The Apprentice Aotearoa star says NZ show will be Trump’s opposite
Cassie Roma is a ‘kindness warrior’, so Glenn McConnell asks what’s she doing on the toughest business show on TV?
LISTEN to the theme song of The Apprentice and you quickly get the idea. Its catchy yet uninspired lyrics repeat the word ‘‘money’’ 30 times in a row.
The franchise’s most infamous ‘‘chief executive’’, Donald Trump, used the programme to foster the belief he was good with money – despite his estimated $600 million of debt (US$421m) appears to counter narratives of financial mastery.
But on The Apprentice, at least, he was the king of capitalism. During his seasons, from 2004 to 2015, he frothed with anger at supposedly incompetent contenders and took glee in his catchphrase, ‘‘You’re fired!’’
He threatened to sue those with whom he had run-ins, told contestants they were ‘‘stupid’’ and made the most of his selfbranded helicopter. Money, The Apprentice tells us, excuses acting like a bully.
So why is self-described ‘‘kindness warrior’’ Cassie Roma involved in TVNZ’s surprise reboot of The Apprentice Aotearoa?
When the show’s newest advisor to ‘‘CEO’’ Mike Pero calls Sunday News, she explains why she’s on the roadside during out pre-planned call. Roma says she schedules meetings during the morning, so she can take calls while on walks.
‘‘You’re a lot better at being eloquent when you speak because of that blood flow and oxygen going to the brain. I buy into that, whether it’s accurate or not,’’ she says.
Roma, who consults about brand and storytelling, has been advocating for kindness and flexibility in workplaces. She’s a California native, but has spent 18 years in New Zealand and is staunch in her belief that old businesses must make room for more women, more people of colour and more queer people in boardrooms.
The best way to succeed in anything, she says, is being true to yourself. If playing the piano helps you, Roma says do it – that’s how she makes big decisions. Although, she acknowledges it does sound ‘‘a little woo woo’’.
‘‘Pay attention to yourself and rhythms of your being,’’ is her advice. ‘‘You’ll start to realise how to find success in yourself.’’
She’s certainly no Ivanka Trump. And although she’ll be filling Ivanka’s shoes in the New Zealand spinoff, she says the comparisons can’t go any further. ‘‘We’re both Pa¯ keha¯ women, the similarities stop there. I believe in doing for the better good, not myself. I’m not sure if she shares those ethical standards.’’
Roma, who has worked for companies including Air New Zealand, ANZ Bank and The Warehouse Group, she says she did not watch Trump’s version of The Apprentice, or the earlier New Zealand season. She doesn’t mind the UK Apprentice’s Lord Sugar, however.
TVNZ announced plans to resurrect the show at the end of last year, after an 11-year hiatus. New Zealand produced a single season of the reality show in 2010, fronted by Terry Serepisos – who has since been bankrupted. Mortgage man Mike Pero would be the CEO
for this season, with advisors Roma and Justin Tomlinson.
Pero made a name for himself through mortgage and real estate industries, but has looked to diversity with talks of launching his own airline this year – an ambitious plan that was shot down late last week.
Tomlinson comes from the tech industry, working in the UK to launch an internet-based bank and then in Silicon Valley, before moving to New Zealand in 2016, where he has held roles at the likes of New Zealand Rugby and Sky. He said he hoped the show would encourage entrepreneurs to base themselves in New Zealand.
‘‘Aotearoa needs more knowledge workers and so this is a great way to help encourage people to see what a great place we have here to do good work in the gig economy,’’ he said.
The three Apprentice stars are singing from the same song sheet, with hopes of inspiring and mentoring emerging business people rather than pillory.
When TVNZ released its plan for a remake, head of content Cate Slater said ‘‘I don’t want people to think Trump when they think The Apprentice’’.
She did concede it comparisons would be ‘‘a little bit unavoidable’’.