Apprentice TV Show Star Kendra Todd
On the night she was hired as The Apprentice during a live national TV finale, Kendra Todd got only 45 minutes of sleep.
Since then, she has been averaging a mere three hours per night.
"I feel like I'm going 90 miles per hour in second gear," says the 27-year-old Boynton Beach resident. "And I'm loving it."
It has been a week since Todd, a marketing entrepreneur who owns My House Real Estate in Boynton Beach, was chosen by Donald Trump to work for his organization, overseeing the renovation of a 43,000-square-foot Trump mansion near his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
Todd says it's still hard to describe how she felt when she won the coveted $250,000-a-year gig on the popular reality show.
"There's not really one word for it," she says. "I was flattered and excited and it was truly one of the greatest moments of my life so far professionally. I couldn't be more thrilled, particularly because I get to work on an incredible $100 million mansion renovation project in Palm Beach County.
"It's my field. It's my home county. All the ingredients are there to be the ideal situation."
Todd says Trump wanted her to start right after Memorial Day, but that wasn't possible because she still has "contractual obligations" with developers that must be met for My House Real Estate.
When Todd does start her new gig in the next few weeks, she says she'll be working in Westchester, N.Y., for about three months with Carolyn Kepcher, Trump's cool-as-ice vice president and Apprentice co-star, to learn the corporate ropes.
At the moment, Todd doesn't have a job title. But she doesn't mind.
"I don't hang much on titles," she says. "I'm not really concerned what that's going to be. It's just a matter of will I be producing for the Trump Organization?"
Todd says she'll definitely be making less money than she has been running My House Real Estate.
"$250,000 is a base salary," she says. "But I think it's a heck of a base salary."
Although Todd has a new job, she's in no hurry to distance herself from her old one marketing real estate properties. She believes My House Real Estate will, in the long run, help complement the sales and marketing efforts at Trump's companies.
"I will always be a part of that company," she says. "I may not be there in body, but I will be there in spirit."
As for Tana Goertz, the spunky cosmetics saleswoman from West Des Moines, Iowa, who was the show's other finalist, Todd says she didn't get a chance to say much to her.
"I spoke to Tana briefly at the after party, but it was crazy," she says. "I was literally being pulled in different directions to be photographed and to meet people and I barely had a chance to visit with my family members and friends."
Does Todd have any thoughts on the finale's highlight: Goertz's feisty and somewhat scary rant as she was fighting to take partial credit for the wildly successful Pontiac Solstice marketing campaign?
"Everyone sees the world through different colored glasses," Todd says. "She was passionate and dynamic. I certainly gave Tana credit for coming up with the idea (for the shape of the brochure). I'm not here to try and steal the show. I honestly believe in the value of a team. I don't have an ego. I don't think a good leader should."
While in New York for two weeks — she finally returned home Wednesday morning — Todd says she realized how her life has changed.
"I couldn't walk down the street," Todd says. "Little kids would come up to me and want my autograph. That tickled me to death."
So did going on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
"I was on with Lisa Kudrow and it was so much fun," she says, giggling. "I'm a huge Friends fan and she was so down-to-earth."
Todd says she plans to do more than work for Trump. She has been writing a book for the past two years on how to manage risk. The tentative title: Over the Edge With Eyes Open. She hopes to publish it in six months.
"I just have so much going on right now," Todd says.
That includes talking with Trump and his office several times a week about her new position.
"I have an entire presentation for him already with so many great ideas," Todd says excitedly. "I'm going to put Trump on the map."
Since then, she has been averaging a mere three hours per night.
"I feel like I'm going 90 miles per hour in second gear," says the 27-year-old Boynton Beach resident. "And I'm loving it."
It has been a week since Todd, a marketing entrepreneur who owns My House Real Estate in Boynton Beach, was chosen by Donald Trump to work for his organization, overseeing the renovation of a 43,000-square-foot Trump mansion near his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
Todd says it's still hard to describe how she felt when she won the coveted $250,000-a-year gig on the popular reality show.
"There's not really one word for it," she says. "I was flattered and excited and it was truly one of the greatest moments of my life so far professionally. I couldn't be more thrilled, particularly because I get to work on an incredible $100 million mansion renovation project in Palm Beach County.
"It's my field. It's my home county. All the ingredients are there to be the ideal situation."
Todd says Trump wanted her to start right after Memorial Day, but that wasn't possible because she still has "contractual obligations" with developers that must be met for My House Real Estate.
When Todd does start her new gig in the next few weeks, she says she'll be working in Westchester, N.Y., for about three months with Carolyn Kepcher, Trump's cool-as-ice vice president and Apprentice co-star, to learn the corporate ropes.
At the moment, Todd doesn't have a job title. But she doesn't mind.
"I don't hang much on titles," she says. "I'm not really concerned what that's going to be. It's just a matter of will I be producing for the Trump Organization?"
Todd says she'll definitely be making less money than she has been running My House Real Estate.
"$250,000 is a base salary," she says. "But I think it's a heck of a base salary."
Although Todd has a new job, she's in no hurry to distance herself from her old one marketing real estate properties. She believes My House Real Estate will, in the long run, help complement the sales and marketing efforts at Trump's companies.
"I will always be a part of that company," she says. "I may not be there in body, but I will be there in spirit."
As for Tana Goertz, the spunky cosmetics saleswoman from West Des Moines, Iowa, who was the show's other finalist, Todd says she didn't get a chance to say much to her.
"I spoke to Tana briefly at the after party, but it was crazy," she says. "I was literally being pulled in different directions to be photographed and to meet people and I barely had a chance to visit with my family members and friends."
Does Todd have any thoughts on the finale's highlight: Goertz's feisty and somewhat scary rant as she was fighting to take partial credit for the wildly successful Pontiac Solstice marketing campaign?
"Everyone sees the world through different colored glasses," Todd says. "She was passionate and dynamic. I certainly gave Tana credit for coming up with the idea (for the shape of the brochure). I'm not here to try and steal the show. I honestly believe in the value of a team. I don't have an ego. I don't think a good leader should."
While in New York for two weeks — she finally returned home Wednesday morning — Todd says she realized how her life has changed.
"I couldn't walk down the street," Todd says. "Little kids would come up to me and want my autograph. That tickled me to death."
So did going on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
"I was on with Lisa Kudrow and it was so much fun," she says, giggling. "I'm a huge Friends fan and she was so down-to-earth."
Todd says she plans to do more than work for Trump. She has been writing a book for the past two years on how to manage risk. The tentative title: Over the Edge With Eyes Open. She hopes to publish it in six months.
"I just have so much going on right now," Todd says.
That includes talking with Trump and his office several times a week about her new position.
"I have an entire presentation for him already with so many great ideas," Todd says excitedly. "I'm going to put Trump on the map."
posted by kevin at 9:10 AM
1 Comments:
Kendra is a true class act. I definitely saw something special with her half way through the series. Tana says that editing played a part in her loss, but who is to say editing did not help Tana get as far as she did too.
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