest version of Project Unicorn. Jordan, Sam and I worked over the weekend to finalize the latest look. I feel really bad about leaving our hotel room with a fine layer of glitter in the bathroom and a portion of the bedroom. I don’t know how many people can say they shot glitter into a tub, but Jordan can say she’s done it multiple times.

After some sleep, we walked over to the studio and got prepared for our big segment taping. There were two other inventions on display during the show. Eight-year-old Gary showed off his A-Watch, a patent-pending wrist watch that can alert parents to an allergic reaction. Teenagers Shakeena and Allieberry presented their Energy Scooter – a scooter that charges your phone as you move. Each kid had a chance to review their pitch and got tips on how to do better when the actual show took place. I’ll be honest, Jordan was nervous. She has her mom’s Type-A tendencies and she wanted everything to be perfect. I couldn’t find the best way to help her relax. Her biggest breakthrough was while Jordan was getting her hair and makeup done. Her stylist was wonderful and let Jordan know that even big stars use the makeup chair as a place to rehearse what they’re going to say on air. That was just she needed to slight switch up her Shark pitch.

I taught Jordan relaxation tips and showed her ways to be silly by jumping up and down and wiggling to get the nerves out. And suddenly… the show was underway.

The WHOLE Shark Tank was there except for Lori! Jordan had especially hoped she could meet Mark Cuban. She remembered watching an episode where he mentioned having a soft spot for kids. She took him at his word and got a picture with him after the segment taping. Cuban not only took a picture, he got into character with Jordan’s glitter blaster.

You can watch the full segment on The Rachael Ray Show today. If you are in the United States, you can check out this guide to find out what time it airs in your market. If you are out of the country, I will add links to the show’s website and/or Facebook page to this post once any extended clips come out.

After 22 hours in the city, we flew home and will see if life can return to normal for a bit. We have big plans to help more kids learn to be designers later this year. We have big plans to help spread more smiles through Project Unicorn. We also have big plans to get Jordan caught up on the schoolwork she missed this week!

Thanks again to Autodesk, especially the Tinkercad team. And of course, KidMOB for setting Jordan down this path and helping Born Just Right move forward toward helping more kids take advantage of physical differences by learning design.

UPDATE: You can watch a big chunk of the segment on The Rachael Ray Show’s website.