Apprentice Trip Plan (Season 6)

Not Coasting in Cali

A Frank Non-Discussion

Rambling Frank dictated the price points to his group, ranging from $10 for a basic wash to $100 for a full detailing. His strategy was to up-sell each customer and max out the profit margin. Frank then assigned roles to his team members and hustled off to Kinko's with Aaron to make flyers. Not everybody was a fan of Frank's frenetic, dictatorial style. "Frank led like a 3-year-old hyperactive kid on grape soda," noted Martin. When Ivanka arrived on the scene to observe, Frank had been gone 45 minutes, leaving his group in chaos. Worse yet, Ivanka commented they were "falling short on signage," which Frank's puny flyers did nothing to rectify.

In contrast, Heidi got her team's car wash up and running fast, luring customers with hand-drawn signs on cardboard. Showing a flair for grassroots marketing, Heidi's group hired a couple of buff, shirtless guys to flash their signage curbside in the predominantly gay West Hollywood neighborhood. Their strategy succeeded almost too well. Heidi's group soon realized they'd over-marketed and that customers were ornery about long lines at the car wash. Nevertheless, everyone in the well-organized group rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to do whatever was necessary to move customers through pronto.

In Tents in the Backyard, Intense in the Boardroom

In the end, the real surprise was that Heidi's crew only won by a small margin, $2,463 to $2,345. For their reward, the victorious candidates were feted to a
fabulous dinner at perennial LA hotspot Spago alongside the Trumps and legendary chef Wolfgang Puck. As an added bonus, the winners learned that they would get to live in the luxurious mansion next door to Trump, while the losers would be forced to live out back in tents.