Watch an episode of Shark Tank and see what happens when presenters cannot answer questions about the figures involved in operating their business.

During a recent airing of the Tamron Hall show Mia Monzidelis admitted math was not her strong suit. But she must know the key figures involved with her Power Pony invention, such as how much her product will cost, landed from overseas, and how much to charge wholesale so that retailers can mark it up for resale.

Note the figures cited below are guesstimates.

In the toy industry the average profit is 23-25 percent based on what?  Mia knows the answer.

Consider the surprise that Mia gave to the delighted audience… beats a T-shirt!  If there are 250- to 350 audience members, says TV Tickets, and each receives a value of $200 that is a sizable figure.

But how many more products will sell because of that free offering?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gutN3cNkuA?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

Sources

TV Taping.com
https://www.tvtaping.com/tvshows/tamron-hall

Toy Association.org
https://www.toyassociation.org/ta/research/data/u-s-sales-data/toys/research-and-data/data/us-sales-data.aspx#:~:text=Annual%20U.S.%20Sales%20Data,in%202022%20compared%20to%202019.

Power Pony.com/how it works.
https://powerpony.com/pages/how-it-works

Making Something From Nothing: Mia Monzidelis
Of Power Pony On How To Go From Idea To Launch
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis May 13, 2022
Medium.com

The recent airing of Antiques Roadshow (AR) underscores how important it is to evaluate a business or professional service provider… in all fields.

Not everyone despite their educational background or business presence may be as knowledgeable and render service…well.

The theme of the AR episode showcased how visitors burst into tears upon hearing the appraisal value of the item they brought. In the example below, I’m certain if the person who originally sold the family heirloom, a Tiffany lamp, watched the episode, she would have wept more.

The original owner took her heirloom to two different appraisers and based on their opinions decided to sell it for $125 back in the late 1960s.

A costly mistake is an understatement.

Trust sometimes cancels out due diligence even when due diligence is taken.  In the example below, the credentials and experience of the appraisers could not have been top-drawer. Consulting Tiffany might have been helpful and a membership association of certified appraisers.

While costly for consumers, even more damaging when a self-employed consumer consults a business or service provider or manufacturer who turns out to be subpar.

Source

PBS.org
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/4/tampa-fl/appraisals/tiffany-lamp-ca-1905–/

Luciano Pavarotti, a former elementary school teacher, became an internationally known opera singer. You don’t have to like opera to appreciate Pavarotti’s fabulous talent. And his venture later into popular music was niche genius.

Considered the best in opera history, the sound of Pavarotti’s voice could hold the attention of a baby.

Three memorable clips featuring listeners introduced to the iconic singer appear below. For instance, the coach and teacher team, The Rob Squad, and the brothers Twins the New Trend. For most of the listeners, hip hop had been their genre of choice until they fulfilled their subscriber’s requests. But in the case of delightful baby ears (and feet), parental guidance was involved.

Videos
Pavarotti performs “Nessun Dorma,” and a duet with James Brown “It’s a Man’s World.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX6fsvXKw7M?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shm_GDqjfIE?start=156&feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeSigHJrW2o?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

Source

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luciano-Pavarotti
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luciano-Pavarotti

A clever ad campaign by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority resonates with many viewers. It started seven months ago.  The ad based on a cookbook, is directed at parents and explains how to escape to their city for alone time.

But one does not have to be a parent with small children or teens to appreciate the humor. Countless adults have memories of veggies they absolutely detested while growing up.  So, imagine learning the place you planned to visit with your parents is all about that vegetable; never have the words “with stems” been more horrifying.

See video below.

Update
The ad is now running frequently on major TV networks, presumably for upcoming Father’s Day.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7QJV-FTEnA?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

Sources 

www. adweek.com
https://www.adweek.com/agencies/family-trips-are-overrated-new-ads-tell-parents-to-ditch-the-kids-and-come-to-vegas/ 

LVCVA returns to humor in newest video ad campaign

A video from the Tameron Hall show earlier this year must rank as a top contender for a chuckling out loud moment.

The video first posted two years ago, went viral with more than 10 million views. It’s a revealing look at understanding one’s personality likes and dislikes at an early age.  Vital information many others never learn while growing up.

Based on the mom’s description of her son’s carving out alone time, he may grow up to prefer an independent or solo work career path as opposed to one in which activities or engagement with a large group would be required.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aTunO43CxU?start=220&feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

Starts at points 0: 36-42 and 3:36 – 5:00  

As February comes to an end, an article written last year by Joel A Johnson’s One-Track Mind Storytelling comes to mind. He stressed the need to look for uplifting stories rather than repeating the narratives about often-heard heroes, and depressing subject matter; year after year…after year.

60 Minutes aired a story segment recently about a middle school social studies teacher who uses an approach like the suggestion in Johnson’s article.

Three students were interviewed and confirmed that from kindergarten to the sixth grade they learned about the same historic people over and over including, entrepreneur Madam C. J. Walker.

The students’ present social studies teacher includes in her curriculum a vast, diverse digital library titled The HistoryMakers: Documenting untold stories of African American achievement. Established in 1999 and archived in the Library of Congress it catalogs the oral stories of notable African Americans. For instance, Barak Obama, a Tuskegee Airman, famous sports figures, entrepreneurs, writers, musicians, academics, and countless others.

Students are introduced to Black history achievements they never knew about. And the students pick and study people who overcame adversity and succeeded.

Cheers!

Sources

New Content for Black History Month: A solution to what society often overlooks. February 22, 2022, Dee Adams.
https://medium.com/illumination/black-history-re-imaging-content-77d4fdb39979

The History Makers: Documenting untold stories of African American achievement, February 19, 2023, Bill Whitaker. Student comments 10:15-11:09.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/historymakers-black-history-60-minutes-2023-02-19/

When Black Women Used Hair Braids to Escape Slavery: A history lesson in brilliance and resilience, January 5, 2022.
https://jeffreykass.medium.com/when-black-women-used-hair-braids-to-escape-slavery-6855d65100c

If superheroes danced, they might use the moves performed by the late Fayard and Harold Nicholas in the 1940s film Stormy Weather. Today, some believe Computer Generated Imagery may be the only way to duplicate their filmed dance sequences.

Many people including, Fred Astaire, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Gregory Hines were fans. According to Fred Astaire, the dance sequence in Stormy Weather was the finest film sequence he had ever seen.

The Nicholas Brothers were honored by the Kennedy Center in 1991 for their body of work spanning six decades.

Back Story

What is also so incredible about the dance sequence in Stormy Weather is that it all started with a little boy, Fayard Nicholas, watching famous Black entertainers perform in theatres, imitating their performances and teaching himself then his siblings how to dance.

The color movie clip below featuring Fayard, and his younger brother Harold, seven years his junior, showcases two performers who had no formal training: no film rehearsal, one take.

Starting in infancy, baby Fayard accompanied his parents, college educated musicians to their theatre jobs where he learned a lot about show business in his early youth (youth-ling?). The black and white video clip below underscores his childhood progress and that of his pupil, his younger brother Harold.

Exposing a toddler to a creative environment had jaw dropping results in this case. Both brothers were talented. But Fayard Nicholas in addition to the natural ability of a dancer, exhibited creative ability and teaching skill in the genius range.

In the film, Cab Calloway is the host and singer, crooning “Jumpin Jive” with his orchestra. Calloway, the first African American musician to sell one million records introduces the Nicholas brothers and then humorously bops out of the scene.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoMbeDhG9fU?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=900]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IBteauWsHA?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

Sources

How Hollywood Hid the Nicholas Brothers | ILLUMINATION (medium.com)

Mean feet: the tap-dancing duo who were Fred Astaire’s heroes | Dance | The Guardian

Dancing Joy: The Story of the Nicholas Brothers | by Charlene DeKalb | Fanfare | Medium
The brothers appear at about 4:57 of the official YouTube Video for Janet Jackson’s Alright released in 1989.

The Unbelievable Fact About The Nicholas Brothers’ Stormy Weather Dance Routine (grunge.com)

Nicholas Brothers | Biographies, Movies, & Facts | Britannica

Kennedy Center Honors – 1991 | Winners & Nominees (awardsandwinners.com)

Nicholas Brothers – The Official Licensing Website of Nicholas Brothers (cmgww.com)

Selected Reactions on Youtube

What in the World! First Time Hearing Jumpin Jive – Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers
Rob Squad, Jay and Amber Robinson. Includes hysterical coach comments. Black and white movie clip, 10:44.

Cartier Family: Jumpin Jive – Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers.
Five African American male college students uploaded a YouTube video three days ago.  Color movie clip.  Very funny reaction. Includes some adult language content, 9:43.

First Time Hearing Jumpin Jive Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers.
Rome Life Reactions, 9:14. Includes large size black and white video.

Twins the New Trend

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_ZrMpfDXFo?start=22&feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

Husband and wife coach and teachers, Jay and Amber Robinson of the Rob Squad YouTube channel responded to a suggestion from their diverse subscriber base to react to a video by KC and the Sunshine Band from the 1970s.

So, early one morning they listened to a song they had never heard before; music, 2.5 of them did not expect to hear given the odd sounding song title.

Fun memorable video.

Back Story 

Rarely does one see a musical group with a lead White singer, front man Harry Casey, in which, except for Casey’s producer also a band member, all the other members are African American.

KC and the Sunshine band (KC&SB) formed in the mid-1970s in Florida, 11 miles from Miami Beach, would in time become internationally known. And the band’s music crossed color lines, past and present as the second video below underscores. 

Without video, many people today regardless of color, believe Harry Casey, aka KC, was an African American singer.

For instance, check out the husband-and-wife team, Shawn and Mel as they watch the suggested video “That’s the Way I like It”, then their astonishment as it slowly dawns on them, they can’t initially pick out which musician in the mixed group is KC.

Harry Casey and the Sunshine Band are credited with practicing diversity long before it was a buzzword.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2CoZFRtqxk?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z9vToNBGbU?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

             Peace and Good Cheer

This a heartwarming and tearful reminder about the importance of gratitude from a formerly homeless 12-year-old boy from Sierra Leone. Abraham, who with his blood brother were adopted lives with his new family in the US.

Abraham experienced his first ever birthday cake, a concept which he was not familiar and offers an original point of view about the deeper meaning of his cake and gratitude.

His point of view is well worth remembering year-round.

Source

CBSnews.com Steve Hartman on the road, July 1, 2022: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/steve-hartman-on-the-road-abraham-birthday-celebration-adoption-sierra-leone/