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EPISODE TWO

 

 

As the group in the suite anxiously awaited the return of the boardroom survivors, candidates made predictions about who would come walking through the front door. Wes, John and Raj all thought that their fellow Mosaic teammate Andy would be fired - he just didn't have any business experience. But soon after, Andy and Pamela entered the suite. Rob had been fired, not Andy! Later, Ivana and Maria pulled Andy aside to complain about Bradford. Ivana called Bradford "truly the weakest link" on Apex. Ivana couldn't believe that Bradford was exempt if he found himself in the boardroom after their next task. As the evening wound down, the candidates all raised a glass to the first to be fired: "To Rob."

The next morning, as the candidates got ready for the day, several of the women talked about clothes and shopping, but Stacie J. was not part of these conversations. In an interview, Stacie J. likened the suite to high school and said that all of the relationships the women were forming were "phony." Stacie J. said, "I don't want to be friends with any of the other women." In her own interview, Maria worried that Stacie J. would "freak out" again. The candidates met Donald and learned that for their next task, each team would work with the Ciao Bella Gelato ice cream company to develop their own ice cream flavor. Then each team would sell their creation. The team with the greatest profits would win. The losing team would meet Donald in the boardroom where someone would be fired.

Everyone on Mosaic wanted to be the Project Manager, so the group drew names from a hat and Kelly became the team's leader. Kelly, a West Point graduate and ex-Military Intelligence Officer, led his team in a very structured way. In an interview, Pamela said that Kelly kicked "into G.I. Joe Mode." The team worried that they would lose to the female-heavy Apex if they simply sold ice cream on the street. Kevin said that guys would buy "stupid stuff" from an attractive woman. So Kelly broke the team up into two groups: the sales group and the flavor selection group. The sales group - Wes, Raj, Kevin and John - would work to sell the team's ice cream to restaurants and distributors. The flavor selection group - Kelly, Pamela, Andy and Chris - would head down to Ciao Bella and work to develop a flavor. But once they got to Ciao Bella, the flavor selection group spent a fair amount of time in the production area and not working on their flavor. In an interview, Andy said, "The problem is, Pamela takes the dime tour as if we're in Disneyland and starts asking a thousand questions about how ice cream is made." As head of Mosaic's sales group on the task, Wes tried to sell the team's yet-to-be-created ice cream to distributors and restaurants, but had no takers.

Ivana was nominated to be Project Manager of Apex - and she promised to be collaborative. In an interview, Ivana said that in the last task, Bradford led like a bully - and she wouldn't do that this time. So, when Apex met at Ciao Bella to brainstorm on their ice cream flavor, candidates were able to yell out whatever names came to them. Jennifer C. called the process "havoc," while Stacie J. said it was "absolute, utter chaos."

Meanwhile, Mosaic's sales group called Kelly at Ciao Bella and wanted to at least know the flavor of ice cream they were trying to sell. But Kelly admitted they had no idea on the flavor. Frustrated, Kevin said, "Stick a candy bar or donut in some vanilla ice cream and call it a day." Kelly actually loved the idea of donut ice cream and went with it. But there were two problems. First, the team would have to shell out its own money to get the donuts to go in the ice cream. And second, the flavor selection team would have to get all of the donuts back to Ciao Bella in less than twenty-five minutes. Kelly, Pamela, Andy and Chris raced in a van and cleaned out two donut shops. Chris said, "Kids were crying 'cause we took all the donuts." The group managed to score over three hundred donuts in just fourteen minutes, making it back in time for their ice cream to get started.

With just fifteen minutes before their deadline, Apex hadn't decided on a flavor. In an interview, Jennifer M. said, "We wasted a lot of time." Down to the wire, the team chose Red Velvet ice cream - based on a butter cake with cream cheese frosting and pecans. Fortunately for Apex, Ciao Bella had all of the necessary ingredients on hand. Next, the team got on the phones and tried to sell their new product. Stacie J. however, made a call to a temp agency to hire five temporary workers to help sell the ice cream on the street the next day. When the room realized what Stacie J. was doing, it looked like no one could believe it. In an interview, Ivana called Stacie J. a "loose cannon."

When Kelly and his flavor selection group returned to the suite, Wes admitted that Mosaic had made no sales. Kelly was disappointed. Raj suggested that the team concentrate on selling ice cream to the public, one scoop at a time, the next day. Andy suggested that they donate a portion of the proceeds to a charity to help boost sales. At Kevin's suggestion, the group decided on the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The charity was close to Kevin because his brother fought a battle with leukemia and won. The group then decided that Times Square would be the perfect place to set up and sell lots of product the next day. The group was happy with their strategy, until Apex walked in... and saw all of Mosaic's plans, out in the open. Apex saw that Mosaic was going to sell in Times Square. In an interview, Jennifer C. said of the Mosaic team members, "Oh my God, what a bunch of morons." Then, in hushed whispers, Apex decided that they too would set up shop in Times Square the following day.

Mosaic got to Times Square early the next morning and set up their ice cream carts. The men dressed to look like old-fashioned ice cream parlor guys (complete with bow ties, all from Raj's wardrobe). But just when the guys looked like a single unit, there was conflict. John declared that no one would spend any money on food during the day because it would come out of their profits. Raj clashed with John and insisted that he had to eat because he was hypoglycemic. Kelly stepped in and said that he was allotting everyone five dollars for food. John disagreed with the decision. But once the guys started to hock the ice cream, they really got into it, bringing great energy to the task - scooping and selling to people on the street as they passed. The one team member who seemed to be having trouble was Pamela. Kelly said, "She just wasn't very strong from a one-on-one sales standpoint."

Unlike the men of Mosaic, the women of Apex did not dress in a common uniform - although, according to Ivana, Bradford wanted them all to wear halter-tops to increase sales. But Ivana said that the women would not "play the sex card." Apex set up their ice cream carts in a prime, tourist location - but they were soon interrupted by an angry vendor who worked in that area. The vendor demanded to see Apex's Vendor Permit (which of course they didn't have). Ivana decided that the group should just move. The two carts split up and lost track of each other. When Stacy R. called the second cart on a cell phone, Stacie J. said that she and the second cart were on 7th Avenue. So, Maria headed down 7th Avenue in search of the second cart. After walking ten blocks, Maria gave up. Later, Stacy R. found out that Stacie J. had been wrong - the second cart was on Broadway right next to them, and not on 7th. In fact, it turned out that the second cart was just across the street from them the whole time! Apex finally got their carts together and began selling ice cream as one team again. Bradford brought a lot of energy to the cause and even Ivana admitted that he really came through. Jennifer C. managed to get a restaurateur to come down to Apex's carts to buy ice cream for his establishment. Bradford felt that his team had done very well.

At the end of the day for Mosaic, Kelly had a tough decision to make. How much should the team give to their charity? Kelly knew that his team would have to deduct the money they spent on donuts and the money they gave to the charity from their sales. A generous donation would help the charity, but could cost Mosaic the win. Kelly decided to donate five percent of the team's sales.

The two teams gathered in the boardroom where they learned that Apex had earned $2,472.29 and Mosaic had earned $2,707.85, making Mosaic the winner! For their reward, Mosaic would dine at Petrossian, home of some of the finest caviar in the world. On his way out of the boardroom, Kelly asked Trump if all of his team's sales could go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Trump said yes. Trump then said that Apex would be back in the boardroom and one person would be fired. But Trump reminded everyone that Bradford would be exempt.

While spirits where high as Mosaic dined at Petrossian, they were tense as Apex stewed in the suite. Bradford told Ivana that if the team had been organized, they would have "crushed" their opposition. Even Jennifer C. and Sandy agreed that Ivana's leadership skills were lacking. Later, Ivana got everyone on Apex (except for Bradford and Stacie J.) together so that they could all be "on the same page." Ivana wanted everyone to agree that Stacie J. had provided incorrect information about where the second ice cream cart was located. Ivana also wanted the group to agree that this was the reason that the two carts were apart for so long. Just then, Stacie J. walked in and everyone went silent. When Stacie J. asked what was going on, people just got up without saying a word. In an interview, Bradford likened the mood in the suite to an "all-out knife fight."

 

LESSONS LEARNED