Fast Talk: What I Learned on <em>The Apprentice</em>

Fame Is a Double-edged Sword

Pamela Day

Managing director, Crimson Holdings LLC
Los Angeles, California

It's really tough to strike a balance about when to use my Apprentice fame and when to distance myself from it. I don't want to be on the calendar of the "Ladies of Reality-TV Stars." But if you're not making money, what's the use of all the publicity?

I didn't do this show because I needed to be on television. I did this as a calculated maneuver to increase the reach of my business. I told the producers that if I won, I was going to decline the job. My main goal was to show the world who I was and how I do business. As long as I behaved myself, I figured it would all be worth it in the long run. Frankly, the jury's still out on whether this was a risk worth taking. The benefit has been that it has raised my profile among potential investors in my venture fund. The other benefit is that now I get paid to write and speak about a lot of topics that I normally pontificate on anyway.

Apprentice fame has its downsides, though. I have to choose my words carefully to avoid sounding arrogant, but when you put yourself in with this group of folks, some of whom are extremely young and inexperienced, some of whom are just plain crazy, you get lumped together with them. I've actually spent a lot of time trying to separate myself from the show. I feel the need to tell people, "Hey, wait, I'm a little different." I've got a bit of a chip on my shoulder about that.

Pamela Day, 33, appeared in season two. She has founded two businesses: Blazent, a software startup that has since grown to 100 people, and Crimson Holdings, a private-equity firm. She holds a bachelor's in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and received her MBA from Harvard Business School.

Don't Be a "Yes" Woman

Kristen Kirchner

Real-estate agent
Los Angeles, California

If Donald Trump wasn't a real-estate tycoon, I wouldn't have wanted to do the show. I thought there was something I could learn from him. Quite honestly, I didn't learn anything.

Donald Trump isn't going to hire the most successful entrepreneur on his show. He's going to hire the person who can take direction, a person who's used to working for other people. If you're a true entrepreneur in every sense of the word, you will not become the next Apprentice.

I was made to look like an idiot on national television because Trump decided he wanted to fire me. I'm very upset about that because I was one of the best workers on that show. I think Trump just doesn't like strong women. Carolyn? Sure, she's feisty, but she's by no means an entrepreneur. When Mr. Trump says, "I want to fire this person," George and Carolyn say, "I agree." Someone like me would say, "I disagree." He doesn't want someone who's going to disagree with him.

The person I learned the most from turned out to be [Apprentice creator and executive producer] Mark Burnett. He's seen the rough side of life. Like him, I started at the bottom. I lived with plastic crates and a box spring for a couch. I remember emptying out my piggy bank just to be able to have enough money to go to McDonald's to get a burger. Burnett's taken risks. And then to single-handedly change the entertainment industry like he's done, that's a far more impressive feat than being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. He's the true rags-to-riches story.

Kristen Kirchner, 32, was fired in the fourth episode of the current season. She's currently opening her own real-estate investment firm, Xanthus Enterprises.

Perception Trumps Reality

Troy McClain

Mortgage broker
Boise, Idaho

Back east I get accused of being stupid or being some country bumpkin. And yeah, I allow people to run with that perception. Perception can be reality for some people -- Mr. Trump taught me that. When I get behind closed doors and into a negotiation with someone who underestimates me because I don't have a college degree and have a bit of a drawl, they're always like, "You seemed so charming -- what happened?" And I tell them, "Hey, that was your own perception."

I was disappointed when Mr. Trump fired me for a lack of education. A few weeks after the show, Mr. Trump was on Larry King Live and offered to pay for me to go to college. The next day, Wharton, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, they all got in touch with me -- I'll show you the letters! It was amazing. But I can't move to Boston. I'm an Idaho kid who loves to hunt and fish and be with his family. So I registered at Boise State University. And sure, I could have taken a $50,000-a-year college degree and had Mr. Trump pay for it, but a degree is a degree and it's what you make of it. I'm going to start part-time in the fall while I continue to run my mortgage business.

Being on TV can warp your perspective, but I haven't changed my values. I still eat at IHOP and I still go to Wal-Mart. If I happen to drink fine wine with a billionaire, a guy like Trump, well, I can still drink my cheap Boone's as well.

Troy McClain, 34, appeared in season one. In addition to running his real-estate and mortgage-brokerage business, McClain now does motivational speaking and has engagements booked through mid-2006.