'Apprentice' to Atlantic Health Employees: You Have What It Takes

Entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker Bill Rancic said he couldn’t really tell his audience anything Wednesday, because its members already know how to be successful.

Those who came to meet with Rancic—best known as the winner of the first Apprentice reality show—at the were 25-year employees of Atlantic Health Systems.

Rancic told them that to work for a company that long they must possess the characteristics of successful people: the ability to make educated decisions in a timely manner, to look for creative solutions and to not waste time assigning blame when things go wrong. By contrast, most people are reactive rather than proactive, love the drama in their lives and surround themselves with negative people, he said.

Rancic ran a successful business before joining the cast of the first season of the show. He started a cigar of the month club, but, when people began purchasing items on the Internet, he was quick to change his focus and sell cigars to country clubs and other businesses. Rancic then went into real estate.

The mother of a friend was an agent for child actors and happened to hear about the call for business people for The Apprentice. She sent in his application without even asking Rancic. He said he was the last man standing in the show because he established a strategy.

Since The Apprentice, Rancic returned to his native Chicago and the real estate business, but now he and his wife, Giuliana, are starting a southern Italian restaurant.

The restaurant business has always been a dream of Giuliana, an E!News anchor. The couple has a show on the Style and E! networks “Giuliana and Bill.” They also wrote a book, “I Do, Now What?” Rancic previously published two books, “You’re Hired,” in 2004 and “Beyond the Lemonade Stand” in 2005. The couple also produces an A&E series, “We Mean Business.”

At the cocktail hour prior to his speech, Rancic mingled with the employees, chatting with the experienced workers and joking with the “greeters,” younger women stationed at the door.