By: Brian Zanzonico
Chris Russo showed last week at West Hempstead High School why he was selected as a contestant on NBC's wildly popular show "The Apprentice."
The West Hempstead native and Class of 1991 graduate returned to his alma mater Wednesday, Dec. 10 to speak to business students about what it took for him to rise as a stock broker and financial planner against seemingly insurmountable odds.
Impeccably dressed in a black power suit, the charismatic 31-year-old, who was "fired" by Donald Trump in the Nov. 11 episode of "The Apprentice," did not mince words when he described what is needed to succeed in the savage world of business.
"Drop the losers," he said, warning students with friends who are not goal oriented to shed themselves of such company. "Do more than is expected. Successful people don't work 9 to five. Put in 10, 12, 14 hour days. If the boss stays until six, stay until 6:30. You'll be first in line for a raise. Ninety-seven percent of people are 9 to five. Don't be one of them."
Russo knows about resolution. Raised by his mother, he was introduced to hard work at an early age. As with many young boys, Russo started with a paper route. He moved on to selling candy, then flowers during the holidays and Christmas trees each winter. By 14, he had his own landscaping company.
"Not everyone here will be successful. A lot of you will be failures," he said. "I was a loser. I graduated 196th out of 210 [students]. But I had a certain drive and determination."
Electing not to go to college, which he said he now regrets, Russo became a stockbroker.
He quickly rose through several brokerage firms and after seven years opened a branch of GunnAllen Financial in Westbury. He then set his sights toward reality TV.
"I didn-t tell anybody I was trying out for 'The Apprentice,''" he said. "I told my wife, who was pregnant at the time, if you give me the OK [to pursue this], I guarantee I will get on the show."
Russo did not prepare one video biography for the second season of The Apprentice, he made 12. He mailed the first one early and one on each of the next 11 days. When he was called in for an interview with producers, he departing from the typical routine and spiced things up with a power point presentation that reflected his personality.
"Not cocky, confident," he said about his character. "There's a difference. Cocky people are loud and arrogant. Confident people say those things to themselves."
His power point presentation was a hit with producers and a five minute interview turned into a 45-minute lesson on why Chris Russo should be on the show.
I had two women producers rolling and laughing, he said. After he was selected he learned his was the first tape producers received, the first they watched and he was the first person they interviewed. Then came time to meet "The Donald."
I never put anyone on a pedestal, never get star struck, but I-ve always looked up to and respected him and I tried to soak up some of his successful qualities, he said.
Eighteen cast members were split into two teams, Mosaic and Apex, and expected to complete tasks laid out by Trump. Russo moved into a Manhattan loft with his 17 cast mates.
Russo survived Trump's wrath through the first eight episodes, which featured tasks from selling ice cream to designing toys, but got on his bad side when he said Apex was a bad team during episode 9.
Russo was assigned Project Manager by Trump for the next task, in which each team would open a bridal shop and hold a sale. The team that made the most profit would win the task.
Russo made the marketing decision to call bridal vendors and offer free space at the shop to sell their merchandise in exchange for a split in the profits with Apex.
No one responded. Russo declared the task a no-win situation in which both teams would probably lose money.
Russo and two teammates then began personally visiting bridal shops. They met the owner of a bridal salon who offered her inventory and free advice about the industry. Team Apex then handed out fliers in Grand Central and Penn stations.
When the two teams opened the doors to their businesses, 40 women were waiting to be helped at the Mosaic shop while just two visited Apex. Team Mosaic turned a profit of more than $12,000 while Apex made less than $2,000. Each Mosaic team members walked away with a $50,000 gift certificate for the posh Graff Jewelers. Trump then delivered to Russo a phrase that has become part of the American lexicon, "You're Fired."
"I think because I said I was on a bad team I was fired," Russo said. "But I don't regret it."
The three-hour finale of "The Apprentice" is broadcast live tonight, Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. on NBC channel four. Russo said he liked some of his cast mates and despised others but could never root for someone other than himself.
"I want them all to be fired," he said.
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