Short Hills Woman Appears on ABC's "Shark Tank"

Short Hills resident Julie Goldman will be featured on tonight's episode of ABC's' Shark Tank' – the emotionally-charged reality TV show that offers more than $10 million in investment deals to bankroll an array of innovative entrepreneurs.

Goldman’s not at liberty to say who wins or how it turns out but, she said, it was a pretty intense taping and should be entertaining to watch.

“From what I’ve seen on the previews, they’re describing me as ‘feisty and combative’ which gives you a little indication of how the negotiations went,” said Goldman, Founder & CEO of the Original Runner Company, which creates customized non-slip aisle runners for weddings.

On the show, entrepreneurs pitch their products and companies in an effort to attract the “Sharks” as investors. On each show there are several contestants, so each contestant is allotted only about 10 minutes of air time, even though the  taping interviews took more than hour, she said.

To get on air is an accomplishment, Goldman said, because about 25,000 entrepreneurs apply and only about 30 are chosen for the season.

Goldman said she was asked to apply last year but because she had not seen the show, she held off. When it comes to reality TV, she said, she wanted to be sure of what she was getting into.

“From what I’ve seen some of the people are the show are brand new and just trying to get their businesses off the ground,” Goldman said. “Some of them will take anything. I’m a strong, educated entrepreneur who is not willing to give away my business. So, it’s interesting.”

According to ABC, the “Sharks” on the show are Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, comedian Jeff Foxworthy, real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, infomercial industry pioneer Kevin Harrington, technology innovator Robert Herjavec, fashion icon Daymond John and financial expert Kevin O'Leary.

Her home is in Short Hills and her business is located in Montclair. This is the busy wedding season for Goldman, who has even made runners for celebrities including Fergie & Josh Duhamel, Kevin Jonas and Ashlee Simpson.

Goldman earned her Doctorate of Education from Columbia University, but yearned for entrepreneurship.  After she got married, decided to launch The Original Runner Company, which offers the first non-slip fabric aisle runners for weddings and special events.

"When I was planning my wedding I needed an aisle runner to cover the absolutely hideous carpeting at the ceremony venue, " she said. "At the time there was nothing on the market for aisle runners that was not either paper or plastic -- just garbage.  So I made my own runner and then decided to see if it was a viable business. 

"Here we are 8 years later having done almost 20,000 weddings worldwide."

Her non-slip runners have been featured in major bridal magazines and on shows such as "My Fair Wedding with David Tutera," "Platinum Weddings," "Bridezillas," and "My Super Sweet Sixteen."

If you want to watch your Short Hills neighbor compete on national television for investment dollars, tune in tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.