A Salinas entrepreneur gets a moment on national TV—and a chance to win big on Shark Tank.

Have you ever felt stagefright? Sara Rubin here, and that’s a yes. When Jesús Ruvalcaba of Salinas got ready to walk out into the spotlight of a Burbank studio last September to face a panel of inquisitive investors, he was feeling it. “I was so nervous waiting for my turn,” he says. “But then, there was a moment—I said, take a deep breath, and this is probably going to be the hardest thing you ever are going to do.”

That hardest thing was to be filmed while responding to questions on the set of Shark Tank, a reality show in which the sharks (investors) grill business owners and decide whether to throw in capital. Guests can walk away deflated, with nothing except a moment in the spotlight—or with millions of dollars, or anything in between.

When they leave filming, they don’t even know if they’re going to make prime time. It was just three weeks ago that Ruvalcaba got the phone call from Sony Pictures to say he’d made an episode that will air tomorrow night (Friday, April 4) at 8pm on ABC. 

It’s a chance for the world to get to know Paper Tacos, a cleverly named business that features Ruvalcaba’s clever and lovingly illustrated greeting cards. I recently interviewed Ruvalcaba about his creative and business journey—he is a graphic designer first, and a businessman second—and then just before press time for that feature story, he found out the episode of Shark Tank would air. 

I was moved by Ruvalcaba’s story of persistence. He doesn’t make success seem easy, but like the hustle that it is. (He notes that even as his business has grown, he still enlists free help from family members to fulfill big orders, bringing over tons of cards to his aunt’s house, for instance, getting quality time while working.) 

He’s at once humble and confident, a unique balance—he believes in himself, but also knows how tough the odds are. He auditioned twice for Shark Tank by submitting a video; he says he didn’t really expect to be selected, but found it to be a useful exercise. “I didn’t feel I was going to be selected, but it forces you to take your own business seriously,” he says. “It forces you to think about your finances, how much money did you make, where you see yourself three years or five years from now.”

Ruvalcaba can’t share how he did, but he does share that he’s enthusiastic about not just the chance for his business to get a moment on the national stage, but also his Chicano culture and of course, Salinas. 

“This is an opportunity for representation on a national scale,” he says. “Even if it’s my 15 minutes of fame, I am going to celebrate that as much as possible.”

And if you were wondering—yes, of course there are congratulations cards available from Paper Tacos.