point, there could be twenty-eight cameras going at once. This was a big operation.
One day after seeing this, I paused silently for a moment. What if the show was a flop? All this work, all this energy … well, it just had to work. And I was determined to do my best to make it a hit.
The reassuring thing was that I didn’t have to act. That gave me some comfort. Mark Burnett told me that my value to the show would be in just being myself. Is there such a thing as acting like yourself? I don’t know, but I try not to think about it. I’m just myself.
I didn’t have to read any scripts or learn any lines. Despite having a great memory, I don’t have time for that, anyway. Mark would appriise me of the assignments for the applicants each week and we’d go from there. I enjoyed the spontaneity of the process, because we don’t rehearse episodes in our daily business life. What happens, happens.
What went on in the boardroom or anywhere else was not fabricated in any way. If it seemed dramatic, that’s because business is dramatic. There’s nothing boring about it. There’s nothing passive about it, either—even for viewer.
Seeing the eagerness and anticipation of the sixteen winning applicants was a rush in itself. I never used the word contestants in describing them, because this was not a game. People who think their jobs are a game aren’t people I want to have around. A lot of these people already had lucrative positions or businesses of their own, so they weren’t in it merely for some prize money. We made sure they were all serious about learning something not only after the process but during it. This also ensured that each applicant would be a winner, no matter what the outcome of their quest turned out to be. How many other reality shows have you seen that has only winners? That was another reason The Apprentice was so appealing to me. There would be no losers in this win-win situation. My kind of show.
I know what you’re thinking.But you fired fifteen people! Yeah, but look what they got to do. Look what they got to see. Look what they learned.
All of the tasks required of my would-be apprentices required negotiation skills of one type or another. I was particularly interested in the way the applicants approached the task of achieving maximum savings from a list of items we told them to buy. Items ranged in value from $10 to $550. The highest-ticket item thatd could be discounted was a luxury golf club, a Callaway driver. The winning team homed in on this item. The losers spent their time trying to buy gold, a relatively fixed-price commodity. The winning team learned an essential lesson in negotiation and business: If you win on the big point, you don’t sweat the minor ones.
The sixteen applicants quickly became people I liked and cared about—in the way a boss cares about his employees. They were all dynamic individuals with a lot on the ball. It wasn’t easy to fire any of them.
Heidi Bressler, 30, an account executive from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Heidi is strong, and she kept her objectives in focus in her dealings. She used her account executive background to her advantage in keeping herself balanced.
Jason Curis, 24, a real estate entrepreneur from Detroit, Michigan. Jason has a lot on the ball, but he’s young and a little rash. For those of you who missed the episode, Jason cut me off, in mid- sentence, in the boardroom. You never interrupt the boss in a meeting. You never interrupt the client in a meeting, either. But he will continue to learn and achieve.
Katrina Campins, 24, a real estate broker from Coral Gables, Florida. Katrina is very accomplished already as a broker, which is a different scenario from that of being the president of a company. I think she will continue to prove herself in her field, possibly becoming an entrepreneur. She will be a success in life.
David Gould, 31, a health care venture capitalist from New York City. David has an exceptional educational background, with both an MBA and an MD, but business is not yet his forte. He surprised me in the first episode when he said salesmanship was not one of his skills. Why volunteer any deficiency? He was the first to be fired.
Jessie Conners, 21, owner of a chiropractic marketing and management company from New Richmond, Wisconsin. Jessie was an interesting mixture of sophistication and innocence. She competed like an experienced player, then did herself in by taking unnecessary abuse from a colleague. You’ve got to fight back if you want to be successful in business. But don’t underestimate her.
Bowie Hogg, 25, an account executive at FedEx, from Dallas, Texas. Bowie has great determination, but when it came to selling, he fell short. He learned a lot, and I’m confident he’ll be successful in his career.
Kristi Frank, 30, a real estate broker and restaurant owner from Bel Air, California. Kristi knows a lot about the real world in many ways, due to her business experience, but her failure to stand up for herself showed a lack of one hundred percent focus on her immediate goal. She will do well for herself if she focuses more.
Kwame Jackson, 29, a Harvard MBA and investment manager at Goldman Sachs, from New York City. He is smooth and collected, and will do what is necessary to succeed. Kwame raised some eyebrows when he signed basketballs at Planet Hollywood, implicitly suggesting to customers that he was famous. Was it unethical? When you’re desperate, you sometimes have to push the envelope. Kwame was on a desperately failing team. His judgment wasn’t admirable, but I don’t think he crossed the line: He was supporting his team members.
Amy Henry, 30, a manager at a high-tech start-up in Austin, Texas, who owned millions of dollars in options and lost it all in the dot-com bust. Amy is extremely bright and has great spirit, team and otherwise. I don’t think much can get her down, and she will excel.
Troy McClain, 32, a mortgage lender in the insurance business and a real estate developer, from Boise, Idaho. Troy is optimistic and realistic at the same time. It’s a great combination, and I expect him to do big things. Plus it takes a brave man to have his legs waxed. That showed me how much he really wanted the job.
Tammy Lee, 36, a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch in Seattle, Washington. Tammy’s experience gives her a realistic view of the world. She watches out for herself and keeps her goals clear. Her strength is one of her greatest attributes, and it will help her throughout her career.
Bill Rancic, 32, founder of cigarsaroundtheworld.com, which he started from his studio apartment in Chicago, Illinois, and turned into a multimillion-dollar business. Bill is a good guy with a great future and has already proven his entrepreneurial skills. He’s a careful thinker, serious about his endeavors, and a good bet to achieve the results he seeks.
Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, 29, a political consultant from Washington, D.C., who worked in the Clinton-Gore administration. Like Madonna, she needs only a first name. Omarosa is the most articulate of the group. She’s got a lot of fight in her and self-confidence that will serve her well. If she’d been working on Gore’s presidential campaign, he would have won.
Sam Solovey, 27, cofounder of an Internet media company, from Chevy Chase, Maryland. He lasted only until the third episode, but even that seemed like an eternity to some viewers. Sam was the smartest annoying character on TV since Howard Cosell. He is likely to either take a company down in flames or create an IBM. I think he’s got a lot of talent, and as long as he learns how to use it correctly he will do great things. I can’t believe he proposed marriage on TV. His future wife looks great, but he forgot to ask for the prenup, and I hope he won’t ever need one.
Ereka Vitrini, 27, a global marketing manager for Clinique, who learned her business skills working in her family’s pizzeria in New York City. Ereka has terrific spirit and a good amount of fortitude. She’s not afraid to voice her opinions, and that’s crucial.
Nick Warnock, 27, a salesman for Xerox who launched an Italian ice business in Bayonne, New Jersey, and now lives in Los Angeles. Nick is a savvy guy who tries to cover his bases. He is industrious but needs to focus on exactly what is going on around him. His tenacity will see him through.
They were all great, even Sam. What I found interesting was the shifting dynamic of the group and their interplay, with its changing patterns and alliances. That’s the way business teams function.
As everyone saw, the women dominated the men at first, and it made some people wonder whether women are superior at business. I believe we’re all equal, except in one respect: Women still have to try harder, and they
