Cold sandwiches, cans of soda, potato salad and cheesecake were placed in a row on a long table. This could have been food for a family picnic, but it was actually in honor of Robert Herjavec and Amanda Brinkman’s new series, Small Business Revolution Main Street.
Inside the intimate Pearl Meeting Room on the ninth floor of The Westin New York at Times Square, six tables were set up. As I sipped from my plastic cup of Diet Coke, Shark Tank's Robert Herjavec and Deluxe Corporation’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer Amanda Brinkman spoke about their new series Small Business Revolution Main Street during a Q&A session.
The eight-episode series documented how Herjavec and Brinkman helped the small business owners of Wabash, Indiana revitalize their businesses, after winning the 2016 Small Business Revolution Main Street campaign. Herjavec and Brinkman invested $500,000 into the success of Wabash. Matching the open-book nature associated with small towns, Herjavecs’s open-collar shirt and Brinkman’s keyhole neckline dress and cutout half sleeves exuded transparency.
“It shocked me how cohesive the town was and how much they were supporting each other,” said Herjavec, “The reason Wabash won and had 180,000 votes was because they came together as a community. When you go there, it’s really incredible. It’s the same thing we see on Shark Tank, the businesses are successful, and the one thing I’ve learned over the entire time is that America is still the bastion of hope and opportunity for the world.”
Amanda Brinkman also appreciated the community’s warmth and strength.
“Just watching how welcoming and warming a community like that can be renewed my faith,” said Brinkman in a folksy Midwest accent. "People are hungry for these kinds of stories right now: small-town Americana community coming together, people having each other’s back, feeling safe in the community. I didn’t realize living in a big city that I was missing that community aspect."
TheCelebrityCafe.com participated in the Q&A and learned a lot about what makes America an incredible county. Watch the video of the Q&A below:
Small Business Revolution Main Street premieres Sep. 27 on smallbusinessrevolution.org and Hulu.com.