2008 Headlines
Johnson School MBA Student Eunice Omole Competed in Finals of The Apprentice Africa
Popular U.S. show moved to Africa and pitted Continental Africans versus Diaspora Africans
July 23, 2008 | Ithaca, NY | When most MBA students take a break from school, they go on vacation. But Eunice Omole, a Johnson School MBA student took a leave of absence to do something completely different: become internationally famous.
Omole beat out 16 other contestants and became a finalist in "The Apprentice Africa," making it all the way to the last episode where she narrowly missed winning. The program, which aired throughout the continent of Africa, is a spinoff of the popular American program where talented 20-somethings (and a few in their early 30s) compete in business-related challenges each week as they are fired, one by one.
Just as The Apprentice in the United States has pitted men versus women and contestants with "book smarts" versus "street smarts," The Apprentice Africa created two teams comprised of Continental Africans from Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania & Kenya versus Diaspora Africans from the United Kingdom and United States. All 18 contestants lived and worked together in Lagos, Nigeria. That Omole, 29, beat out hundreds of contestants just to make the program and narrowly missed winning is hardly an upset; the talented Johnson MBA student holds an economics degree from the University of Virginia, a master's in real estate in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University, and was the second runner-up at the Miss Nigeria in America Beauty Pageant.
"A friend of mine pointed out 'The Apprentice Africa' advertisement on Facebook and encouraged me to apply," said the Washington, DC native. "Two weeks later, I received a phone call to go to Washington, D.C. for a two-day interview. One of the judges for the interview was (former contestant) Omarosa. The moment I saw her, I knew this would be the beginning of an interesting journey."
The journey swept Omole from Cornell University in Ithaca to Lagos, Nigeria for six months where she was seen by millions of Africans from February through June. Now on leave from the Johnson School with plans to return in January 2009, she's working as the Managing Partner for an investment management firm in Alhambra, Calif. concentrating on raising funds to build residential housing and a bed-and-breakfast hotel in China.
A natural leader, Omole was chosen to be a project manager on variety of tasks, including hotel redecoration, selling sporting goods on the street and Omole's favorite contest, creating new uniforms for boys and girls aged 3-10 years old at a Lagos private school.
"We wanted the outfits to be functional, marketable and stylish," Omole said. "The fun part was working with the kids and creating a fashion show where they could model the outfits. I was in my element." The episode can be seen at: www.theapprenticeafrica.com/multimedia.php?vid=17.
As project manager Omole was brought before the CEO to face the firing line five times. She survived all the challenges except the last one.
"I learned that my strategy for isolating myself from others worked in the short term to get me to the finale," Omole said. "However, it cost me in the end. In the long term, people will only rally behind someone they feel they have a connection and relationship with. In the long term; it's the relationships that you have built that maintain your success."
In the finals, Omole and her challenger were charged with creating a walk-through interactive event for Bank PHB. The finalists were asked to defend their design for the event and address their worthiness as the first Apprentice Africa winner.
"My background in real estate is a great asset for any organization," Omole said. "Knowing that Bank PHB will have interest in expanding into real estate and the banking sector, it will enable me deliver outstanding service on the job. I have worked with major companies in four countries; America, United Kingdom, China and Nigeria and I have awards and honors to show for it. I believe with my experience I am best qualified for the job."
The winner received a lucrative one-year job at Bank PHB with a $200,000 salary and a luxury car. There was no cash prize for second place but Omole learned much from her experience. "I now have an excellent platform to launch my special initiative focused on entrepreneurship and business in Africa," she said.
Omole is the second Cornell University student to break the hearts of the Ithaca faithful. Lee H. Bienstock came in second place in the American version of "The Apprentice" in Season 5. Unlike Omole, Bienstock was not a student at the Johnson School.
