Trump's $250,000 bill
He has cameos on the new season of The Apprentice, but prime-time television isn't the only place to catch Bill Rancic dispensing business advice. The winner of the original contest's prize--a $250,000 job managing the construction of a 90-story high-rise in Chicago for Donald Trump--has also written You're Hired: How to Succeed in Business and Life, a memoir-cum-business manual for, Rancic says, people who tend to avoid business books.
A lot of Apprentice players are getting on the publishing bandwagon. How will you fare?
Winning the show should give me a slight advantage. Wait, how many other books are coming out? Who else wrote one?
Trump has another one coming out. Apprentice alums Carolyn Kepcher, Amy, Kwame, and Omarosa --maybe even George Ross all have publishing deals.
Oy yoy yoy. I guess the American people will have to decide. Mine's a fun book. I think. I mean, you're the first person I've talked to who actually read the whole thing all the way through. What did you think of it? Do you think people will like it?
People might want to know what's in your grandmother's pancakes. You say her friends paid you $5 a plate for pancakes in your first entrepreneurial venture at age 10.
I promised my grandmother, God rest her soul, I would take her recipe to the grave.
What are you actually doing day to day?
It's still a lot of learning, a lot of meetings. Whether it's a $700 million project or waxing boats in the summer, the fundamentals of business never really change.
So, your big picture?
I want to continue building. I keep saying I want to be doing deals with Donald Trump, not for him. And I really do see that as a possibility.
Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts plans to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. What can you learn from that?
That's a small part of his portfolio. That's the beauty of being Donald Trump.
You once said that Omarosa was on her 17th minute of fame. What number are you approaching?
I'm going to be in Season 2. When my time is up, though, I'm going to exit gracefully. I'm not going to be one of those people clawing to stay in the spotlight. -Rachel Dry
This story appears in the September 20, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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