How Ambition Transforms Struggle into Success

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 I'm Alexandra King and I'm the host of 
Beyond the Boardroom podcast. In this episode,

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I'm interviewing winner of the 
BBC Apprentice, Mark Wright,

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who went on to sell his business for 
millions. We're going to cover just how

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he did it. What tactics did he use? How did 
he get by all the snakes in the boardroom?

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Make sure you tune in. And you'll find out.

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So 2014, you won BBC, The Apprentice. 
And I would say against all odds watching

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that series. So I'm going to jump right in 
there. Like, how did you actually win? How?

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That's a very good question. I would,

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I would challenge the fact against all odds. I 
think I, I want it almost easily. Um, but, uh,

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I would say getting onto the apprentice is the 
hard part, not, uh, winning it once you're on.

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You've just got to impress Alan Sugar. And I 
was in series 10, which had 20 contestants,

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not normally the 14 or 16 that that this format 
normally has. So I had, I was one of 20 that was

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better than one of 75, 000. That's trying out. 
If you're one of 75, 000, you're a needle in a

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haystack. Once you're in front of Alan Sugar in 
the boardroom, you can impress your personality.

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You can impress your acumen. He can see 
you. Debating and getting challenged,

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challenging other people. And what I noticed 
really quickly when I got into the boardroom

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is Alan Sugar was looking to see who the other 
contestants look to for information when he does

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this really clever thing where he, instead 
of directing a question to one individual,

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he asks the group and it's really, 
it is psychologically genius.

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And then the group looks to the leader 
because human beings are all by nature.

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We, we follow the leader. We were like 
sheep. We, we, we, we, we can, you know,

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when you're in the presence of a strong person, 
let's say, you know, when the boss is here and,

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uh, it, you, you can go into it, a house or 
an environment called the apprentice and.

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The leaders start emerging amongst the pack 
just over time. It's just human nature. It's,

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it's, it's how all things are since the 
dormant dawn of time. And they know this,

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the apprentice production team know this. 
So they asked the group questions and the

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group looks to individuals. 
To say, no, we did do good.

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We could have done that better. And he's 
going, that's the one in that team. That's

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the one in that one. That one's pretty good. And 
out of 20 in my group, there was three that were

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really sharp. Uh, a girl called Roisin, a lady 
called Bianca, uh, and myself. And, uh, I mean,

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we were, I want to say 15 fold, uh, at an acumen 
above the rest of the group in terms of business.

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Uh, ability, and they were the only 
other two I was worried about that

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were seriously competitive from a, 
from a business acumen perspective.

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Okay. So you feel that you want 
it because you felt this inner

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confidence of sort of placing yourself, you know,

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in the top three already. You kind of felt 
instinctively that actually I'm, I'm quite good.

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And then you felt like a leader and 
you were receptive to the fact that

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others saw you as a leader. So 
this was just sort of happening

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before you even went anywhere near 
winning the process. Is that right?

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I could feel that, uh, the other contestants 
were starting to see me as a, as a threat. Uh,

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they would, they would be in the threat category.

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And I felt I was at, there was one moment, 
a pivotal moment in about week two or three

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in the boardroom. And there was a lady 
in our, in the other team. And we went

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in and she said to Lord sugar, I'm really 
struggling, uh, in this process. You know,

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I'm a swimming coach. I'm a swimming 
teacher. This is a bit too difficult.

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Basically. I'm struggling being away 
from home yard. And I said to her.

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That is absolutely ridiculous. You've 
taken someone's spot here and you can't

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hack it. And I looked over and Alan Sugar was 
smiling and I realized the way to his heart,

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the way to impress yourself on him, the more 
vicious you are, the more you got on the others,

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the more he was thinking, this is 
a person I can do business with.

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This is a person that can 
handle being in business.

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We'll get on to that. We're 
going to get onto that topic. Um,

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I don't even know where to start with 
answering that one, but let's, let's,

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let's go back to, to what the viewers 
observed in, in that 2014 series. Because

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there were moments throughout that you, 
you might've felt confident and whatever,

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I obviously believe that you were felt confident, 
but you did come across as nervous sometimes.

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Do you think that's fair?

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Yeah, I think that's very fair. And there was 
times I was nervous, particularly in, in week one,

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in the first task, because everything's new. The 
people are new being on TV. I'd never been on TV

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before the production, having to walk through a 
door seven times. is all stuff that's just, I'd

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not experienced having a microphone all the time, 
having cameras, uh, and the chance of being fired.

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My biggest fear was being fired first, being the 
first person to go. Cause that sort of is like,

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I've quit my job. I've given up my flat. 
Uh, I've put my whole life on the line

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here. And then I'm out the door after a day, 
it feels really not so great. So that was a

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big fear. And then in about week 10, I had an 
incident where I, uh, I got like stage fright,

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I was doing a speech at Tesco's and I opened my 
mouth and no words came out and I'd, I got myself

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into the situation by saying to the project 
manager, you know, I'm the best salesman.

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You don't leave your prize pony in the 
stable. You know, when you go to the races,

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let me do the pitch. So they let me do the pitch 
and I butchered it. I absolutely made a meal

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of it and I thought I was going to get fired. 
And, and that, that I was pretty nervous then.

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What did you learn from that?

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I learned that when you're vulnerable and when 
you're, uh, honest, uh, good things still happen.

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I always thought as a young man, you had to 
be number one. You had to win at all costs.

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You always had to be first. You always had to be 
the strongest. And that moment at Tesco's really

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exposed me. I'd never got stage fright before. 
Not only did we lose, I lost us the task. And

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then we went into the boardroom and I had an 
option where I could say, do you know what?

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It wasn't my fault in the pitch. The product 
was really bad and I could push the blame

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onto our sub team. And instead I said, I 
messed this up. I, I took the pitch on,

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I messed the pitch up and I cost us this 
task. And that is the point where I gave

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him the opportunity to fire me. I put all of 
the blame for the whole situation on myself.

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So everyone that could have been edited 
up so nice as this. This guy's done it.

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I've taken all of the blame. See you 
later. But I think in that moment,

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being a hundred percent honest, you know, 
taking all the responsibility showed him

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here is a business person that is tough. That 
is a good sales person, but is also honest.

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And can take responsibility. So it showed 
maybe I was the, a more complete picture.

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That's definitely a really strong side that 
you showed. I mean, it's, it's horrible to

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work with people just to be around people 
in general, that can't take accountability,

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that can't see their own fault ever. They're so 
stubborn that they, there's no room for growth.

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If you can't acknowledge your 
weaknesses and work with those

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and it's, um, it makes a better person all around.

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Taking responsibility for your actions 
is fundamental to being successful. I

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think in any area of life. And I think if 
you talk to somebody that's overweight,

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that can't see that they, they're 
still not ready for that journey.

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Same with someone who's on that level of success 
on that journey for success. If they feel like,

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Oh, I got made redundant because you know, 
this, this happened in the business. You're

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not ready to be successful yet. They're not. 
Everyone that I know that is quote unquote,

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super successful. They take huge accountability 
all the time of their own actions.

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And they take responsibility for things that

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they've got nothing to do with. 
They're just huge on ownership.

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Yeah. Ownership driven to, to see that change 
and hungry for that change. Definitely. Right.

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Okay. So let's go back a little bit now. 
What was little Mark like growing up?

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He was a pretty interesting, um, young man.

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He was dynamic, I would say, because, uh, 
from a young age, I didn't realize I was

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dyslexic and I didn't realize. My parent, my 
mama is staying with me at the moment at my

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house in the Gold Coast. And she, um, did, we 
didn't realize that I had poor vision. I was

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incredibly short sighted and it took until 
I was about 12 for this to be picked up.

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Obviously I didn't know. I couldn't see. Well, 
the teachers at school didn't pick it up. So I

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was dyslexic and short sighted. So my learning 
was incredibly hindered at school. But what this

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meant was because I couldn't read and write 
well, and I was, That's a bit more challenged

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than the kids at school. I had to rely on what 
came out of my mouth, my communication skills.

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And I was always at junior school. 
One of the cool kids in senior school,

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very much not one of the cool kids, but I was 
always a great communicator. I was always really

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good at getting myself into trouble and getting 
myself. Out trouble. Uh, but young Mark was,

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loves his sport, wanted to play soccer, 
football as it's called, ob obviously in the uk.

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That's all he wanted to do was talk about, 
uh, girls and, and soccer. That was my,

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that was my, uh, my thing and, and 
I just love to chat. Talk to anyone.

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Okay. So you were a chatty, happy, cool kid, 
loved sports. And then just before apprentice you,

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I mean, just before you decided to apply for 
the apprentice, were you making like money?

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Were you, how were you doing? 
Well, were you not doing well?

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No, I wouldn't say I was doing well at all. 
Actually. I, I left. school and I thought

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I was gonna be a rock star. Like I thought 
I'm gonna take the world by storm. I'm gonna

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be this big super success in whatever I do. 
And I was just ready because I hated school.

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School was not a good environment for me. 
I failed terribly at school. I don't like

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sitting in a class being told what to do. And 
it just it showed through my grades. I didn't

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apply myself and there's no excuse for it. I 
just didn't do well. But I couldn't get out of

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there quick enough. And then I went And I got 
a football contract and I thought this is it.

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And I lost that contract from not applying 
myself, you know, not training hard enough,

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going out drinking, doing all the wrong 
things. And I lost the contract. And then

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I realized life is a pretty vicious place. 
If you're not doing well, if you're down,

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it can keep kicking you to a pretty low 
place. I ran completely out of money.

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I was sleeping on the floor on a mattress in 
Brisbane, trying to get my football career

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going and I just could not get off the ground. 
And I completely ran out of money. I completely

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ran out of hope. And I was, I was down and out, 
uh, physically, mentally, financially. Uh, and

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that's what made me move to the UK because things 
were not going great for me here in Australia.

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And, um, and I decided to go traveling to see if I

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could broaden my horizons for what I 
wanted to do with my life, you know,

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career wise. And I thought traveling would 
broaden my mind. It would help me meet new

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people and maybe find a different industry or, 
or some opportunity out there. And, and it did.

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Okay. So what made you, what 
possessed you, shall I say,

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to fill out that, uh, apprentice application form?

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Well, um, I was working at a digital 
marketing company in the UK. Um,

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and it was, it was a terrible company. 
They, uh, they were really, the way they

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treated their staff was awful. The way 
they treated their customers was awful.

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But I was really good at digital marketing. 
So it was the first time in my career. I was

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good at it. I enjoyed it. I was plugged 
in. I was starting to make some money and

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I didn't feel like I was working up until 
that point. Till I found digital marketing,

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every job I did, every time 
I was at work, I hated it.

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I felt like I was at work. I was watching 
the clock and all of that stuff. And digital

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marketing was the first time I loved what I did. 
And, um, so a friend of mine who sat at the desk

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next to me called Blake. He said, Hey bro, I'm 
going to try out for the apprentice. And I said,

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what's the apprentice. He said, it's a 
TV show where an old man yells at you.

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And I said, I've never, I've 
never heard. So he's like,

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come down to the tryouts with me. So he 
sent me the application and I filled it

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out and off. I went to the tryouts in Tottenham 
court road in London, and I didn't realize the

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scale of The Apprentice. I'd never heard 
of Alan Sugar. I hadn't heard of the show.

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Um, and I just kept getting through one week 
after the next one layer of the auditions

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after the next, and I got through thousands and 
thousands of people. And, um, It, I don't know. I,

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it, it, from the moment I got in the line to pass 
the, my documents at the tryouts, this is going to

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sound mental. This is going to sound like I knew 
I was going to win and I just, I've never felt.

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Like, like, I don't know. It was like, I knew 
it was for me. I knew it was my opportunity.

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I knew this was it. I don't know. I've had 
opportunities where I've done stuff in the

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past where I've tried things and I've, it hasn't 
felt right. And it's always been a bit clunky

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and whatever, from the moment I went 
to the triads, to the moment I won.

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It felt fantastic. It just, it felt like I 
was in the right place at the right time.

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And when I handed the lady at, um, 
Boundless, the production company,

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my CV and my business plan to try out, I 
said, hi, my name's Mark Wright and I'm

0:14:48.760,0:14:54.800
the winner of the 2014 Apprentice. And 
she was like, she just laughed anyway,

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on the night that I won the show, the lady from 
the reception came in to the, your hired show.

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And she said, do you remember me? I'm 
the lady from reception. And you said,

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your name's Mark Wright and you're going to win 
the show. And you won it. And I was like, I mean,

0:15:08.960,0:15:13.240
it was so amazing. I get goosebumps 
just talking about that story now,

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because I'm not really like that, that felt right.

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But you know, if the way that you program 
your mind is so important and it does set

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sail in that direction, you know, if you had those 
thoughts right at the beginning and you programmed

0:15:33.560,0:15:40.720
yourself, I'm going to win and you really felt 
it and you can't explain why that definitely.

0:15:40.720,0:15:46.360
Put you on that path to winning that 
show. I I'm firm believer in that

0:15:46.360,0:15:50.200
because I went through the audition 
process as well for The Apprentice.

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Obviously I loved it. I found that really 
easy, easy. And I, like you, I knew 100%,

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I knew I'm definitely getting in. Like there is 
no question. This is easy peasy. I love sales.

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I can do that any day, any day of the year. 
But I never had the thing in my head going,

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I'm going to win. I had a thing in my head going, 
I can win if I want to. I can do what I want to.

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We'll see. We'll see. I'm not sure if I want to 
win. Not sure if I want it, but I'm definitely

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100 percent sure that I can easily nail this 
interview and I'm going to do that challenge.

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Different approach to you, 
right? Different outcome,

0:16:29.400,0:16:35.360
different outcome, but I never thought 
I'm definitely winning. Like you did

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that without that. I mean, Napoleon Hill says,

0:16:37.360,0:16:42.560
whatever the mind can believe and conceive, 
it can achieve. And, you know, that's why

0:16:42.560,0:16:48.320
setting goals is so important. And this all 
stuff started in this manifestation where.

0:16:48.320,0:16:54.880
I wanted to win. I got the opportunity to be in 
that process and then I just made it happen. And

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obviously there was a lot in between all of the 
believing it and wanting it and all of that stuff.

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But I probably haven't had that 
same feeling about, you know,

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a business or Or, you know, something like 
the apprentice in my life where I've gone,

0:17:11.400,0:17:14.600
yeah, this is I'm just going to 
absolutely smash this out of the park.

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So, you know, Warren Buffett 
says you get three trips to the,

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to the pie counter in your, in your 
life. And you've got to know which,

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when each trip is. And I think that 
was my first or second time there.

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Yeah. I mean, I, I, I've had this 
once before in a running race,

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cause I'm, I'm big on athletics and 
I started running from a young kid.

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And I had that once where I. And I just knew 
I was this, this race, I've got it. I'm,

0:17:37.800,0:17:40.880
I'm going to win and I'm going to win 
by such a long way. And it's going to

0:17:40.880,0:17:44.800
be incredible. And that's exactly what 
happened. Like it's this visualization,

0:17:44.800,0:17:49.560
but it doesn't always come. You're right. 
There's like, there's moments, you know,

0:17:50.240,0:17:55.040
and you've got to, Oh, when it, when you get that 
feeling, it's like, you know, when you know, you

0:17:55.040,0:17:58.840
know, When you know, have you 
ever read the book, the alchemist?

0:18:00.480,0:18:05.040
Um, my husband has read that book 
and told me about it many times. Yes,

0:18:05.040,0:18:09.960
it is. It's, I mean, it's a game changing 
book, but they always talk about omens and

0:18:09.960,0:18:14.120
listening to your body and feeling 
for like you with the running race,

0:18:14.120,0:18:18.120
me with the apprentice, whatever is sometimes 
you just get this. They call it, you know,

0:18:18.120,0:18:21.560
your gut instinct and you just 
think this feels right to me.

0:18:21.560,0:18:25.880
And, uh, you know, I think, you know, not 
to get too mystical with all this stuff,

0:18:25.880,0:18:30.280
but I think it's an important element to 
all the other stuff that goes into business.

0:18:30.280,0:18:35.440
Okay. So you then got into the 
apprentice, you're in that house,

0:18:35.440,0:18:41.640
which I found it I found being in the house 
really stressful. Like I didn't like the

0:18:41.640,0:18:45.720
idea of being trapped because I don't, I 
want to be able to go where I want to go.

0:18:45.720,0:18:49.160
I don't like someone else controlling 
my schedule. I can't sleep with people

0:18:49.160,0:18:54.760
snoring. Like I just, I find it really 
hard. Like even my husband, it's like,

0:18:54.760,0:18:58.880
it's like a dinosaur and the house is moving 
and it's like, I can't, and I've got to run

0:18:58.880,0:19:03.600
away and block my ears. And I really struggle, 
you know, without sleep and all of that.

0:19:03.600,0:19:06.160
So I found the apprentice, even 
though I was in boarding school,

0:19:06.160,0:19:10.880
that was fine. And it was. Different, but 
there's something about the apprentice

0:19:10.880,0:19:14.440
candidates. Cause they all such 
high intensity and it's just,

0:19:14.440,0:19:20.960
it's so much and you can't leave, like, how 
did you find it stuck in the house for them?

0:19:20.960,0:19:26.200
Uh, well, I think if I was to do it 
again, now I would really struggle.

0:19:26.200,0:19:30.040
I'm a 34 year old man. I have a family. 
I live in a lovely house and I'm really

0:19:30.040,0:19:35.840
lucky in my life. At the time I was 
24 and I'd been backpacking for two

0:19:35.840,0:19:40.720
years living in dorms with 12 people 
snoring and doing all sorts of things.

0:19:40.720,0:19:44.440
So the apprentice house was just like 
another dorm room for me at the time.

0:19:44.440,0:19:51.200
It wasn't, wasn't too far from my tenure of 
traveling. So I sort of coped with it really well,

0:19:51.200,0:19:57.520
but I would really struggle now. So I think 
it came to me at a right time. Um, I was,

0:19:57.520,0:20:00.440
I was a single man, I was a young man and I,

0:20:00.440,0:20:06.400
I was sort of on it. The other thing that I 
did when I was in there is I wasn't really

0:20:06.400,0:20:12.040
friendly with the other contestants, 
uh, and that was a conscious decision.

0:20:12.040,0:20:20.440
Um, I, I don't know if, uh, what year were you 
on the show? 2016. 2016. So, um, there was a,

0:20:20.440,0:20:25.600
as they, the show years went on in my, in my 
time, 2014, they were really strict about,

0:20:25.600,0:20:30.040
we weren't allowed social media, um, 
outside of the house and all of this

0:20:30.040,0:20:34.360
sort of stuff. Um, and inside of the 
house, there was like lots of rules.

0:20:34.360,0:20:38.400
We had these chaperones. To make sure 
that we wouldn't do task talk and all

0:20:38.400,0:20:47.320
of this sort of stuff. Um, and, uh, uh, 
I knew I kind of gauged quite quickly. I

0:20:47.320,0:20:52.240
think these chaperones are reporting 
back to the production. Who's a good

0:20:52.240,0:20:59.720
and bad contestants in here. So what I'm 
going to do. is just be on all the time.

0:20:59.720,0:21:02.520
So I'm going to be the first in 
bed. I'm going to be the first

0:21:02.520,0:21:07.360
up. I'm going to not drink because if 
that's getting fed back to Alan Sugar,

0:21:07.360,0:21:13.640
surely that's another tick in my box. So I was 
using the, I was playing the whole game. I was,

0:21:13.640,0:21:19.360
I was playing the whole game when the cameras were 
on and even more so when the cameras were off.

0:21:19.360,0:21:24.000
Yeah. And, and, and the main thing is, is that 
you wanted to play the game. You were in the

0:21:24.000,0:21:28.640
right time phase of your life. You were hungry 
for that investment. You were in a position

0:21:28.640,0:21:34.360
that made you really need it as well. It's like, 
you know, you were trying to make it. So you were

0:21:34.360,0:21:38.640
incentivized. It was like, there was a motivation 
and you were in the right place at the right time.

0:21:38.640,0:21:42.720
And like you're saying, it wouldn't have 
worked necessarily now, or maybe as well,

0:21:42.720,0:21:45.960
it probably would have worked, but it 
may be in a different way because like,

0:21:45.960,0:21:50.640
for me, I was 34. I had three little 
children under the age of 10. We were

0:21:50.640,0:21:55.440
moving house from North London. It was 
the worst timing on the whole planet.

0:21:55.440,0:21:58.520
So my, my mindset, my motivation

0:21:59.360,0:22:05.440
was like, why am I, why am I here when my kids 
aren't in school? How is my husband coping?

0:22:05.440,0:22:09.480
And then of course, you can't communicate with 
him and you're worried. So you're distracted.

0:22:09.480,0:22:14.640
It's not the same, even though obviously there's 
this pull. Cause you think actually I can do it.

0:22:14.640,0:22:20.800
I'm doing well and all the tasks I'm selling. 
I can nail this if I want to, but then it also,

0:22:20.800,0:22:26.480
because you're 34, you're not handling maybe the 
sleeping right. And you're maybe not handling the

0:22:26.480,0:22:32.200
food. Like if you're not getting food, right. 
And there's all of that, you know? So when you

0:22:32.200,0:22:37.160
said in the beginning, Mark, when you said in the 
beginning there that like you said to that woman,

0:22:37.160,0:22:43.200
Oh, you know, you can just there, you know, just 
get on with it, carry on, you know, you're fine.

0:22:43.200,0:22:48.960
You know, proper business people will 
do that. Yes. Like, of course, you know,

0:22:48.960,0:22:53.200
Proper business people. We're professional. We 
can do it. We can put in the graph, but it's like,

0:22:53.200,0:22:58.520
you've also got to be in the right frame 
of mind for that thing wanted, you know,

0:22:58.520,0:23:04.320
in the right way. And, and maybe, 
yeah, there's so much to this that.

0:23:04.320,0:23:12.680
I mean, uh, I've, uh, recently had a child. And, 
um, it will, it has made me 10 times better boss,

0:23:12.680,0:23:17.680
10 times better manager. Uh, because 
it's given me a different perspective

0:23:17.680,0:23:21.560
and you can only see perspectives from 
where you are in your journey. And,

0:23:21.560,0:23:27.520
uh, at that time I was a young, hungry, 
broke 24 year old. I had no girlfriend.

0:23:27.520,0:23:32.640
I had no obligations outside of that house. 
And I used to give my phone call to the

0:23:32.640,0:23:37.080
other people in the house that had kids 
because I had no one to call really. So,

0:23:37.080,0:23:41.000
um, I was at a great time in my 
life. And, and, you know, now,

0:23:41.000,0:23:45.400
if I think about where I am in my life now, the 
apprentice is a terrible opportunity for me.

0:23:45.400,0:23:48.600
I wouldn't give away 50 percent 
equity in any of my companies.

0:23:48.600,0:23:54.080
I don't need 250 grand and I don't want 
to sleep in a house with. No, you know,

0:23:54.080,0:23:58.240
stinky people trying to be 
famous on Sky Sports. So

0:23:58.240,0:24:02.960
yeah, thank you for entering my world that I 
was in when I did that, that, that change. And

0:24:02.960,0:24:05.960
I did that because my daughter had a dream 
and was like, Oh, you want the apprentice?

0:24:05.960,0:24:09.640
And I thought, Oh, okay, that's a sign. Let 
me go and apply to the apprentice. I mean,

0:24:09.640,0:24:14.240
seriously. Um, I was going to ask you, you 
know, you've got like a, a nice sort of,

0:24:14.240,0:24:20.240
um, Relaxed attitude about yourself. Calm. 
I mean, not, maybe not on the show so much,

0:24:20.240,0:24:25.000
but like outside of that, when you're doing 
business, you've got, you're quite a chill person.

0:24:25.000,0:24:27.600
Was that fair to say?

0:24:27.600,0:24:33.480
I think it's very fair to say, 
uh, my mom always said I'm happy

0:24:33.480,0:24:36.840
go lucky. Don't really understand 
what that means, but she's always,

0:24:36.840,0:24:43.440
uh, said I was always happy go lucky and I 
always wear my heart on my sleeve. Um, however,

0:24:43.440,0:24:49.480
um, That's all true. And I'm very relaxed. 
That might be some of the Australian in me.

0:24:49.480,0:24:56.400
Um, the other side is, uh, I'm fanatical 
about getting everything just right. Uh,

0:24:56.400,0:25:00.640
getting everything perfect. Everything 
needs to be done perfect all the time

0:25:00.640,0:25:04.560
in the stuff that I do and the stuff that my 
employees do and the stuff that happens in my

0:25:04.560,0:25:11.520
companies. So although I'm. I'm a stickler 
for detail and I'm a stickler for quality.

0:25:11.520,0:25:17.280
And, um, I think it serves me well because 
the way I communicate is relaxed. And,

0:25:17.280,0:25:24.680
um, and yeah, so I think. Yeah, I 
don't know. I am a relaxed person.

0:25:24.680,0:25:29.920
Yeah. So even though you're a relaxed 
person, then, um, what, what scares

0:25:29.920,0:25:40.160
you? What are you afraid of in life? As you 
navigate life? Are you running from anything?

0:25:40.160,0:25:44.120
Gosh, that's a deep, that is a deep, that 
is a deep question. You're all scared of

0:25:44.120,0:25:46.280
something deep inside, I find.

0:25:46.960,0:25:53.160
I think my biggest, I'm, I'm scared of 
myself. I think I'm my own biggest, uh, uh,

0:25:53.160,0:26:01.080
supporter and my own biggest. Uh, enemy, 
uh, I mean, because I hold myself to a,

0:26:01.080,0:26:08.560
a bar that is on, on believably high that I, 
that I'm unable to, to meet and after all the

0:26:08.560,0:26:13.680
amazing things that I've achieved in business or 
whatever, uh, I still, I never think about it.

0:26:13.680,0:26:18.280
You know, I never look back. I never 
take time to reflect on, um, you know,

0:26:18.280,0:26:22.760
the things that I've done. I'm always thinking 
about what am I going to do tomorrow? And I

0:26:22.760,0:26:28.440
think in a way that. Is great because it's, 
I mean, I'm pushing myself all the time,

0:26:28.440,0:26:33.480
but at the other time, at some point, when 
do you stop? And what, when is enough?

0:26:33.480,0:26:40.040
And, um, so, you know, it's just getting enjoyment 
out of life and slowing down. Obviously, I, I,

0:26:40.040,0:26:44.720
I don't want my parents to die. I mean, 
that's a fear. I think everybody holds. I

0:26:44.720,0:26:49.240
always think about that. But, um, 
since being, becoming a father,

0:26:49.240,0:26:53.840
my world has completely changed. Yeah. It is, 
you know, the only thing that if someone put

0:26:53.840,0:26:58.480
a gun in front of my son today, I'd just 
take the bullet without a second thought.

0:26:58.480,0:27:01.880
There, there's no, nothing 
comes in. There's nothing more

0:27:01.880,0:27:09.120
important on the entire planet 
is that there's nothing.

0:27:09.120,0:27:12.560
That sounds really horrible to say, 
but I have seen it in people where

0:27:12.560,0:27:17.520
they like the sort of the being miserable 
because they get attention from it. In my

0:27:17.520,0:27:23.680
experience, poor people are always poor and 
rich people always rich. Because it's in here,

0:27:23.680,0:27:23.960
it's

0:27:23.960,0:27:27.600
nothing to do with what's in your 
bank account. It's a way of thinking.

0:27:27.600,0:27:34.120
You talk about the fact that you 
have never met a business person,

0:27:34.120,0:27:50.240
a good business person that isn't ruthless. 
That triggers some, uh, emotion in me.