Wendy's Words- Good Day Wisconsin Small Shop Showcase

(Photo courtesy of fox11online.com)

To think this all started with me checking the weather radar! Being a business owner means I don’t get to watch morning TV the way I did in my ‘at home mom’ days. One afternoon I was trying to find a local weather radar on WLUK’s website, and when I reached the site my interest was piqued when I read the words “Small Shop Showcase”. I clicked on the video and watched the segment on a small Bonduel business they featured. Because of my involvement with the GBA, Gillett News, and Tourism and Marketing, I wanted to at least try to contact Good Day Wisconsin about the multiple Main Street Businesses in Gillett.

The producer emailed back showing interest in my store along with one other business. When the other business’s owner told me it wouldn’t work out for her to go on camera, I replied to the producer and made arrangements to come on the show December 18th. Picking the right products to bring was not as easy as I thought it would be. I went into the TV appearance thinking ‘oh, I will set things up the way I did at craft shows I did in the past-no problem’. I didn’t take into account that when I did craft show displays; I didn’t have over 2,000 different products to choose from like I do now. It took a couple of days, but I narrowed it down to what was seen on TV.

I had my van packed the night before the show so I had one less thing to worry about that morning (I had to be up at 5am-leave Gillett at 6am-make it to Green Bay before 7am). The on-air studio is one open room and everything I saw is in sort of a circle. When you enter, you see the area where the bands and choirs perform for Sounds of the Season. Clockwise from there is where Melissa McCready gives the traffic reports, and next to that area is the news desk. Across from the desk is the fireplace where my segment was done, and next to the fireplace is the kitchen area. When we made our way inside the studio to set up my products, I was taken aback by how strange it felt to be in-person while Pete Petoniak and Emily Deem were at the news desk doing the broadcast. I looked over at my son Mark, and while he couldn’t verbalize his feelings, I could sense by the way he scanned the studio that he too was fascinated by what he saw.

Emily Deem wasn’t able to talk very much with me before the segment like she usually does with business owners because she had to do both Rachel Manek’s on air tasks as well as her own (Rachel had the day off). Once she was able to meet with me, she was great, and very helpful! Once the segment started, it flew by in under four minutes! There were a few times when I got tongue-tied, but Emily Deem is thankfully a natural with the segments and was able to help me squeak my way through.

I received so much feedback for my post about the TV appearance. I even ended up selling out of the caterpillar kits that I showed on the TV segment. I would love to do such a segment again, and maybe a how to project or two on the air! If you or someone you know has a business or organization that would like some exposure, you have nothing to lose by contacting a TV or radio station. Or you could just check the weather-you never know what you will find!

If you missed my segment, you can watch it here: https://fox11online.com/good-day-wi/small-shop-showcase-creative-gifts-for-creative-people