Both finalists managed their teams really well and came up with really good products. Stella’s Urban Bourbon (Urbon) idea was genius and like they said last night, Jack Daniel’s owns the bourbon market, so it was really innovative for Stella to put her own mark on the drink, come up with a great name and think of marketing it to females. I think that showed a different side to Stella and proved to Lord Sugar that she wasn’t just an organiser but that she is also creative. Her team mates definitely helped but really Stella came up with the majority of ideas, from the name to the bottle.
Chris also did a great job. His bottle design looked really good and I really thought he was going to win. I thought Lord Sugar would see him as someone he could mould and develop. Whatever Chris does now, I’m sure he will be successful and have a bright future ahead of him.
When it came to the board room, Stella fought well and actually reminded me of myself. She relayed the facts of the whole process to Lord Sugar and presented herself well. She had won more tasks than anyone else, been consistent throughout and led the boy’s team brilliantly in week two. At the end of the day, the facts speak for themselves and she had the best record throughout the process.
In terms of Stella’s background, it’s actually quiet similar to my own. We both were brought up on a council estate, have no real qualifications and have worked really hard to achieve everything we have. Like me, Stella also worked in a corporate company for several years. Lord Sugar liked her background, because it shows real determination. It goes to show he doesn’t see qualifications as the be all and end all – it’s about who can get on and do the job.
Overall, I think it was Stella’s experience that Lord Sugar liked. She has a good six or seven years on Chris. Ultimately it is a real job with a big salary and Lord Sugar wants someone who’s already around director level.
The winner is also determined by the job Lord Sugar has in mind. We now know Stella will be working for his IT company at Viglen, selling PCs to the public and education sectors, going in as an operations person. I think that role will really use her banking skills, and all the other skills she’s shown this series: her organisation and people skills. It won’t be an easy job but Stella is extremely focused and determined and I’m sure she’ll do very well.
After I won, I had two weeks off before I started the job as like with any new role, you are shown the ropes in the first few days and then it’s up to you to get stuck into things. She has been selected from over 20,000 candidates so she will be expected to deliver results – fast!
When you win, everyone wants a piece of you but Lord Sugar will expect all her media interviews to be done in those two weeks and that’s it – the hard work really begins. She will have a lot of responsibility, but I’m sure she will be more than capable of handling the pressure.
People on the street know Stella now and they will want to come and congratulate her. I really liked that part of winning, and I’m sure she will too.
For me, looking back on the last 12 weeks, there has been some really good things have come out the series. Stella will be an inspiration, particularly for people who haven’t had a great start in life – she’s shown them that actually you can get on and do it. Joanna is another role model. She has successfully started her own company with no qualifications and made it into a success. Ha ha, I do think that this series wouldn’t have been half as entertaining without Stuart ‘The Brand’ Baggs! There were some classic moments!
At the end Lord Sugar is always left with some really good people. All the winners have gone on to launch their own companies, and I hope Stella can work for him for a few years then go on and achieve everything she wants to achieve. I’m sure she will. She’s a real inspiration.
Lee’s Raw Talent Academy aims to provide SMEs and corporate organisations with the vehicle to build internal sales academies into long term staffing plans and to encourage organisations to look at the wider raw talent we have in the UK and not just graduates. Lee, who has over ten years experience working in recruitment and over seven years as an employer of sales people, is passionate about giving job seekers an opportunity to earn a career – and Raw Talent Academyaims to give the unemployed community that chance.