Mark Wright fought off 19 other candidates to secure a £250,000 ($465,000) investment from British business icon Lord Alan Sugar, host of the hit BBC series ‘The Apprentice’.
The 25-year-old online marketing sales manager was meant to be in Europe enjoying a “working holiday”, but ended up on the show by accident.
“My best friend said ‘I’m going to go and try out for The Apprentice but I’m a bit nervous do you want to come along?” Mr Wright said.
“I went with him on the weekend and he was unfortunately knocked out in the first round and I went all the way into the show.
“Bit of a weird story, but look where I am now”.
The Armidale School graduate said while his family and friends in Australia were”gobsmacked” by all the attention, winning the popular program has allowed him to fulfil his dream of establishing his own digital marketing agency.
“It is one of the biggest shows on television,” he said.
“I get stopped by hundreds, literally hundreds, of people every day who ask for photos, ask for autographs, ask for advice about their business, for me to come and speak to their staff.
“It’s unbelievable the size of the program and how it’s changed my life. I always knew I had something from a sales perspective.”
Candidates in the series werefilmed competing in a series of high-pressure tasks over fourteen weeks, before presenting business plans for host Lord Sugar to consider.
It is the first time in the show’s ten-year history that a foreign-born candidate has won.
Mr Wright said to be the first Australian to go on the program and not only enter but win was amazing.
“I’m very proud of my Australian background,” he said.
“Hopefully I’ve shown people that no matter what you want to achieve in life and what your goals are you’ve just got to give it a go.”
In partnership with Lord Sugar, Mr Wright has successfully launched his own digital marketing agency Climb Online.
“We’ve had over 6,000 inquiries from companies that want to start online – not get going – but start,” he said.
“It’s been great to be the face of the industry and really get people going on their journey.My plan is to run the business here for five years, be successful and open the Climb Online branch in either Sydney or Melbourne.
“There’s no better country than Australia.It gives the most opportunity to young people, it’s fairly paid and the lifestyle is fantastic.”
WATCH: Mark Wright's audition video
Share
