By Peggy Sturdivant

I warned Leslie Pierson during our phone interview that I might have to interrupt her when the ship captain blew the horn. Although I don’t know her address in East Ballard I probably had a better sense of her surroundings while we chatted than she did of mine.

I was sitting with my back to the captain’s bridge on a passenger-only ferry filled with tourists wearing identification lanyards. We were headed to the mainland from the island where the movie “Jaws” was filmed and it seemed appropriate to be interviewing someone about their successful appearance (and deal made) on “Shark Tank.”

There are a lot of shark references on Martha’s Vineyard, not because we have that many sharks, but it’s the name of our college league baseball team. My father has been known to repackage the film with the label “Home Movies.” Spielberg used many locals while filming and as teenagers we spent a whole summer trying to become extras.

Once I’d oriented Pierson to my surroundings and warned her about the horn I tried to switch on my Ballard brain. When I get home it may be that Pierson and I have passed each other on Market Street a hundred times. We may have crossed paths as she bicycled to her office near the Market Arms. Her son is in first grade at the school where my daughter went to kindergarten. Or I’ve been at Ballard Mailbox back when she and her staff still shipped product.

However I didn’t know about Pierson’s company, “GoodHangups,” and I’ve never actually watched “Shark Tank.” I watched the clip sent by Pierson’s publicist. Even though I haven’t met Pierson in person I was impressed. All those people are talking over one another, asking questions, forcing the entrepreneur to make a decision on the spot, cameras rolling. Pierson was so assured.

Pierson’s journey to “Shark Tank” by way of Kickstarter, “The Today Show” and “QVC” seems a long way to me from growing up in Kansas. She worked abroad teaching English, got a business degree and started her business in Seattle 11 years ago. Her products have included skins for laptops and evolved to a magnet system to hang up artwork without damaging any type of surface.

Pierson describes herself as quirky and her son as “super creative.” It was his artwork that inspired the very successful product line of “GoodHangups.” “I had to figure out a better way to display his art and then I tweaked it to put up bigger posters.”

I’m proud when I mail a birthday gift but Pierson has had the energy to build a business, become a finalist on “Today’s Next Big Thing Contest” and work her way to “Shark Tank.” Given the sales volume she now uses Northwest Center’s Renton location for assembly. In another crossover my daughter’s first daycare was Northwest Center when it was on Queen Anne. As with all of their enterprises the focus is on training and employment of differently-abled adults. “They’ve been awesome,” Pierson said.

Listening while on the ferry I felt a dazed by Pierson’s initiative. When I was the parent of a first grader I patted myself on the back for getting to the grocery store. Meanwhile Pierson has returned to “The Today Show” and made the cut after answering an open casting call for “Shark Tank.” Her segment was filmed last June and aired on September 30th. She didn’t know until a few weeks beforehand if her appearance would even air. Turns out she was on Episode #2 of this season, which is a coup. She was already a “big fan” and had been studying the British and American versions. “I would watch the show and think, I need mass market appeal.”

We were entering the inner harbor and I was going to have to get off the boat. “Viewing party?” I asked.

Pierson said, “Of course!” Ever since she moved to Seattle she has gathered with a group of friends almost weekly at The Tin Hat. “Shark Tank” was airing in competition with Seattle Seahawks that night but the group found a great location in Greenwood’s The Alibi Room. Unfortunately it was past her son’s bedtime.

I will be keeping my eyes open for Leslie Pierson once I’m back in Ballard. It sounds like she’s found the mass market appeal while keeping the Market Street appreciation.

www.goodhangups.com