Competing to become Pero’s apprentice
Tauranga’s Olivia Rogers on The Apprentice
The boardroom doors open tonight and hoping to be crowned the winner in TVNZ’S new reality series The Apprentice Aotearoa is Tauranga’s Olivia Rogers.
Admitting she can be stroppy, and viewing her ascension to Tourismhq general manager in under five years as her greatest career achievement, the 31-year-old will face off with 13 other contestants every Monday night.
But the question remains — will Rogers be fired or hired?
With $50,000 investment in their business and ongoing bespoke mentorship with selfmade multi-millionaire Mike Pero up for grabs, it is described as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Rogers grew up in the Bay, attending Matua Primary, O¯ tu¯moetai and Mount Maunganui College. Although she has now settled in Auckland, she said Tauranga would always be her second home.
“I miss how chill it is and how lovely the people are, I also miss being close to my family.
“I don’t think I could ever transition back there full time as my life is in Auckland now but as long as Mum is in Tauranga it will always be a second home.”
It wasn’t until her 20s while living in Melbourne that Rogers dove into her career but she views hard work and determination as helping her progress to the general manager position.
“When I started working for Tourismhq I fell in love with the business and could see how much potential it had. It was an autonomous role and with that came growth.
“I was lucky to build trust with the owner, Rich, and over time he taught me all areas of the business.”
The businesswoman, who joined the show because of the quiet year that Covid-19 created, has a clear outlook of who she doesn’t want to be and said that picture that helped motivate her daily.
Finding joy in being busy and juggling multiple hats, Rogers wants to finish each day feeling accomplished and, “most importantly”, proud of herself.
“I have been told I achieve a lot in short spaces of time which I think is important. I have clear to-do lists and smash them out. I am an opportunist and also see the big picture.
“I have experience in a lot of different fields and these skills are transferable around different industries. I am also extremely organised and known to keep a team in line.”
Despite that, Rogers selfdiagnoses herself as stroppy when things don’t go her way.
She said, thankfully that
I would have reminded myself more it was a TV show, lived more in the moment, cared less and had more fun with it. I also would have stayed more true to myself and my values. Olivia Rogers
side doesn’t appear on screen but she did learn other things about herself while filming.
“Looking back I definitely saw parts of me I didn’t like. I never really felt 100 per cent authentically myself while filming and I think that will show through. I would have reminded myself more it was a TV show, lived more in the moment, cared less and had more fun with it. I also would have stayed more true to myself and my values. The hardest lesson was learning I wasn’t as resilient as I thought.”
However, the silver lining was walking away with lifelong friends, she said.
“We had quite a few amazing dance parties at the house, it was an epic way to all reconnect, let our hair down and relax. The show was extremely high-stress and this turned into a great outlet for all of us.”
The business-themed reality series will showcase the entrepreneurs being put through their paces in a series of tasks, before entering the boardroom for what will be the toughest interview process around. The candidates must put together marketing, production and business plans each week based on the task given by Pero and impress to stay in the competition. Each episode will conclude with a boardroom showdown, as Pero — with the help of his advisers, Cassie Roma and Justin Tomlinson — evaluate the performances of all the candidates before deciding which team wins the challenge and who’ll need to return to the boardroom.
■ The Apprentice Aotearoa premieres tonight at 8.30pm on TVNZ 1.