Back to Roots – the Long Way

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Call it the ultimate road trip.

Stanley Gold, chief executive of Disney family investment arm Shamrock Holdings in Burbank and a Beverly Hills attorney, recently returned from one of the longest and most grueling auto races in the world: the 8,800-mile Peking to Paris Rally.

First held in 1907 to showcase the automobile, this fifth running of the rally took more than 100 driving teams in mostly classic cars – including Gold and race partner Brant Parsons in their 1965 Porsche 911 – through Mongolia, Siberia, Ukraine and Switzerland before ending in Paris after 33 days.

Gold, 70, had expected Mongolia to be the most difficult portion, but he was surprised nonetheless.

“I knew there were few paved roads, but there were no roads, period,” he said. “Not even dirt roads.”

The rough terrain took a toll on the Porsche. A strut casing cracked; the closest place to obtain replacement parts was 1,700 miles away in Russia. Gold said he was very close to quitting the race but a competitor encouraged him to repair the car.

Once the car was fixed, the rest of the trip was uneventful, allowing Gold and Parsons to enjoy the Siberian countryside.

For Gold, the most poignant moment was driving through the neighborhood in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, where his grandfather grew up before immigrating to the United States in 1900.

“That was my first time in Kiev and was definitely the emotional high point of the rally for me,” he said.

Success in the Bag

When Jennie Nigrosh went on ABC reality television show “Shark Tank” to pitch her startup company, Green Garmento, she got eaten alive by the show’s judges.

All five judges, who hear from startups making pitches for funding, declined to invest in her company, which sells reusable dry-cleaning bags that can also be converted to hampers and duffel bags.

“I wasn’t able to answer the real nitty-gritty questions they were looking for, which I didn’t expect,” she said. “After a while, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I felt like I was in the principal’s office and I had gotten in trouble. My eyes glazed over and were looking at the door.”

Nigrosh had asked for $300,000 for a 20 percent stake in Green Garmento, which she and her husband, Rick Siegel, co-founded and run out of their home near Studio City. After the taping, the 47-year-old feared the worst.

Despite the poor showing after the episode aired in February, potential clients suddenly began returning phone calls. Nigrosh’s company has picked up new orders from dry cleaners and is in negotiations to get on shelves at two retail stores, which she said would not have happened without getting on television.

“I got kind of reamed, but I do feel doors have opened,” she said. “We turned a negative into a positive.”

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