Episode Recap: Week Nine (11/16)
“It was horrible,” Dawna said when she returned to the loft from the conference room. “I can’t… talk that bad about people. I’m not sure I can handle going in there anymore.” Dawna felt horrible about hurting Bethenny, and when Bethenny and Jim came back, Dawna gave Bethenny a huge hug. Bethenny did not appear nearly as upset as Dawna and was ready to move forward. In the morning, Martha gave the teams their next assignment via videoconference. Martha told them that Martha Stewart Living is about making everyday life just a little nicer, and the Tassimo hot beverage system can do just that. Each team would receive $40,000 to set up a retail store to sell the Tassimo machine. The team with the most sales would win the task. For a second time, a confident Jim was up against Marcela as project manager. However, Dawna was concerned that Primarius’s three-person team wasn’t large enough to accomplish this task so she suggested hiring a PR firm to help out. Jim and Bethenny seemed unsure about this approach. As Matchstick’s project manager, Marcela did not get off to a good start as she and Ryan immediately bickered over something inconsequential: the speed of his computer. Amanda also didn’t feel comfortable with her as their leader. Marcela was concerned that the rest of her team was intentionally setting her up for failure. Matchstick began setting up their store. Marcela thought that they needed to include pastries, which made Amanda worry that the Tassimo machine was becoming a side note. Ryan felt the same way, but also thought that Marcela was giving them no guidance or direction. Ryan and Amanda took matters into their own hands by trying to hire a celebrity to help draw people into the store. Ryan became excited about the idea of hiring actor Vincent Pastore. Marcela shot down the idea. Instead, she wanted to hire a celebrity chef. Charles and Alexis stopped by to see how Matchstick was doing. Marcela told them about bringing in a celebrity chef, but couldn’t answer Charles’ questions as to how they planned on promoting it. With Charles still in the store, Ryan said that it was impossible to find a chef on such short notice. Charles asked them what “plan B” was, but Marcela didn’t have an answer. With Charles still there, Marcela got on the phone and found a chef on her own. Dawna met with Lime PR Promotions and hired them to help design, build, and promote Primarius’s store for a cost of $30,000. When Dawna told Jim about the fee, it looked like he was about to have a heart attack. He was not happy about the way Dawna was trying to take over, but Bethenny suggested that they let her go ahead so they could put the onus on her if the task went south. At 1:30 in the morning, Matchstick gathered in their store to talk about their non-existent marketing plan. Amanda said they should have been thinking about their marketing strategy much earlier, and Marcela reminded her that she did ask for everyone’s input. “Whatever,” Amanda said as she walked away. Matchstick’s store was overcrowded with customers who heard about the great pastries that chef Jennifer Roach was preparing inside. Ryan even had to turn people away at the door. But were people buying the Tassimo machines? The answer was “no.” To help boost sales, Marcela lowered the price… two times. While Matchstick’s store was packed, not a soul could be seen inside Primarius’s location. Bethenny was ticked off that Lime PR was just sitting around eating cookies outside. Bethenny took charge to get the Lime people to blanket the city with promotional materials. Around lunchtime, traffic started to pick up and the Tassimo hot beverage machines began to sell. In the conference room, Martha asked Jim and Marcela how they felt they did. Both teams said they felt happy with their results, but then it was Charles’s turn to weigh in with the actual numbers. Matchstick sold a total of nine Tassimo machines for $1,891. Alexis gave the results for Primarius: they sold 36 systems for a total of $6,621. For their reward, Primarius flew up to Bar Harbor, Maine in a private jet for a tour of Skylands, Martha’s favorite house. Afterwards, they enjoyed a sightseeing boat-tour of the coast of Maine and a lunch prepared by Alexis herself. Jim was especially bowled over by their activities. Back at the loft, Marcela was in tears as she wondered if she was cut out for this type of interview process. “I’m a chef, I’m a mom… this is not me.” Jim thought that the others were going to “crucify” Marcela in the conference room and tried to give Marcela some words of encouragement and how to approach the upcoming meeting. Martha asked Marcela “What went wrong?” Marcela answered by taking some of the blame, but also told Martha that she never felt any support from her teammates. Amanda agreed that she did not support Marcela but only because she didn’t agree with the choices being made. Charles and Alexis weighed in, saying that they felt the team didn’t look like they were even trying to sell the product. Martha agreed that it sounded like the team was intentionally leading Marcela to the slaughter. Martha asked both Amanda and Marcela how they felt they could fit into the company. Amanda gave a roundabout answer about having a promotions background and loving to cook, decorate, and garden. She tripped over her tongue a bit when she talked about being flawed and how people like to connect with others who aren’t slick and polished all the time. Marcela got her emotions in check and gave an entirely different answer. Marcela explained her passion for food and how she would love to combine that passion with her Latino heritage to help MSLO tap into the emerging Latino market. “I don’t want to be the Mexican Martha Stewart,” she said. Looking at Martha she elaborated, “I want you to be the Mexican Martha Stewart.” When she was finished, Marcela chose Ryan and Amanda to return to the conference room. Ryan jumped in before anyone else had a chance to speak. He looked at Marcela and told her that he was insulted that she would imply that he wasn’t loyal or that he tried to sabotage the team. Martha then brought up the fact that Amanda actually said she didn’t support Marcela. Martha felt that Amanda showed a terrible sense of teamwork, something that is crucial to MSLO’s success. Because of that, Martha looked at Amanda and said “goodbye.” Martha wrote a personal letter to Amanda advising her to focus on the things that interest her.Source: http://www.nbc.com/The_Apprentice:_Martha_Stewart/recaps/week9_p1.shtml
“It was horrible,” Dawna said when she returned to the loft from the conference room. “I can’t… talk that bad about people. I’m not sure I can handle going in there anymore.” Dawna felt horrible about hurting Bethenny, and when Bethenny and Jim came back, Dawna gave Bethenny a huge hug. Bethenny did not appear nearly as upset as Dawna and was ready to move forward. In the morning, Martha gave the teams their next assignment via videoconference. Martha told them that Martha Stewart Living is about making everyday life just a little nicer, and the Tassimo hot beverage system can do just that. Each team would receive $40,000 to set up a retail store to sell the Tassimo machine. The team with the most sales would win the task. For a second time, a confident Jim was up against Marcela as project manager. However, Dawna was concerned that Primarius’s three-person team wasn’t large enough to accomplish this task so she suggested hiring a PR firm to help out. Jim and Bethenny seemed unsure about this approach. As Matchstick’s project manager, Marcela did not get off to a good start as she and Ryan immediately bickered over something inconsequential: the speed of his computer. Amanda also didn’t feel comfortable with her as their leader. Marcela was concerned that the rest of her team was intentionally setting her up for failure. Matchstick began setting up their store. Marcela thought that they needed to include pastries, which made Amanda worry that the Tassimo machine was becoming a side note. Ryan felt the same way, but also thought that Marcela was giving them no guidance or direction. Ryan and Amanda took matters into their own hands by trying to hire a celebrity to help draw people into the store. Ryan became excited about the idea of hiring actor Vincent Pastore. Marcela shot down the idea. Instead, she wanted to hire a celebrity chef. Charles and Alexis stopped by to see how Matchstick was doing. Marcela told them about bringing in a celebrity chef, but couldn’t answer Charles’ questions as to how they planned on promoting it. With Charles still in the store, Ryan said that it was impossible to find a chef on such short notice. Charles asked them what “plan B” was, but Marcela didn’t have an answer. With Charles still there, Marcela got on the phone and found a chef on her own. Dawna met with Lime PR Promotions and hired them to help design, build, and promote Primarius’s store for a cost of $30,000. When Dawna told Jim about the fee, it looked like he was about to have a heart attack. He was not happy about the way Dawna was trying to take over, but Bethenny suggested that they let her go ahead so they could put the onus on her if the task went south. At 1:30 in the morning, Matchstick gathered in their store to talk about their non-existent marketing plan. Amanda said they should have been thinking about their marketing strategy much earlier, and Marcela reminded her that she did ask for everyone’s input. “Whatever,” Amanda said as she walked away. Matchstick’s store was overcrowded with customers who heard about the great pastries that chef Jennifer Roach was preparing inside. Ryan even had to turn people away at the door. But were people buying the Tassimo machines? The answer was “no.” To help boost sales, Marcela lowered the price… two times. While Matchstick’s store was packed, not a soul could be seen inside Primarius’s location. Bethenny was ticked off that Lime PR was just sitting around eating cookies outside. Bethenny took charge to get the Lime people to blanket the city with promotional materials. Around lunchtime, traffic started to pick up and the Tassimo hot beverage machines began to sell. In the conference room, Martha asked Jim and Marcela how they felt they did. Both teams said they felt happy with their results, but then it was Charles’s turn to weigh in with the actual numbers. Matchstick sold a total of nine Tassimo machines for $1,891. Alexis gave the results for Primarius: they sold 36 systems for a total of $6,621. For their reward, Primarius flew up to Bar Harbor, Maine in a private jet for a tour of Skylands, Martha’s favorite house. Afterwards, they enjoyed a sightseeing boat-tour of the coast of Maine and a lunch prepared by Alexis herself. Jim was especially bowled over by their activities. Back at the loft, Marcela was in tears as she wondered if she was cut out for this type of interview process. “I’m a chef, I’m a mom… this is not me.” Jim thought that the others were going to “crucify” Marcela in the conference room and tried to give Marcela some words of encouragement and how to approach the upcoming meeting. Martha asked Marcela “What went wrong?” Marcela answered by taking some of the blame, but also told Martha that she never felt any support from her teammates. Amanda agreed that she did not support Marcela but only because she didn’t agree with the choices being made. Charles and Alexis weighed in, saying that they felt the team didn’t look like they were even trying to sell the product. Martha agreed that it sounded like the team was intentionally leading Marcela to the slaughter. Martha asked both Amanda and Marcela how they felt they could fit into the company. Amanda gave a roundabout answer about having a promotions background and loving to cook, decorate, and garden. She tripped over her tongue a bit when she talked about being flawed and how people like to connect with others who aren’t slick and polished all the time. Marcela got her emotions in check and gave an entirely different answer. Marcela explained her passion for food and how she would love to combine that passion with her Latino heritage to help MSLO tap into the emerging Latino market. “I don’t want to be the Mexican Martha Stewart,” she said. Looking at Martha she elaborated, “I want you to be the Mexican Martha Stewart.” When she was finished, Marcela chose Ryan and Amanda to return to the conference room. Ryan jumped in before anyone else had a chance to speak. He looked at Marcela and told her that he was insulted that she would imply that he wasn’t loyal or that he tried to sabotage the team. Martha then brought up the fact that Amanda actually said she didn’t support Marcela. Martha felt that Amanda showed a terrible sense of teamwork, something that is crucial to MSLO’s success. Because of that, Martha looked at Amanda and said “goodbye.” Martha wrote a personal letter to Amanda advising her to focus on the things that interest her.