He's hired: 'Apprentice' finalist makes good on his 'Trump card'

ROBIN ROGER

Herald Staff Writer

SARASOTA - Lee Bienstock wants to spread the word that young people can be successful in business. He should know.

The Brooklyn native came in second in the last season of "The Apprentice," a reality show where contestants vie for a chance to work for Donald Trump. At 22, he was the youngest on the show and, even though he got fired, things turned out all right for him.

Now 23, Bienstock works for Trump as associate vice president of corporate development for Trump Mortgage in New York City. Right after he lost to Sean Yazbeck in season five, Trump hired Bienstock to work in one of his companies.

On Wednesday, Bienstock will speak at an event hosted by the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Federation and the IMPACT Jewish Professionals Group.

The event, held at Michael's on East in Sarasota, will begin at 11:30 a.m. and will include lunch. Tickets cost $36 per person. For information, call 371-4546, or visit www.smjf.org.

We talked with Bienstock by phone about how the show changed his life.

What will you focus on in your talk?

Networking and tapping into various networks. I network through Cornell alumni and, almost on a daily basis, through my Jewish network.

Whether it be a book club, sports endeavors, this is where relationships are built. Business is all about relationships but you rarely see a relationship built in a boardroom.

I had the opportunity to go golfing with Donald Trump and I got to see how he is as a person in the real world. That's really the key to business.

What is he like in person?

He's pretty tough. When he calls us a fool he means it. But he jokes around with people.

There will be parts when we're all cracking up and he says, "Now we need to be serious," and he'll put on that scowl.

He's very driven in that he wants you to deliver on what you say you're going to deliver. If he likes you, you're golden. He's a good guy - he'll look out for you. If he doesn't like you, you're finished.

What is it like working for "The Donald"?

It's a ball. It's really for specific personality types - fast-moving, ambitious, go-getters.

Everyone is expecting me to perform at the same level I did on the show. Otherwise I get fired twice.

You see a lot of reality shows that seem to be scripted, or orchestrated to produce a predictable outcome. How real is the show?

Obviously it's edited from hours down to 42 minutes, but none of it is scripted.

They will never say "Lee, can you do this? Can you say this again?" It's just like when you play the telephone game in kindergarten. Some of it gets lost in translation. Some of it gets whittled down.

What did you get out of it?

Over the course of those 16 tasks, I was learning and growing every time. I was learning how to work with difficult people, marketing, sales, strategy, leadership. It was like an MBA times 10 in the tenth of the time.

Why do you think you were so successful on the show?

Change comes from younger people and I think it's so much easier to stimulate growth in younger people. On the show I had no idea that the way I was approaching a specific task was not the way things were done. It ended up being a huge positive for me.

What advice would you give future Apprentice contestants?

Be yourself. If you're not yourself, you're going to get crushed. You're there because they know who you are.

Be real and understand that it's pretty real. Trump is watching - he knows everything.

What's the best piece of advice your mother ever gave you?

Why not you?

It was drilled into me from such an early age. She would say if somebody else is going to be class president, why not you? If somebody's going to be put on that show, why not you?

That's something I'm constantly reminded of when I think I can't do it. No matter who you are - it's a philosophy.

What was your first job?

Shoveling snow. I got duped. I was 10 or 11 and I went to someone's driveway. They said, "We need you to shovel the entire driveway." They gave me $20.

I shoveled for seven hours to dig out this guy's car. I couldn't move the next day. It made me realize the value of the dollar.