Saturday 10 March 2012

How to meet a Dragon ....

I first saw the show Dragons Den a number of years ago.  And I was instantly a fan of the show !
I never thought that one day I'd be trying to audition for the show myself.
Then I changed careers, got a house, got married, had a baby, designed a new product for nursing moms, found a handful of new friends in the business world ( and parental world )

Then a couple weeks ago while my husband and I were watching the show,
I turned to him as said , "I'm going to be on that show"

I honestly didnt think I would be doing this now. In my head I figured I'd try my luck in a year or two.
I knew that there were auditions happening for the Dragons Den across Canada, I knew they were stopping in Calgary. I really wasnt planning on auditioning at all.

 Then I saw a Twitter post about them coming to the U of A for audtions this weekend. I think I may have forgot to breathe for a bit.  I knew I wasnt ready with my numbers and stats and sales figures and such. I've barely been doing this for 6 - 7 months.... But I figured I'd do the audtion anyway. Why not right ? All they could say is no.

So the Friday night before the audtion I packed up a variety of scarves, charged my phone, charged my ipod and packed a book. Then I started freaking out about what to WEAR ! OMG -- what to WEAR ! I hadnt had to wear a business suit since before I gave birth. And I was fortunate enough to have lost the baby weight and then some. ( I credit the weight loss to running after this hurricane of a kid - and not sitting at a desk all day)

But getting back to the post --  I honestly took a look at my wardrobe and had nothing to suit up with. Nothing fit. I was at a loss. I knew it was just an audition. Its not Like I was going to be infront of the Dragons yet, maybe I could do a pair of jeans and a nice top .... but during my little wardrobe freak out one of my BFFs told me some great words of advice. " Dress for the Job you Want... Not for the job you Have"  Sooo.. I grabbed the best fitting pencil skirt I had and a solid top and a bright Patterned CoverBoo add some cute heels .... aaaand I look like an airline stewardess.  Its the best I could do.



I'm a wee bit of a keener. I packed up and left the house early and got to the UofA around 830am
I didnt want to be rushing around looking for parking and hauling this suitecase around campus with me looking for the right building etc. ( especially in those heels )
I got there with lots of time to sit back and chill and talk with a few other people about their ideas and products that they were pitching. There wasnt very many people there, so I ended up being the 4th person in line to meet with the producers.



The Producers I met with were Amy & Katie
They are basically the GateKeepers.
In order to meet a Dragon - You have to go through them first.
Thankfully they aren't as intimidating as I imagine Kevin O'Leary would be.

We were all given 5-10 minutes to pitch our wares. I'm not really sure how long I was in the meeting room with them. Whatever butterflies I had in my stomach seemed to dissolve once I actually got into the whole explanation of what the CoverBoo Nursing Scarf is, what it does., how its worn, materials and patterns ... yada yada yada...etc etc etc.
(But its easy talking about fashion accessories to women )
I wasnt as nervous as I was last time ( Fashion Show @ WEM for PPD awareness )

They asked me the normal questions like how much was I asking for, how much do they retail for, whats my cost and so on and so forth. Pretty basic stuff like where they are made...  I am so Proud to say is LOCALLY DESIGNED & MANUFACTURED !!!

They said that out of all the Dragons, Arlene would probably be all over this pitch.
Both Amy & Katie seemed genuinely interested with the CoverBoo and said that if I dont get a call back this time around, to please come back next year when I could show more sales etc.
BUT .... They DID ask if I would be able to leave a sample with them so they could show the rest of the team when they got back. Thats a good sign right ?

Well - if anything, maybe they'll order a couple of CoverBoos for their new mommy friends down east !


So I'll have to wait a few weeks to see IF I'm selected  to present directly to the Dragons in Toronto.


Honestly the whole experience was pretty fun.
I was just happy to be able to audition.
I pitch the CoverBoo Nursing Scarf on a daily basis to random people so
talking about it comes easy to me.
I wont be upset it I'm not selected. I'll keep on going and audition again next year

But If I DO get selected ........ well I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
In the mean time, make sure you stop by the following locations
 to pick up your very own CoverBoo
so I can make enough money to get to Toronto for Dragons Den if I get the call.

Do it. Do it.

CoverBoos are sold at the following locations :
Keylime Athletics
Sweet Momma Spa
(St. Albert & Edmonton)
and
La BeBe Boutique

Also..... If you enjoy Dragons Den,
you might want to check out this new show which premiers
on Monday night called : " The Big Decision "

Wednesday 7 March 2012

DownTown - Parent Friendly Cafe

Today was too beautiful to stay home.
We headed out to a new Parent Friendly Cafe in Downtown Edmonton.

Its called Cafe Tirimisu Located on 124 Street 
10750 124 St NW,) 
http://cafetiramisu.ca/

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Its more geared towards adults - But is still very kid friendly.
My Son was quite vocal during lunch today - But no one seemed to mind. 
He wasnt crying or anything He was just very ... loud...in an excited way.




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He got spoiled with all the attention from Grandma & his Auntie.
The Cafe was pretty busy, so to keep it quick & simple we all ended up ordering the same thing. We had the Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese wrap ! Hhhhhmmmmmm.




They do have a room on the side for the young ones to play in called the "Breathing Room"
It has a kid size table and couches and toys and the best part ..... ipads ! YES ! They have ipads there for the kids ( and big kids ) to play with.

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Since I was out with both my mom & my cousin, I was finally able to record some video of me showing how to use the CoverBoo. One of the owners, Seble, graciously offered to let me do the video in the Breathing Room !