Apprentice star to mentor Birmingham businesses
The West Midlands has seen “an evolution of entrepreneurship”. That’s according to The Apprentice runner-up Claire Young, who spoke to Insider about her latest role as a mentor to Birmingham-based businesses through the online documentary, inafishbowl.com. Young also said she “would definitely not aspire” to enter The Apprentice this year after seeing some of the “whining” contestants.
Young has signed up to mentor three fledgling businesses through the inafishbowl.com ‘webumentary’, whereby the trio of entrepreneurs are filmed for six months, ‘warts and all’.
Birmingham companies Soshi Games, Bean2Bed.com and Co-Go Coffee to Go will all feature in the webumentary.
Young said that her reasons for signing up to the project were simple.
“There are so many business websites, many of them with complicated jargon– this was a great, quirky idea, and such a simple concept. People can log onto the site, network and become part of a community.
“Starting a business is hard; starting a business in the aftermath of a recession is doubly hard.”
This year’s series of The Apprentice, on which Young found fame two years ago, features two female candidates from the West Midlands.
“I think there’s definitely been a kind of evolution of entrepreneurship in the region,” said Young.
“People have begun reviewing what they want to do with their lives – they realise they want to work for themselves, not somebody else. A lot of entrepreneurial spirit has emerged over the last couple of years.”
However, Young says she would not apply to become a contestant on the BBC TV now.
“A lot of people have been going through The Apprentice thinking that it’s a golden ticket to success – it’s not. It’s a great platform, but you have to work really, really hard. Nothing is handed to you.
"A lot of the contestants in this series are quite contrived. The people who are fake and polished get found out, and won’t get anywhere. When you're constantly stressed and sleep deprived, your true colours really come out.”
Of the failed West Midlands contestant, Birmingham-based Joy Stefanicki, Young said she was “a wet lettuce”.
“She kept apologising for herself all the time – you can’t do that. You have to have some backbone, some personality to make it through.”
Young now works in business as the owner of two motivational speaking companies Girls Out Loud and School Speakers.
