Carolyn Kepcher
The Apprentice's Straight Shooter, Carolyn Kepcher
How this high-ranking, busy mother of two juggles life and work in the Trump organization
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by Margee Moore
Today, there are few admirable women on television like the Mary Tyler Moore of old—role models who young and old alike can look up to and emulate.
One notable exception is the smart, uncompromising Carolyn Kepcher, the right arm woman and Straight Shooter of NBC's "The Apprentice" with Donald Trump.
Carolyn Kepcher first caught national attention in the inaugural season of the show when she stood up for the self-respect and dignity of the corporate woman by calling to task the females of the Protéégéé team for reinforcing unproductive sexual stereotypes and setting back the image of women everywhere by using sex to sell.
Unprecedented
Does anyone on television ever draw the line anymore? Is there an episode of the "Bachelor" or "Survivor" where the entire plot isn't based upon women in skimpy swimsuits? Does any show stand up against the degradation of women anymore?
Who was this slight woman who had the guts to say "enough"? How did Kepcher achieve her prestigious position in the Trump Organization? And how on earth does this heavy hitter balance work and her life with her husband and two children?
An interview with this straight shooter was in order.
Early years
Compared to most women on TV, Kepcher seems more like the impressive, hardworking businesswomen I meet every day. It is highly notable that on the third page of her book Carolyn 101, Business Lessons from The Apprentice's Straight Shooter, she states first off that in everything you do it is important to always remain a lady.
Though she is only 35, Kepcher's title is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Trump Organization. She oversees the day-to-day operations of over 250 employees at four Trump golf course properties including the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. Her newest achievement is being tapped as a co-managing partner of a newly formed major division called Trump Golf Management, a business entity that will bring in and manage high-end golf properties as part of the Trump fold.
At the age of 22, Kepcher already had close to a decade of restaurant and country club experience under her belt. She also had a B.S. in marketing (with a minor in psychology) from Mercy College and had completed a semester of graduate level courses in restaurant management before becoming manager of the Zephyr Grill in the prestigious Beekman Tower Hotel in midtown Manhattan.
In 1994, she went to work for the recently repossessed Brair Hall Country Club in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., one of the most affluent communities in Westchester County. Though the property was bankrupt at the time, she saw potential. "I drove up beneath magnificent old trees to a sprawling clubhouse, which at one time must have been rather grand," said Carolyn in our recent interview. "The property was full of potential, and I saw this as an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of Beck Summit Corporation. The idea was to refurbish the property for new buyers."
Opportunity knocks
It was late one summer day halfway through her first season when her boss announced that a potential new buyer had arrived. "My boss burst into my office grinning like a Cheshire Cat," says Carolyn. "It's Donald Trump," he said, barely able to contain himself.
"We set to work preparing for this visit—and by that I mean we sent someone out to buy a disposable camera. We didn't want to miss having our pictures taken with Donald Trump."
Clothed in this humor is a sharp woman who knew when to answer opportunity's knock. Through good training from her boss and mentor, she had all the facts and figures of the golf course at her disposal and was able to answer many of Trump's questions on the spot, making a good first impression.
After that first meeting, Trump touched base about once a week over the next few months with questions about Briar Hall. With each conversation, Carolyn felt she was building a relationship of trust. When it came time to make the presentation to the Trump organization, she was appointed to take the lead. She did her homework very thoroughly.
In light of her brush with celebrity on "The Apprentice," the irony is not lost on her that 10 years ago, in her mid twenties, she went into this meeting much like a candidate on "The Apprentice" with one personal agenda item: Impress Donald Trump.
She was lucky enough to do just that. She landed a position with the Trump Organization, not unlike the one that nearly 215,000 young Americans competed for in the first season and over 1 million in the second.
Valuable lessons
The next period of her life afforded many opportunities to learn valuable business lesson, which she shares in her book Carolyn 101. When a bad manager at the club left the entire staff in turmoil, Carolyn was chosen by the disgruntled staff to make their case to upper management. The ultimate outcome was that at 25, Kepcher was manager of the Briar Hall Country Club for the Trump Organization.
Through impeccable leadership and hard work, she was able to turn in a modest profit for the former money-leaking operation in the first year. Over the next few years as manager of the club, she played a crucial, hands-on role in the acquisition, development, marketing and start-up operations for the $80 million golf course construction, $40 million clubhouse and $150 million in real estate sales.
The managerial mother
Meanwhile in June of 2000, Carolyn's personal life was taking off as well. Her son Connor was born. She and her husband George celebrated in their hospital room like any other new parents with beer and pizza. "I now had a new life in more ways than one—a new life sleeping beside me in the bed and a new life that incorporated all of our separate lives into a new rhythm, with new joys, new surprises and new demands."
She returned to work after a three-week maternity leave with an in-home nanny. She likens managing her home to managing a business: You need to assign support roles and you need support from many angles.
Today her daycare provider is her sister, who has children the same age as Carolyn. Their sons are 13 days apart and their daughters are 13 minutes apart. She also credits her supportive husband for making the balance work.
Kepcher feels that society's tendency to make working and motherhood a moral issue—a matter of strict rights and wrongs—to be counterproductive. "With the high cost of living today, it's not easy for one working spouse, no matter how successful or hardworking, to support a whole family," says Carolyn. "No one but you has any right to say whether what you are doing is good or bad."
Like any mother, Carolyn has her good and bad days. She related a story where she needed to change three times one morning before she could get out the door without baby goop on her clothes. After her second child Cassidy was born, life became more intense and complicated. Work was going well, but so well that Donald Trump offered her the management of an additional course in Bedminster, N.J.
"It was simply assumed by senior management that I would accept these new responsibilities with the same gung ho spirit with which I had received every promotion until then. No one had really thought about the fact that I had a newborn girl."
But Carolyn did take on the position with her usual can-do attitude. To manage overload days she advises taking things one step at a time. "Sometimes, when too many tasks overwhelm you, you've got to take life like a Chinese restaurant—one item from column A, one from column B—until you're done for the day."
The Apprentice's straight shooter
One spring day in 2002, Donald Trump came to the Briar Hall course, now known as Trump National, to play golf. He mentioned that Mark Burnett, the creator of the hit reality show "Survivor," had asked him to collaborate on a business-oriented reality show called "The Apprentice." He asked Kepcher what she thought of the idea.
Her first reaction was that it would be too disruptive to business and said to Trump, "It sounds pretty hokey."
Mr. Trump just chuckled mysteriously. Kepcher was to be an integral part as Trump's right-hand woman.
"My own task was one that I accepted with some trepidation. Trump asked senior advisor George Ross and me to serve as his eyes and ears while the teams were out in the field and join him in the boardroom to help determine who should be fired. Our involvement in the show would take only a few hours a week, Trump told us. But I quickly came to realize that estimate was not at all accurate!"
For the audience, it has been a pleasure to have Kepcher on the screen as a representative of businesswomen everywhere. The show's popularity continues to grow, and talk around the water cooler would be less colorful without it.
Dedication to family
One interesting part of Kepcher's character that we are not able to see on "The Apprentice" is her dedication to her children and family. "Though I work to be organized, establish a routine, set clear goals and communicate effectively, there are still times that test me," says Carolyn. "One time I was at the pediatrician's office waiting with my daughter for her routine inoculations. My Blackberry rang, and it was my secretary telling me Donald Trump was on the line and it was very important. Just then the doctor came into the office and began talking to me. It didn't take one split second to make my decision. I told my secretary to tell Mr. Trump I'd call him back. When it comes to kids and work, your kids always come first."
For advice in closing, Kepcher wants young women to know that if they wait for the right time to have children they will never get the opportunity. "Put aside your fears concerning finding the right time. There is no perfect time. Just do it."
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Author Margee Moore is mother of two and owner of Just Write, Inc. a freelance writing service which specializes in financial, telecom and business copy. Her focus areas are women in business, parenting and trailing spouses.
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