Episode Recap: Week One (September 21)
About Martha We began this new journey at a country estate - Martha Stewart's own home. Martha explained how she started her first business venture, a catering business, right in her own kitchen. In 1982, Martha wrote her first book called "Entertaining." In 1987, she signed a deal with Kmart. By the time her magazine was published in 1990, Martha Stewart was a household name. Ultimately, Martha took control of her "brand" and formed her own company. Martha soon became the first self-made female billionaire. Introduction So who better than Martha to advise 16 new "apprentices"? She was looking for a team player with big, creative ideas. Martha met the candidates in a conference room at the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. headquarters, the same conference room where eliminations would take place. In fact, the candidates' living quarters were actually on the same floor...right down the hall from Martha's office! Martha greeted the candidates and introduced her two lieutenants: Alexis Stewart (Martha's daughter) and Charles Koppelman, Chairman of the Board. Alexis and Charles would be Martha's eyes and ears on tasks, but Martha would make the ultimate decision on which candidate(s) would be eliminated each week. Martha told the group she wanted them to have fun, but also to succeed. Then, she wished them luck and sent them on to their fabulous suite. Once they got over their impressive new surroundings, the candidates toasted to Martha. Soon they discovered a letter from Martha explaining their "first order of business." They had to divide into two teams with common ground. The first task, they learned, would begin the next day. First things first...cheese platter and conversation. Everyone wanted to know more about Bethenny's connection to Charles. She revealed that she also dated Charles's son! The other candidates seemed divided on whether that would count in Bethenny's favor or not. Next, it was on to picking teams. First things first...cheese platter and conversation. Everyone wanted to know more about Bethenny's connection to Charles. She revealed that she also dated Charles's son! The other candidates seemed divided on whether that would count in Bethenny's favor or not. Next, it was on to picking teams. The Task The next morning, Martha called and instructed the teams to meet her in the lobby of Random House Publishing for their first task. First, Martha learned the new team names. The "creatives" were now called Matchstick and Jeff was their project manager. The "corporates" were now known as Primarius and were being led by Dawna in the first challenge. But what was the challenge? Martha explained that each team would be adapting, designing and publishing a children's book. Each team would select a well-known "fairytale" and modernize it for today's audience. The teams would have access to a Random House illustrator and designer. The finished books would be read to a group of first graders. Based on the kids' reactions and the book itself, Random House executives would declare the winner. The key to this task, according to Martha, was knowing how to connect with the target audience. "Making a connection with the customer," she said, "is essential to the success of a business." Pretty quickly Primarius decided on adapting "Jack and the Beanstalk" for their project. Dawna was a little unnerved by what she felt was her team's lack of professionalism during the brainstorming session. Everyone was screaming out ideas and sort of doing their own thing. Dawna split the team up into two groups and assigned them tasks. Over in the Dr. Seuss Conference Room, Matchstick wasn't really working as a team. Jeff pitched a modern-day Hansel & Gretel idea and then pretty much rejected any other suggestions. Dawn was nominated to write, since she had a publishing background. She was up for it, but requested some peace and quiet to work in. Peace and quiet? Not gonna happen. Jeff wound up having to isolate Dawn from the group so she could focus on the text. Meanwhile, Primarius was already reading a draft of their story to a test audience they recruited off the street. Matchstick listened while Jeff read a first draft of their story. The story did rhyme, but over time, the group felt it dark and not prime. A lot of the team members voiced their concerns about the message of the story, but Jeff literally told them to "shut up." After a sleepless night, the illustrations came in and the teams were thrilled. Jeff wanted Dawn to read the story to the group, but Dawn wanted to grab a quick snack first. This irked the others. Then Dawn suggested she sit on the floor with the kids to read, but Jeff told her they "did not need her to be likable to the audience." Dawn disagreed and ultimately Jeff replaced her with Shawn - who has a public speaking background. The story, a complicated retelling about Hansel & Gretel sneaking away from home and changing their names, didn't go over so well with either the kids or the execs. Howie read "Jack and the Beanstalk" for Primarius. In their version, Jack doesn't climb up the beanstalk; instead he went down into the ocean to find a treasure. The kids clapped and cheered when Howie was finished. The Winning Team Afterwards, both teams regrouped with Random House and Martha to hear the feedback. Matchstick was credited for their great use of illustrations. They also got an "A" for effort on having the text rhyme; however, the execs didn't think it paid off enough in the story to be totally effective. As for "Jack and the Beanstalk," the Random House folks thought the new twist on the classic tale (having Jack go down instead of up) was inspired. The quality of the book and its unique touches were also a plus. While Random House was impressed with both efforts, they named Primarius as the winner of the challenge. Martha invited the winning team to dinner provided by a private sushi chef. They used the time to get to know each other - very valuable during this competition. Meanwhile, back at the loft, Jeff began to rally the team against Dawn. The Conference Room The next day, Martha, Alex and Charles met Matchstick in the conference room to discuss elimination. She started by telling the team her personal issues with their Hansel & Gretel book. Martha's issues were similar to a lot of the team members' early concerns. Martha flat out told Jeff she didn't like the story and felt it sent the wrong message to the kids. After much discussion, during which team members pitted Dawn against Jeff, Martha asked Jeff to pick two team members who he felt contributed to their loss. Jeff chose Dawn and Jim. Martha sent everyone out of the room while she conferred with Alexis and Charles. Charles felt it was simple: Jeff didn't connect with his audience. Alexis thought Dawn seemed disagreeable. When Dawn, Jim and Jeff returned, Martha let them speak for themselves. Jeff called Jim "disruptive" which kicked off a finger-pointing match. Ultimately, Martha said it was about a quality product, a trustworthy message and a connection with the consumer. Since Jeff, as project manager, didn't connect...he also didn't fit in and was let go.Source: http://www.nbc.com/The_Apprentice:_Martha_Stewart/recaps/week1_p1.shtml
About Martha We began this new journey at a country estate - Martha Stewart's own home. Martha explained how she started her first business venture, a catering business, right in her own kitchen. In 1982, Martha wrote her first book called "Entertaining." In 1987, she signed a deal with Kmart. By the time her magazine was published in 1990, Martha Stewart was a household name. Ultimately, Martha took control of her "brand" and formed her own company. Martha soon became the first self-made female billionaire. Introduction So who better than Martha to advise 16 new "apprentices"? She was looking for a team player with big, creative ideas. Martha met the candidates in a conference room at the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. headquarters, the same conference room where eliminations would take place. In fact, the candidates' living quarters were actually on the same floor...right down the hall from Martha's office! Martha greeted the candidates and introduced her two lieutenants: Alexis Stewart (Martha's daughter) and Charles Koppelman, Chairman of the Board. Alexis and Charles would be Martha's eyes and ears on tasks, but Martha would make the ultimate decision on which candidate(s) would be eliminated each week. Martha told the group she wanted them to have fun, but also to succeed. Then, she wished them luck and sent them on to their fabulous suite. Once they got over their impressive new surroundings, the candidates toasted to Martha. Soon they discovered a letter from Martha explaining their "first order of business." They had to divide into two teams with common ground. The first task, they learned, would begin the next day. First things first...cheese platter and conversation. Everyone wanted to know more about Bethenny's connection to Charles. She revealed that she also dated Charles's son! The other candidates seemed divided on whether that would count in Bethenny's favor or not. Next, it was on to picking teams. First things first...cheese platter and conversation. Everyone wanted to know more about Bethenny's connection to Charles. She revealed that she also dated Charles's son! The other candidates seemed divided on whether that would count in Bethenny's favor or not. Next, it was on to picking teams. The Task The next morning, Martha called and instructed the teams to meet her in the lobby of Random House Publishing for their first task. First, Martha learned the new team names. The "creatives" were now called Matchstick and Jeff was their project manager. The "corporates" were now known as Primarius and were being led by Dawna in the first challenge. But what was the challenge? Martha explained that each team would be adapting, designing and publishing a children's book. Each team would select a well-known "fairytale" and modernize it for today's audience. The teams would have access to a Random House illustrator and designer. The finished books would be read to a group of first graders. Based on the kids' reactions and the book itself, Random House executives would declare the winner. The key to this task, according to Martha, was knowing how to connect with the target audience. "Making a connection with the customer," she said, "is essential to the success of a business." Pretty quickly Primarius decided on adapting "Jack and the Beanstalk" for their project. Dawna was a little unnerved by what she felt was her team's lack of professionalism during the brainstorming session. Everyone was screaming out ideas and sort of doing their own thing. Dawna split the team up into two groups and assigned them tasks. Over in the Dr. Seuss Conference Room, Matchstick wasn't really working as a team. Jeff pitched a modern-day Hansel & Gretel idea and then pretty much rejected any other suggestions. Dawn was nominated to write, since she had a publishing background. She was up for it, but requested some peace and quiet to work in. Peace and quiet? Not gonna happen. Jeff wound up having to isolate Dawn from the group so she could focus on the text. Meanwhile, Primarius was already reading a draft of their story to a test audience they recruited off the street. Matchstick listened while Jeff read a first draft of their story. The story did rhyme, but over time, the group felt it dark and not prime. A lot of the team members voiced their concerns about the message of the story, but Jeff literally told them to "shut up." After a sleepless night, the illustrations came in and the teams were thrilled. Jeff wanted Dawn to read the story to the group, but Dawn wanted to grab a quick snack first. This irked the others. Then Dawn suggested she sit on the floor with the kids to read, but Jeff told her they "did not need her to be likable to the audience." Dawn disagreed and ultimately Jeff replaced her with Shawn - who has a public speaking background. The story, a complicated retelling about Hansel & Gretel sneaking away from home and changing their names, didn't go over so well with either the kids or the execs. Howie read "Jack and the Beanstalk" for Primarius. In their version, Jack doesn't climb up the beanstalk; instead he went down into the ocean to find a treasure. The kids clapped and cheered when Howie was finished. The Winning Team Afterwards, both teams regrouped with Random House and Martha to hear the feedback. Matchstick was credited for their great use of illustrations. They also got an "A" for effort on having the text rhyme; however, the execs didn't think it paid off enough in the story to be totally effective. As for "Jack and the Beanstalk," the Random House folks thought the new twist on the classic tale (having Jack go down instead of up) was inspired. The quality of the book and its unique touches were also a plus. While Random House was impressed with both efforts, they named Primarius as the winner of the challenge. Martha invited the winning team to dinner provided by a private sushi chef. They used the time to get to know each other - very valuable during this competition. Meanwhile, back at the loft, Jeff began to rally the team against Dawn. The Conference Room The next day, Martha, Alex and Charles met Matchstick in the conference room to discuss elimination. She started by telling the team her personal issues with their Hansel & Gretel book. Martha's issues were similar to a lot of the team members' early concerns. Martha flat out told Jeff she didn't like the story and felt it sent the wrong message to the kids. After much discussion, during which team members pitted Dawn against Jeff, Martha asked Jeff to pick two team members who he felt contributed to their loss. Jeff chose Dawn and Jim. Martha sent everyone out of the room while she conferred with Alexis and Charles. Charles felt it was simple: Jeff didn't connect with his audience. Alexis thought Dawn seemed disagreeable. When Dawn, Jim and Jeff returned, Martha let them speak for themselves. Jeff called Jim "disruptive" which kicked off a finger-pointing match. Ultimately, Martha said it was about a quality product, a trustworthy message and a connection with the consumer. Since Jeff, as project manager, didn't connect...he also didn't fit in and was let go.