Carolyn 101: Business Lessons from The Apprentice's Straight Shooter by Carolyn Kepcher, Donald J. Trump, and Stephen Fenichell

 Carolyn 101 by Carolyn/ Fenichell, Stephen Kepcher (Hardcover - Oct 30, 2004)

Amazon.com Review

Smart, direct, precise. These are adjectives viewers of NBC's hit reality show, The Apprentice might use to describe Donald Trump's left-hand woman, Carolyn Kepcher. Kepcher is a tough judge who can make or break hopeful contestants vying to get hired by Trump. In Carolyn 101, readers find a respected business executive and familial leading lady. Kepcher's personal stories draw an entertaining and inspiring picture of a scrappy, former waitress and restaurant manager, with a no-holds-barred approach to getting hired and succeeding in a mostly male-dominated environment in New Jersey--and, eventually, in The Trump Organization.In Carolyn 101, Kepcher describes how she successfully synthesized her learned-on-the-job business acumen and motherhood duties to become a respected leader in the Trump empire. Plus, readers will love the snippets Kepcher shows of her famous boss, including his empathy to her personal life and foresight in choosing Kepcher for a management role at the age of 25: "I was twenty-five, a woman, and had never run a golf club in my life. But since Donald Trump trusted that I could handle it, I trusted myself to handle it."
It's clear from Carolyn 101 that Kepcher is a renaissance woman through and through. She balances the demands of the show, her job, and home-life, making her success that much more impressive. Those joining the workforce or already in the trenches will appreciate the firm advice she offers through personal stories and short blurbs dotting the pages, like this gem: "When someone hands you an opportunity, don't be afraid to take it." Case in point: Carolyn Kepcher, EVP and COO, The Trump Organization. --E. Brooke Gilbert --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

People familiar with Kepcher's stern demeanor and grim expressions on Trump's reality TV show will be pleasantly surprised by her sense of humor and her solid career advice. There are plenty of "the Donald" stories, but Kepcher's focuses on practical workplace strategies, from behaving and dressing appropriately in everyday situations to managing difficult bosses, handling office romances, firing employees and more. Kepcher serves up information confidently and unpretentiously, drawing on her own experiences, such as her travails with a nightmare boss when she first joined Trump's empire. These anecdotes yield aphorisms ("If your boss is a bully, you're probably stronger than he is"), which in turn add up to the curriculum–like title. Although some of Kepcher's comments about women using their appearances to get ahead may rankle, her suggestions on interview and résumé protocol, and on asking for a raise, ring true. Following Bill Rancic's You're Hired, this second book to emerge from The Apprentice this season manages to do what it needs to do.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"On all levels, Carolyn is an incredible woman. She has a great story to be told that will be inspiring to women and men."-- Donald Trump


"People familiar with Kepcher's stern demeanor and grim expressions on Trump's reality TV show will be pleasantly surprised by her sense of humor and her solid career advice."
-- Publishers Weekly
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

Known to the millions of viewers of the hit reality television show The Apprentice, Carolyn Kepcher attracted enormous media attention for her cool demeanor and her no-holds-barred assessments of the show's candidates in the boardroom each week. In Carolyn 101, the woman Donald Trump has described as a "killer" businesswoman reveals the secrets of her success.Geared toward those just entering the workforce or seasoned employees looking to distinguish themselves, Kepcher's book provides readers with guidance for their professional lives. Illustrating her advice with examples taken from her own career, she shows them how to:

• ace an interview
• deal with a difficult boss
• maintain a healthy balance between work and home life
• spot potential business opportunities
• be a strong team member or team leader

Straightforward and inspirational, Carolyn 101 shows ambitious professionals what they need to do to get ahead and take their own careers even further than they had imagined.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Carolyn Kepcher is an Executive Vice President with The Trump Organization and the COO of Trump National Golf Clubs in New York and New Jersey. She has worked for The Trump Organization for nearly ten years and costars with her boss, Donald Trump, on the hit reality television series The Apprentice. She lives with her husband and two children in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Stephen Fenichell is the author of Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century and Other People's Money, as well as the coauthor of Passport to Profits with Mark Mobius and A New Brand World with Scott Bedbury. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.