Thinking About Money

The reports on Carolyn Kepcher’s dismissal from the Trump Organization say a lot about the career biases of our society. According to the reports, she was fired due to her increasing focus on outside activities such as $25,000 speaking engagements, endorsement deals, and her successful book Carolyn 101: Business Lessons from the Apprentice’s Straight Shooter. Rumor has it she was being seen as a “Prima Donna” within the organization (perhaps by Trump). The subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) message in the reports was that she basically screwed up, failed to keep the boss happy, and got fired for it.

In an earlier post “The Apprentice and You” I discussed the fundamental hypocrisy of the show “The Apprentice”. On one hand, the ultimate goal of an apprentice is to learn to be like Trump (i.e. the rich boss). On the other hand, the reward from the show is a job – essentially to be a wage slave. In my earlier post I reconcile these by suggesting that it may be worth being Trump’s apprentice for the opportunity to learn from him. But that only has meaning if someday the apprentice graduates to become the leader of their own organization. After all, it doesn’t take a genius to see that the heirs of Donald when he retires are going to be Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka – not any of the winners on the TV series.

Think about why Carolyn got fired. She has a successful book. She’s getting speaking engagements. She’s signing endorsement deals. She’s building her own brand – not as an employee, but as the leader of her own business. Calling her a prima-donna is a reflection of society’s bias towards getting a “safe job” rather than building a business. After all, what is Donald if not the ultimate prima-donna (or prima-don, as it were)?

Being fired by Trump does not reflect a failure by Carolyn. Nor is it a setback. It’s her graduation day – and I wish her the best of luck in her new role as boss of her own career.