EPISODE SEVEN

Kevin and Andy returned to the suite, letting all of the other candidates know that John had been fired. In an interview, Wes said that people would now think twice about bringing Andy into the boardroom, as he had survived the experience twice. With the firing behind them, the two teams sat down to dinner together - and then the phone rang. It was Mr. Trump's office and he wanted to see everyone back downstairs, immediately. The candidates left their half-finished plates and headed back to the boardroom.

Once the teams arrived, Trump instructed them to name their Project Managers right then and there; the two teams had just seconds to confer and reach a decision. Jennifer M. became Project Manager of Apex while Wes led Mosaic. Then Trump threw the big curve ball and announced that there would be a "corporate restructuring." He said that each Project Manager would have to pick three people to trade away to the other team. Jennifer M. gave up Sandy, Maria and Stacy R. while Wes let go Raj, Chris and Kevin. That meant the new Apex was Jennifer M., Ivana, Elizabeth, Raj, Chris and Kevin. The new Mosaic became Wes, Andy, Kelly, Sandy, Maria and Stacy R. Trump commented that some people might feel badly about being given up by their teams - but Trump said "That's life and that's business, so deal with it." He added, "Now is the time to really prove yourself." And with that, Trump sent the rearranged teams upstairs. In an interview, Sandy said that she really looked forward to beating Apex - and making Jennifer M. regret her decision to trade Sandy.

Back in the suite, Wes wanted to get to know his new team members a little bit better. Wes told Stacy R. that what he knew about her was that she was good at arguing and asking questions. And with that, Stacy R. launched into a series of questions. In an interview, Wes said, "Stacy can't shut up." Wes worried about the negative impact of Stacy R. asking too many questions. He said that asking too many questions can waste time and lead you to second-guess yourself. On Apex, Jennifer M. got to know her new team members. In an interview, Chris, who has only a high school education, said he knew that Jennifer M., who has degrees from both Princeton and Harvard, is intelligent and by-the-book. Chris said, "She just doesn't believe in guys like me. I think that everything about me is just something that she doesn't like."

The next day, the two teams met with Trump in Central Park, where they learned that for their next task they would have to create a dog service business - any business related to dogs. The team with the most profits would be the winner. The losing team would be back in the boardroom where another candidate would be fired. For this task, Carolyn and Trump's Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg, would observe.

Jennifer M., Apex's Project Manager, decided to keep things simple and offer a dog washing service. Half of the team would wash the dogs while the other half tried to drum up business by letting the dog owners know about their "doggie makeovers." However, Raj didn't think things were going so well. He said that half of the dogs didn't want to be washed and the owners of the other half didn't have any cash on them. Raj was frustrated and suggested splitting up the team to create another dog washing location to increase sales. But Jennifer M. shot that idea down. She thought it was important to keep half of the team members on promoting the single dog washing location. Raj predicted that this strategy would lead the team down the "path to defeat and doom."

Wes, Mosaic's Project Manager, decided that the team should donate part of their proceeds to charity; he felt that dog owners were generous people and would be more likely to get their dogs washed if some of the money would go to help a worthy cause. But after spending hours on the phone to get the New York City Fire Department on board, the team was told they could not use them as their charitable organization partner. In an interview, Stacy R. said she was frustrated that the team wasted two hours on a "dead end." She declared that, "Our failure is solely attributed to Wes." Even after the setback, Wes still felt that partnering with a charity would be a good strategy, so he asked Andy to find another one. Andy used one of the team's two cell phones to call around - and he finally found a cat shelter, Kitty Kind, to partner with. But when Andy and Kelly met up with Maria, they realized that Andy had left the cell phone in a cab that was long gone. Kelly called this a "critical mistake" and said that losing one of the team's cell phones would severely limit what the team could do. For example, he said that the team could no longer split into two groups that could communicate. Kelly wondered what kind of effect this one error would have on the team's bottom line.
 

On Apex, Raj again went to Jennifer M. and suggested that a few people split away from the group and try to earn some money at another location. This time, Jennifer M. agreed. So, Chris and Ivana headed out to offer doggie massages. Chris wasn't excited about the idea, to say the least. In an interview, Chris said, "I'm really not too keen on going up to a stranger and asking them if I can massage their dog. Friggin' nuts." Chris said that if anyone came up to him offering to massage his dog, he would think about kicking them in the head. But Chris took one for the team and rubbed dogs for a dollar a minute. However, Chris called the experience "degrading" and "embarrassing." Apex also expanded into doggie nail clipping. While Kevin did his best to hold yelping and growling dogs, Jennifer M. clipped away.

Mosaic set up a doggie makeover station near a dog run to wash dogs. However, Kelly felt that they had gotten a late start on the day and missed some revenue opportunity. Stacy R. and Wes went out to promote, but felt they weren't getting many customers. Stacy R. suggested dressing people's dogs up in costumes and taking their picture with the team's instant camera. Wes said that the idea didn't make any sense from a cost recovery standpoint. Stacy R. thought that the team needed to invest money to make money. Wes said the doggie outfits were too expensive and so he killed the idea.. Back at Mosaic's Makeover Station, Sandy and Kelly washed dogs both big and small. Sandy said she was annoyed that Stacy R. never offered to relieve her or even bring her something to drink.

At the end of the day, Chris from Apex thought that the results would be close. Wes, Project Manager of Mosaic, thought that anything could happen. That night, the members of Apex washed off the dog hair and went out to dinner together. Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening and Kevin said that they "blew off some steam." But in an interview, Ivana said, "If we lose this task today, it'll be Jen's fault. Jen doesn't know how to draw the line between being a team member and being a team leader."

The next day, all of the candidates arrived at the boardroom to hear the results of the task. Carolyn announced that while Mosaic had a late start, the team did "okay" and pulled in a profit of $122.12. Allen said that Apex was well diversified - both in terms of location and services - and earned a profit of $307.41. As the winning team, Apex would get to meet with Michael Bloomberg, the current Mayor of New York City.

Apex enjoyed their reward of meeting with the Mayor. Raj said that a reward that involves acquiring knowledge is far better than an expensive meal. Back at the suite, Wes talked with Kelly and Stacy R. Wes said he counted on Andy for creative ideas, but on this task, he didn't deliver. In an interview, Stacy R. said, "Wes failed as Project Manager. He made some very wrong decisions that cost us our victory. And he's going to be fired tonight."

That night, Mosaic assembled in the boardroom. Maria, who was exempt from being fired, said that the problem boiled down to leadership. Kelly said there was a problem with slow decisions from Wes that cost the team some precious time. Sandy said that the team didn't get enough traffic and Trump suggested that the problem was their location. Wes said he thought about splitting the team up and trying another location but that he couldn't because Andy had lost a team cell phone and there would have been no way to communicate with the two separate groups. Trump turned to Andy and said that he'd been sticking up for him but that Andy had "sorta been a disaster." Andy disagreed, saying that on this task, he closed more deals than anyone. Andy also said that he landed the charity the team worked with, which led to at least 75% of their dog washes. But Trump was unimpressed with the cat charity, Kitty Kind. He thought it wasn't a good fit because the team was trying to sell to dog owners. Kelly said that he'd rather work with Wes than Andy because he can count on Wes. Stacy said that she would fire Andy. Andy said he would fire Wes. Finally, Wes chose to bring Andy and Stacy R. back into the boardroom to face the firing with him.

With just his advisors, Trump asked for input. Carolyn didn't have kind words for anyone. She said Stacy R. didn't produce; Andy was all over the place and Wes was somewhat of a poor leader. Allen thought that Andy losing the cell phone was a big mistake and he said that Stacy R. didn't really produce. Wes, Andy and Stacy R. returned to the boardroom where Wes said that Stacy R. wasted time with a bad idea. Carolyn questioned what Stacy R. contributed to the team. Trump said that Wes did a lousy job as a Project Manager and that Andy made a terrible mistake by destroying the team's ability to communicate. But Trump said he was tired of Stacy R. complaining. He was tired of her never taking responsibility for anything. He also said that she couldn't sell her idea to Wes. He said that you can't blame the Project Manager when you're unsuccessful in getting your point across. And with that, Trump said, "Stacy, you're fired."

Team Apex Team Mosaic