With an MBA from The UCLA Anderson School and a JD from the UCLA
Law School, Kelly Perdew knows the meaning of hard work. But as
only the winner of the second season of “The
Apprentice” would know, going from Bruin Walk to Wall Street
takes more than a little determination and good luck. Now
he’s running a Trump building project and looking to one day
upgrade his own apprentice status, as long as he can continue to
keep the Donald from uttering those two famous words.
dB: What made you apply for “The Apprentice
2″?
KP: The level of exposure and what I could learn from Mr. Trump.
He’s a really powerful person, and it has been a phenomenal
opportunity to meet all these different people along the way.
dB: How is it to work with Trump? Is he really all
he’s cracked up to be?
KP: I’ve only been working full-time for a week, but
I’ve had the chance to meet with him about three or four
times now. His record speaks for itself, especially from a real
estate standpoint.
dB: How much control has he given you, in terms of making
decisions and calling the shots?
KP: Well, it takes a while whenever you get into a new job. You
don’t just walk right in and know how to do everything.
I’ve been working with George on a building located on 40
Wall Street that holds about 1 million square feet of office space,
and I’ve never done commercial real estate, so I’m
really learning the organization.
dB: Going to both the Anderson School of Business and the
Law school here at the same time must have kept you on your
toes.
KP: It was pretty difficult to take five years and cram it all
into four. I knew I didn’t want to be a lawyer, so I
definitely tried to network more at the business school than at the
law school.
dB: Speaking of cramming a lot into a little, people
complain about the editing on reality TV shows. How was it to watch
yourself on television?
KP: Very strange. I never saw the edited version until they were
aired on television, so it was as new for me as it was for
anyone.
dB: And do you feel that you were accurately
portrayed?
KP: They want you to play a character. They didn’t really
show much of the joking side of Kelly, it was mostly all this
“˜just business’ Kelly. I can’t complain
though.
dB: So you and Trump are best friends now?
KP: I do actually have quite a bit of access. I mean, the
guy’s a billionaire, so any opportunity to work with him is
great. I was home for the holidays, and I actually called him from
my own cell phone.
dB: And are your friends jealous that you have Donald Trump
on your speed-dial?
KP: No, my friends are pretty supportive.
dB: How does getting on “The Apprentice” compare
to applying for jobs in the real world?
KP: You can take a lot of things that occur on these shows and
apply them to a real interview for any job. But you can’t
take people away for weeks at a time and really test their skills
(like they do on “The Apprentice”).
dB: It’s a successful strategy. Do you think the same
strategy will work again, seeing as the third season of “The
Apprentice” airs this week?
KP: I think that the new season is going to be a really good
show. They are taking characters that people can really identify
with from all walks of life, especially on this third season. Trump
values an education, but nothing beats experience. The net worth of
having street smarts is three times as important as book smarts
when it comes down to it. The best is to have both.
dB: Do you have any advice for young UCLA students looking
to be just as successful as yourself?
KP: I would say just be yourself. There’s no way you can
fake it in life; you have to do what makes you happy.