'Entrepreneurs' to follow locals
If you’ve ever dreamed of being an entrepreneur, you might want to watch the late-night reality television show co-created by a UNC alumnus.
Although “Entrepreneurs” has been compared with Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice,” Co-writer and Executive Producer Omar McCallop says it’s not an ordinary reality show.
“Reality for the sake of reality has run its course,” said McCallop, who graduated in 1998 with degrees in political science and marketing. “There should be a dual purpose.”
That purpose brought almost 300 people from 127 charitable organizations Friday to the Angus Barn in Raleigh to kick off the Unity ’05 campaign — a project built by the show’s contestants to unite businesses in an effort to raise $1 billion for charities worldwide.
The local reality show, filmed mostly in Raleigh and other Triangle locations, features contestants who tackle various tasks while building an actual business called EventsLeader from the ground up. The business will launch in May as an online source for worldwide events and entertainment.
Raleigh real estate tycoon and entrepreneur Bob Winstead, the host and co-writer of the show, donated $250 million of EventsLeader’s inventory to the Unity ’05 campaign. Charities and nonprofits who sign with Unity ’05 will have a free one-year membership with EventsLeader to give their businesses or charities coverage and advertisement.
The idea for the show began when Winstead approached McCallop with the idea of filming the process of building a business.
It was Winstead’s chance to give back to the community and McCallop’s chance to write what he calls a “conscience reality” show meant to educate while entertaining.
“The show began as a standpoint of imagining if you can watch Bill Gates build his company,” said McCallop, who has been writing television shows for five years.
He and Winstead hosted auditions for the show last summer, choosing 16 final contestants who began the process of building EventsLeader.
“I’ve learned so much I did not know,” contestant Gina Smudski said as she picked up registration forms for Unity ’05 at the kickoff luncheon. “I use it daily with my own business.”
Smudski, who owns The Women’s Shoppe of North Carolina, a prosthetic hair shop in Cary, said she has learned how to write a business plan and create a logo, among other things, by taking part in the reality show.
“It has been phenomenal,” she said. “I have a feeling that at least 50 percent of the people here signed up today (for Unity ’05).”
Contestant Kory Bailey, a 2001 UNC graduate and former wide-receiver for UNC’s football team, also emphasized the importance of learning about starting a business and partnering with charities.
“I had no idea the sheer magnitude of nonprofits until this experience,” said Bailey, a member of HC Bar Group LLC and part owner of three Chapel Hill businesses — Avalon night club, Carolina Blue Bar and W.B. Yeats Irish Pub. “We’re hoping this starts here in North Carolina and has a bowling-ball effect.”
Bailey said he has worked with charities before such as World Aids Day and Dance Marathon.
“It important to do things for these nonprofits,” he said. “It’s important for businesses to step up.”
McCallop said contestants and viewers should take away knowledge of starting up a business, but the winner will be the one to fully execute the lessons learned.
“Being an entrepreneur is in the blood,” he said. “It’s not about college, it’s about desire and drive.”
The ultimate “entrepreneur” will win his or her choice of a business with $75,000 in start-up capital, a corporate condo and car, or $50,000 cash.
“Entrepreneurs” will air in the state on FOX 50 at 12:30 a.m. on Fridays starting Feb. 19.
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