Dawna Stone, just chosen by Martha Stewart to be her
apprentice on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, is the founder
and publisher of Her Sportsmagazine, which was recognized as one of
the 30 most notable magazine launches of 2004. This interview took
place before she was selected to be Stewart's apprentice. To
get even more scoop from Stone on the show and her fellow
candidates, read
our exclusive interview with her that took place after she
won.
Last fall, I was fortunate enough to work with the world's
first female self-made billionaire as one of 16 candidates on
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. I consider Martha one of the
greatest female entrepreneurs of our time, and since publishing is
her main business, I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather
learn from.
I came to the show with years of experience in the mechanics of
how to run a business: writing business plans, maintaining
multimillion-dollar budgets, hiring and firing employees, etc. But
the show emphasized how important the mental aspects are to overall
success in business and in life. Here are the four biggest lessons
I learned:
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1. Focus is key. On The Apprentice, the producers
remove virtually all outside distractions--radio, TV, magazines,
newspapers, family, friends, laundry, grocery shopping. The result?
We accomplished astounding tasks in severely limited time,
including writing, designing and publishing a children's book
for Random House in 48 hours. If you've been attempting to
update your business plan for years without success, lock yourself
in a room, focus, and get it done!
2. Keep your eye on the ball. Being the owner of a
women's sports magazine, my goal heading into the show was
simple: to win. But I quickly found that sleep deprivation,
ultratight deadlines, inter-personal conflicts between candidates
and other distractions (like dinner with Donald Trump) conspired to
cloud my reason for being there. Before the show, my husband gave
me invaluable advice: When things start to get out of control (and
believe me, they did), remember to "keep your eye on the
ball." His words helped me never lose sight of the end goal
and always act accordingly.
3. Passion is contagious. The most valuable lesson Martha
reinforced was the power of passion and enthusiasm. I've never
met anyone with more passion for her work than Martha. What you
rarely see on TV is that many Apprentice tasks required us
to go 48 or even 72 hours with little or no sleep. When others were
wearing down, I would think about Martha's passion and try to
reinvigorate the team.
4. The more you're challenged, the more you gain.
Over the past several years, Martha faced some incredible
challenges. She met them head-on and now says her experiences made
her a better person. Apprentice producer Mark Burnett told
us the show would be the hardest thing we've ever done. I
thought he was crazy--I've done the Hawaii Ironman; I swam five
to eight hours a day in high school and college; I run marathons.
But Mark was right--this was the hardest thing I've ever done.
And it was incredibly rewarding.