If there’s one thing that sets The Apprentice apart from it’s reality TV counterparts, it is the level of success enjoyed by its cast.
And while we have been treated to many amusing and sometimes explosive characters, it has consistently produced winners that take full advantage of both the experience of the apprenticeship and the exposure of the show, in advancing their own careers.
It is a level of excellence that 18 people will attempt to achieve starting Sunday.
Of course the best known of the winners is the first, Bill Rancic. He won when the series was new and exciting and water cooler talk throughout the nation. Bill’s winning job was to manage construction of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. His one-year contract turned into a three-year gig.
Included in that was a starring role in seasons four and five of the show where he occasionally replaced George Ross.
Since the show, Rancic has also completed a high-intensity training program with New York’s HRH Construction and has published two separate motivational books, You’re Hired, and Beyond The Lemonade Stand.
Bill’s company, Cigars Around The World is thriving and he still does plenty of speaking engagements. He also made news recently as he has just got engaged, to E! News co-host Giuliana DePandi.
While Bill is arguably the best known Apprentice winner, few went in with more credentials than Dr. Randal Pinkett, who was best known for having no fewer than five university degrees.
Since winning the fourth season, Randal oversaw the $110 million renovation of Trump Entertainment Resorts in Atlantic City. He also volunteered to be part of a team which oversaw the upgrade of information technology within the Trump organization. Randal was also involved in the application process to open a new Trump casino in Philadelphia, a project which proposed hiring opportunities for women and minorities.
Randal has continued to operate his management consulting firm, BCT Partners, out of Newark, N.J. He continues to make several speaking engagements, and is the author of two books, Campus CEO, a guide for students who want to own their own business, and Black Faces in White Places: 10 Steps for African Americans to Redefine the Game, where he describes his own experiences as an African American in the predominantly white corporate environment.
Kelly Perdew was a popular winner of season two, mainly due to his military background. His contract with Trump involved the 40 Wall Street project in Manhattan, a condominium project in Tampa, and the marketing of Trump Ice bottled water.
His personal investments involve a 25-project self-storage company in Florida and a 600-acre fishing and hunting preserve in Montana. He is also managing director of Angel-Leveraged Capital, a venture capital fund.
In addition to being a motivational speaker. Purdue also published a book entitled Take Command: 10 Leadership Principles I Learned In The Military and Put to Work for Trump, and created the Terrorist Attack Survival Kit CD. He was also featured on the Military Channel’s GI Factory. And he was appointed to the Council on Civic Participation and Service by President Bush.
An argument can be made that no winner dominated his or her series like Kendra Todd. Her teams did lose early, but she was never mentioned as one that should take the blame. But 10 challenge wins in a row including four as project manager (last task included) to close season three stamped her as possibly the best Apprentice candidate ever.
Kendra’s job was to oversee the renovation and sale of a $125 million mansion in Palm Beach County. The proximity to her investment real estate business, My House R.E. Inc, allowed her to do the two jobs simultaneously.
This past year, Kendra released her book, Risk and Grow Rich, which describes how to take the concept of risk as a positive rather than a negative and use it to build wealth.
Recently, she split from My House to go on her own as broker of The Kendra Todd Group. And well-removed from her days as “Special Agent 53” on a local radio show, she now is a regular contributor on Fox News Live and several news outlets including Yahoo Real Estate. She also is hosting a show on the American HGTV network called My House is Worth What?
Finally, one Apprentice is still on the job, season five winner Sean Yazbeck, the Londoner with Lebanese origin from Miami. Sean is currently managing the construction of Trump’s condo/hotel complex in New York’s SOHO district. He also devotes a lot of time to the Voices for Children foundation based in Miami, and is still involved in his role as director of business development for a recruitment consultancy registered on the London Stock Exchange.
While there’s no definitive word on whether he’s still with Tammy, he does have a co-worker in his final-two rival Lee, who was hired by Trump soon after the series ended.
The winner of season six will not only have 17 other candidates to best during the interview process, but will have to measure up to five outstanding individuals once that process, and the apprenticeship are over.
