I know that technically Fayetteville resident Kelly Smith Beaty has already made her television debut in the previous episodes of “The Apprentice,” but last night’s episode marked her coming out of her shell party and it couldn’t have gone any better.
The task had the two teams staging fashion shows for Rockport Shoes and the women had to stage a fashion show featuring male models. Project manager Stephanie knew that Kelly had experience with fashion shows and put her front and center on the creative side of things. She flourished. The models were dressed nicely, she gave them instructions on what to do (‘Think Walkability! ‘Think Shock Absorbency!’) on the walkway and her idea for a grand finale was a hit. She came up with the idea of putting the models in black boxer briefs at the end, leaving them in nothing but the underwear and the shoes. It was a gamble, one she doubted quickly after saying it, but it paid off big time.
The women crushed the men who were bogged down by Gene, the MC, reading (poorly) a laptop screen during the fashion show and generally mucking things up. It was such a blowout that the women were only in front of Trump for a second before he hammered away at the guys.
In the end, Gene and project manager Wade were fired. Once again, David looked like an idiot and does not appear to be long for the show.
I had been clamoring for Kelly to become a presence on the show and hoping it would be a sane and non-annoying one. She came through and did her hometown proud.
Next week the teams need to provide riding tours of New York City. David dresses like a gladiator and looks like he is a huge embarrassment. Please let it be the week he goes home.
Thing I learned about business from this week’s episode: When you know you have a task that is in your wheelhouse, go for the home run! Kelly exhibited confidence throughout and looked like a star player on the winning team. It (hopefully) built up some goodwill with her teammates that won’t be forgotten easily in the coming weeks.
