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- [00:00]
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- [00:31]
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- [00:59]
Jimmy Carr
Jobs welcome to Jimmy's Jobs of the Future. For those of you that follow me on LinkedIn, you will have seen that I have been a big fan of the Apprentice this year. I actually think it's great for social mobility and I was really struck by the two finalists and I am delighted that the winner, Karishma, is joining us on Jimmy's Jobs of the Future today to talk about how she's going to spend Lord Sugar's quarter of a million pounds onto today's episode. Karishma, welcome to Jimmy's Jobs of the Future.
- [01:30]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Thank you.
- [01:31]
Jimmy Carr
Jimmy, congratulations on your victory on the Apprentice.
- [01:34]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Thank you so much.
- [01:35]
Jimmy Carr
What have the last four days been like?
- [01:37]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
The last four days have been back to back interviews, podcasts. Everyone's trying to get me to, like, give them this exclusive tea on what actually happened. But, you know, I'm here now and I'm ready to answer all your questions because I feel like this is going to be a different type of conversation. You know, I've heard about you, sir. I've heard, I've been told this is a good one. You've got to go on Jimmy's pod. So I'm here.
- [02:01]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah, Tim Campbell's been giving us the big up. Right. So what, first question, what are you going to do with the money? Right? Like, where are you going to build it? Because I think it's been amazing to see the reaction actually to you on the Apprentice. Like in the 20th year, they've gone all out, like a lot of people saying, including like the Independent, you're the most impressive contestant ever been on it out of the almost 400. And it is true that you have built already quite a substance, substantial business. Like what's your. What, what are you going to do with the money? You've probably got a bit of an idea already.
- [02:33]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I just find it so amusing that that's what's been said about me because I've never watched the show. Like, I just think it's so ironic and all these papers are coming out saying like in 20 years she's the most competent business person that's entered the show. And I'm just like, wow, I wish I watched it because I don't know. Firstly I don't know who I'm being compared to and secondly, I just think, wow, like for me to have not seen it, I'm pretty sure it was one of them ones where a lot of people thought it was an immediate disadvantage because I just don't know what to expect. Like, even Hong Kong task 1 get told it's a discount buying task. I had no idea what that meant. And I just sat here thinking, right, discount buying. And then I had to ask other candidates, what does that mean? And they were like, are you stupid? And I was like, well, no, I'm the only one that got negotiation on my team anyway. But point is, you've got to adapt, you know, you just got to go with it and figure it out as you go along.
- [03:22]
Jimmy Carr
And do you think it was an advantage not having watched the show before then?
- [03:25]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Absolutely, because I did my own thing. I never thought about, oh, okay. Usually they do 30% in the last season, you know, or in this task they decided to do this logo and maybe we should do something similar. Everybody's opinion of what they should be doing was heavily skewed by previous seasons, heavily influenced by what other people did right and what others did wrong. And whereas I, I took every risk, I run it as if every task was my own business plan. And that's how I saw it, that's how I did it. And I think that's why it went well. There was like fresh ideas all over the place coming from me and people were like, how did you come up? It's like. Cause I've not watched it. I've not been brainwashed by like previous seasons of candidates doing like silly.
- [04:09]
Jimmy Carr
And. And so what? Yeah, what are you going to spend the money? Like marketing, hiring, like what are you looking to hire for?
- [04:16]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So thankfully we've done. It's in papers and stuff. It's crazy. We've done 250k in sales in the last, like, 72 hours. So now.
- [04:26]
Jimmy Carr
Wow.
- [04:27]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Yes. Like, it's insane. In fact, we did it last week, we did it. As soon as I got into the final, we. Within, like, the next few days, we did that. And then again with the final, we did it again. So basically what's happening here is the Apprentice did exactly what it was supposed to do for me, expedite the success, like, process for me, put me into the public eye, put Kishkin, my brand, into the public eye. Now we've got £250,000 extra to give us a really good fighting chance at being the next IT brand, you know, and. And £250,000 in a grand scheme of things. And Lord Sugar will tell you this is not a lot, you know, not to sound ungrateful, I'm very grateful for the opportunity, but I came for Lord Sugar. The investment came hand in hand, but I came for Lord Sugar's network, his connections, his advice. Like, he's the godfather of business, he's the blueprint. I came for him and I was dedicated to make an impression, which is why it used to, like, really rub me the wrong way that he never knew my name. Like, up until episode 10, he didn't know my name.
- [05:28]
Jimmy Carr
Did he not?
- [05:28]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
No, he didn't know it was Karishma. That is my name. Instead of Karishma, it was Krishna Charisma. I got production to write it on a piece of paper, put it in front of him. I was like, please get my name right. I've left my family, my man, my, you know, my business, everything to be here, please, and then come final. Now he knows my name, you know, which I love.
- [05:49]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah. I don't think he's going to be forgetting it. I don't think many people that watched it are going to be forgetting it either. Tell us about the product, what it is for those that haven't watched the Apprentice, etc. Like, give us a rundown of it.
- [06:02]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So Kishkin launched a year ago and we started with our hero product, which is our Rose up to the Rescue oil. Now, this is an anti inflammatory.
- [06:10]
Jimmy Carr
You got a bottle on you?
- [06:12]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I've already given it out to someone I bumped into in the street. I bought one for you, met a fan on the street and just had to, like. They were like, I'm struggling with my skin. You've got lovely skin. So I get what's sent over, but just know that, like, I always have a bottle in my bag in case I run into someone that needs it. Because what we're Doing is helping people actually find something that works. And people are just so skeptical because the skincare industry has earned nothing but distrust. What they do is pump millions into marketing and pennies into research and development. And that's not. We do it the other way around. We don't have millions, but thousands into research and development and then the marketing. I look after myself because that's my. That's my. Like, that's the nature of what I've done my whole life.
- [06:54]
Jimmy Carr
And tell us a bit more about your personal story. I found it incredibly moving in the sort of penultimate episodes when, you know, because the. The Apprentice is TV production, it's entertainment, right? We know the sort of vibes about kind of being rude and short with people, et cetera. And then in the penultimate episode, it sort of all shifts and it becomes a little bit X factor, one might say, actually. But tell us your story.
- [07:18]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So I think it's so important to just like, preface this all by saying, when I applied, I had, like, nothing to lose. It was already the bottom of the barrel type of life that I was living. Like, it was like, what on earth could possibly go worse than this? Like, what could go wrong that more than what's already happened? And I reference a shipment of mine, my biggest shipment, my biggest investment till date, sinking to the bottom of the ocean because it was an uninsured shipment. Typhoon hit the ship, everything just fell off the boat. And I was like. When they called me and told me this, I said, this cannot be real. Like, you've got to be joking. What is going on? And they were like, we're really sorry, we can't claim this money back. It was uninsured shipment. And I was just heartbroken. And I just thought there's nothing I could physically do to get myself out of this. I need help. I need investment.
- [08:11]
Jimmy Carr
How much stock was that worth? That went.
- [08:14]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
It was around. It was around 20,000 bottles. 20,000 bottles of oil that would have sustained the year. So that's what I had ordered. And that was the money I had saved up from the sales that had come in. It was really hard to be a profitable business in year one. All my profits sank to the bottom of the sea.
- [08:33]
Jimmy Carr
Well, did you use it to fund the very early days with, like, where did you cool the money together from?
- [08:38]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So I've been working since I was 18. So I started working, like dancing in the background and music videos. I've always been a creative. I was at uni just down the road from here, St. George's that's where I started dancing, it was like a very, very. We want to see what you're, what else you're good at. I'm an academic, I always have been. But what else are you good at? So at St. George's I really started to thrive and I made some connections, started dancing in these music videos, started making like 50, 60 people a day. Yeah. Then I started doing the makeup videos online. It took off. It took off. And then I started getting brand campaigns. When I started making brands, thousands of pounds, that's when I said, I'm going to turn this into an agency. So I became a social media marketing consultant. Brands hiring me and kind of like three days a week, come in, look after our socials, look after everything. The job I do now. Sorry, the job I did then for other brands. Currently I have three people working under Kishkin doing the single job I used to do for brands back then. So at 24, I was doing more than kids are doing now that I'm hiring people with, like, I kid you not, marketing masters, like masters in marketing degrees. And I'm sat here thinking, why don't you to do this? Or why have I not seen the impact of your education? I really do believe experience over education, like with skincare. Yes, I have a science background. Yes, I have studied dermatology. But I went through the skin struggles, which is why people believe it and buy into it. I went through the struggle, which is why people see this as a personal win. People that have gone through, you know, the story of, like, the immigrant parent, the struggle, the rent is due. What could possibly be worse than this? Like, we need to turn our luck around. I think that's why people are relating to me, because I walked in so fearless, there was nothing to lose. Like, so how can I be scared?
- [10:35]
Jimmy Carr
And I think it's an amazing story. Right. And you had kind of acne, aged 18. That was the sort of origin, the ignition for the idea.
- [10:44]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Yeah. So I, I think everything happens for a reason. And it's so full circle. And I know it sounds cliche, but had I not had acne, wouldn't have started documenting my journey online. Wouldn't be sat here with half a million followers today, you know, and even though in the application process itself, I never want it to be known that I'm a social media content creator just in case it slightly skews my chance of getting in and never let it be known. So once I was on the show and then they were like, look, we have to do background checks. And I said, okay, well, here's my social media. And they were like, hey, so you're you. You've done this before. Like, you know, you understand this industry. And I said, okay, like, this is. This is not why I came here. But I just wanted you to know that I'm a business person. I'm not just a content creator or influencer, whatever you want to call it. So business first, always. And that's how I've done it. And it's very full circle now that, you know, sat here in Tuting where it all started, you know. But had I not had that skin struggle at 18, I would not have done any of this. None of it. Not Kishkin, not social media, not the Apprentice.
- [11:45]
Jimmy Carr
And tell us about Kishkin. Let's talk about the business side of it. Right? You talked about the people. Give us a breakdown of who you're employing, what they're doing, etc. You mentioned the three people doing the one job that you used to do. Like, what are you looking for when you're hiring people as well?
- [11:59]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
In my opinion, the background of Kishkin is social media. It's all about storytelling. And there's people I've tried to put into my business that helped me tell the story of Kishkin. When you're running it, it's really hard to be everywhere. I'm sure you understand that so well, you know, you're going to be a cleaner one day and marketing expert the next. Like, it's all over the place. So for me, at the moment, our hires are kind of looking heavily around social media. Then of course, we have the warehouse stuff that make it all happen. You know, if someone orders something and it's not there in 48 hours, that complaints, that's refunds, that's money I've not made. So there's that. So at the moment, it's a very basic business plan if you think about it. We have a manufacturing in Korea, Hong Kong, Chile. Everything comes here and then it comes to the warehouses and then it's packed and dispatched. And we have our influencer marketing, UGC stuff we have now we're working with Amstrad Digital, who's doing all of our online, like, digital marketing, who I hired before I got hired, by the way, like, I hired to show Lord Sugar I know what's about to happen. But let me just hire them so I can show you my vote of confidence in what the Amstrad brand.
- [13:08]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [13:08]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So I hired them, negotiate them from, like, all the way down. And I said, price match, please. Price match, what else is in the industry right now? They did and then, yeah, now we're all good to go. Like as a business, we have what we need to thrive.
- [13:21]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah. And how did it end up being, where was it you said it's produced? Chile, Hong Kong, Korea. How did that. How do you go about creating the skincare brand and then scouring the world for where to get it produced?
- [13:36]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So we initially went through multiple. I knew what the product needed to be. I knew it needed to be a rosehip seed oil, pure, 100% cold pressed. Started researching into manufacturers of this oil, started looking into the most potent versions, species of this plant and scientists and lab developers and all these people got involved. And this is what I mean by I spent thousands on just research. And after trying it, testing it, they give it out to focus groups, they collect information and data. And then you come down to the one that is the hero product and that one was the Chilean extract. And it's the most expensive, the most potent and the most powerful. So that is what we bottled and started selling. Within months we start seeing like, genuinely, I know it's just skin and maybe like it doesn't mean the same to someone who hasn't gone through it, but it's a miracle what it's done for people's skin. If you think about young girls, have you got any daughters?
- [14:31]
Jimmy Carr
Just the three.
- [14:32]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Yeah, just the three. Are any of them like teenagers?
- [14:35]
Jimmy Carr
No, no, they're all under six.
- [14:36]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
They're all under six, Right. There'll be an age.
- [14:38]
Jimmy Carr
I know.
- [14:40]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Yep. She's going to turn 16, 17, 18 and she's going to be looking at the pretty girls online. And if she does have skin concerns, she's going to think, damn, like, what do I do? Why don't I look like her? That is who I was at 18 and that is who Kishkin is for. Now
- [14:58]
Jimmy Carr
I'm gonna call out my daughter and wife on this because they both picked you really early as their favorite and were like, she's gonna win. And genuinely, my wife was so on it. And it's the first year actually that my 6 year old has watched it with us. And I thought to myself, at the end of it all, I was like, it has been an amazing vehicle for social mobility. Actually, sometimes people get a bit kind of like from the business world can get a bit snobby about the Apprentice, right? Oh, it's tv, it's entertainment, et cetera. And yes, it is all those things. But I look at your story and some of the stories of other people. And this is a sort of. This is a moonshot for you now that you're on. Right. The rocket ship left last Thursday. Like, there's no limit to what you can achieve now.
- [15:43]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Right, Exactly. And I think, you know, Lord Sugar's told me I'm a call away. Nothing is off the. Like, off the table. So for me, like, as a brand, without the Apprentice, the way my plan was, you know, I anticipated that we'd have very strong sales by this point. I anticipated that we'd have a viral social presence. And, you know, I anticipated these things. I just didn't know how I'd get there. Like, it would be, like, through campaigns and TikTok and Instagram and posting relentlessly and doing all the creative shoots. And, like, I have a really creative background, so I know I can do it. But with the Apprentice, I've got millions of eyes that I didn't have to, like, pay, like, through digital marketing, slash, find them stumble upon my content online. I've just been given the platform. Here you go. Do well and it will be yours. So, you know, as much as people think, like, oh, you did well in the Apprentice and now your business has taken off. No, I did well for 12 weeks on the Apprentice, a process designed to put you under immense amounts of pressure. None of them are idiots. None of the 20 candidates are idiots. I promise you that much. They're all very highly educated, entrepreneurial beings that have, like, succeeded in their own realms of business, and now they're at the Apprentice, like, because they need the investment or they need the publicity or whatever. Some came for the fame, some came for the game, right? So in my opinion, none of these people are idiots. And the way the show is set up, it is kind of, you know, here's six minutes to design a logo. You know, like, you're not gonna be able to perform well under pressure unless you are the type of person who does that.
- [17:21]
Jimmy Carr
But also, I think it's something that's so true about being an entrepreneur, Right. If you think of each of the episodes as, like, mini hackathons, like, yeah, I thought back when we were starting Jimmy's jobs and whatever, I didn't have a clue about branding or podcast artwork design or whatever. Like, and it was all a bit, basically. And then you had a sales head of marketing as well as head of talent. Like, in some ways, I actually think it sums up the messiness of the entrepreneurship journey quite well. Most people don't know what they're doing when they start out in lots of different domains. That is part of the point of being an entrepreneur. Right.
- [17:53]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I think the process is actually the most like the person who's going to get far. And I'm not talking about myself, I'm talking about generally candidates. People that made it far were people that have, like, understood what it takes to run a business from scratch. Like, no handouts, no daddy's money. They did it, they did the logos, they did it under time pressure. They spoke to manufacturers, they negotiated firsthand, all of these things, you know, and that is how you get far because you know how to do it. So like, you will never be put in an alien situation. Lord Sugar will never put you in a situation that is too far away from reality. You know, you might not be looking for shops in Hong Kong, but you could very much be speaking to a manufacturer in Hong Kong, negotiating prices. It's very like you're not given an impossible task. All of them are possible tasks. It's just that instead of having a day or two or a month to prepare a campaign or whatever, you have 12 minutes.
- [18:47]
Jimmy Carr
What was your favorite task?
- [18:49]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
My favourite task was the designing a water brand. Yes, I was pm. It was very early on. It was week four. I by no means wanted to be PM this early because I was learning.
- [19:01]
Jimmy Carr
Yes.
- [19:01]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
How does production work? What the candidates like, how do I do this? Like, you know, with like the tasks and learning on the job. Pretty much like what it takes to win as pm. Learning how you know how to speak in boardroom and defend your name and stuff. So. But task four was like, hey, here, Karishma, here's a task made to your DNA. Like, like what Could I ask for a social media task? Designing something, a creative one. Editing, filming, all of these things. Second nature. My first language.
- [19:35]
Jimmy Carr
What was your least favorite one?
- [19:36]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
My least favorite was probably flowers. Just like, not the idea of like selling in public, but just have zero interest in like that kind of stuff. Like there's no create. There was no like, method.
- [19:47]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [19:48]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Standing in the street and screaming and shouting. Okay. Do you know what I mean? That's fine. I've done it for Kishkin. I've done it in exhibitions and it's great. But I just thought there was like a lack, like creative, like the kind of like stuff that I think works nowadays.
- [20:04]
Jimmy Carr
Do you give any feedback to the kind of production crew?
- [20:07]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
They don't need feedback. They've been doing it for 20 years. A lot of the people on production have been there for years and years and years and they are not your friends. They Are not your friends. They might have their favorites. Like, I do think, like, with me, every driver that took us from A to B was sir. And I always called them sir. Every man on production was sir. And every woman on production, she was younger than me, I spoke to respectfully. And, like, I just think that production thought, like, not. Not that they thought the world of me or anything like that, but they just thought, what a kind girl. What is she doing here? Because everyone else is, like, cocky and, like, making all these jokes of production. And, like, I was just there, like, the quiet one, like, thank you, sir, thank you, thank you, thank you, like, just for everything. And I just think they thought, she's in the wrong room, man.
- [20:55]
Jimmy Carr
So what is the process? Because they are recruiting now, right? For future series. They always put that up right at the end of the final series, if you want to be in future ones. Tell us about the kind of, like, process to just get to that first episode.
- [21:07]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So applications is a written application. So you're going to type up why you think you're good at business, why you think you should be logical as partner, what is your business idea? What makes you unique? Etc, like, very standard questions. You then go away to, like, the BBC buildings and there's like 300 people suited and booted. Everyone looks incredible, everyone looks ready to be on camera and everyone's looking at each other like, what's your business idea? What's your business idea? I still remember, like, meeting this, like, incredible guy. I don't even know if he remembers that he sat next to me now, but he. I asked him, what's your business plan? And he's like, yeah, I have an AI. Like some kind of like, AI marketing thing. And I was like, yeah, like, he's probably going to win the show. He didn't even get past the first round of interviews because they just want, like, they actually want entertaining people. Like, not saying he's not entertaining, but they want people that will put on a show.
- [22:00]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [22:01]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
And like, first round of interviews, you go in with like 30 people. Everyone has like 10 seconds or 30 seconds to pitch themselves. Based on those 30 seconds, they will take like five out of the 30. And the five out of 30, they get taken to the next round and everyone else goes down a lift and goes out.
- [22:23]
Jimmy Carr
So it's almost like an X Factor process. That'd be quite interesting.
- [22:26]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Yeah, it's a very brutal interview process. Like one minute was sat with someone, next minute, like, you're waving them goodbye and they're gone. And like, they're just wondering, oh, my God, like, it could be you that goes, like, onto the show and stuff. Like, just thousands of people leaving that building at once.
- [22:43]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah. Yeah.
- [22:44]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Everyone came prepared well.
- [22:47]
Jimmy Carr
And what was it like picking the people at the end as well for the final show? How was that?
- [22:53]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So between the semifinal and the final, there was about three down days. We're like, there's no filming. We're just chilling at home. And like, me and Pasha, we've, like, had multiple conversations about who we think should come back and we'll come back and who we think we'd pick. So that picking process was very strategic because I knew there was some people that we both wanted back and we would, like, swoop up. And then there were some people like, that she got along with more, and then there's people that I got along with more that I knew were like, I'm going to end up with this person because I want them and she doesn't. Yeah. So, like this. The picking process was very strategic. Do you know what I mean? It's like, it's like school when you have to, like, pick, like, captain of, like, football and stuff like that. Like, it was like that. So. But it was nice to see everyone again and, like, know that they are now there for your best interest and they got the choice. Would you like to come back for the final? If you're coming back, please make sure you bring your a game because someone else's future depends on it.
- [23:51]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [23:52]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
There's a huge difference between first and second place when it comes to the apprentice because Lord Sugar only has the energy for one. He only, only only has due diligence to one.
- [24:02]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [24:02]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
You know, so it's like you either come second or your life changes.
- [24:07]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [24:08]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
You know, not saying it doesn't for second place, but in the last couple of days, I've just seen what I'm talking about right now is weird.
- [24:16]
Jimmy Carr
So what is. What has happened the last five days? What's been the thing that would surprise people the most?
- [24:24]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I think. I think what surprised people the most is that immediately day after the final, Lord Sugar's calling me up saying, when I. When. When are you coming to my office? Like, let's talk. What's next? Right. I go to his office, he's like, right, we're feeling. We're filming tiktoks today. What TikTok would you want me to film? He's so game.
- [24:43]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [24:43]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
For my world. This is not his world. Like, trust me. I've met his social media team. I've Met everyone now and they're just like, they are very used to like news outlets and other forms of media and now it's like TikTok and Instagram and seven second videos and things that are like fun to watch and with viral potential and it's a different world to them all.
- [25:06]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [25:06]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
And then there's me who just would be like, hey, L' or show, let's do a secret handshake. Posted it like an hour ago. It's already gone viral. Like it's. I know what will work for Lord Sugar, but I'm not his manager ultimately, so I can't control it. But I just think that like the last couple of days have been an incredible thank you, God. Thank you to the country, thank you to everyone that's bought a bottle of our products. We've now got free products. Sales have been outstanding.
- [25:34]
Jimmy Carr
Have you just been like sat there refreshing?
- [25:38]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So they rebuilt my website on Shopify and now every time I get a sale there's a coin drop sound and like every three seconds it's like kaching, kaching, kaching. And like my family would be like counting the seconds between each kaching. Like just as a game now, like when I tell you. But there was days, in fact there was a hundred days where I would be up at 3am trying to speak to each customer, trying to get a single sale. Yeah, like, hey, if this doesn't work, you'll get your money back. Just give it a shot. Like me trying to give people consultations at three in the morning, just trying to sell a single bottle. And that was the reality of the business for months. For months, like 20 orders going out a week. Royal Mail sending like a tiny courier van and now they're sending us lorries.
- [26:27]
Jimmy Carr
But Sunny's getting very excited about some of the clips that you can use for the intro here. I think you've got to have about an eight minute intro, son. What, what do we need to do to inspire young entrepreneurs? Like, what's the, the next step? Because it is hard, right? Like, you know, every entrepreneur has been there when it's not working. You know, Elon Musk says it's like chewing glass. And at times I can totally appreciate that. Like, what do we need to do to inspire the next generation?
- [26:54]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I think no one's telling them the truth. I wish someone told me the truth. I just think there's a massive secret around business and I think that secret is don't use your own money. I think everyone thinks that I need to save up 100k like I did at 24, started saving up every penny. Like said, 100k is what it would take. I could have launched Kishkin in 5K. I could have and just kept the ball rolling and rolling and rolling. But I waited for perfection. I waited to be polished. I waited to have enough in the bank account. It was not required. You don't need it. And do I just think, go to the bank, get a loan, go to an investor, get help, ask for financial aid from whoever it needs, like create a business plan. The best thing that the Apprentice did for me out of all the tasks and everything that I learned was the incentive to make a business plan and type it up. Because that gave me the direction that was very kind of like on a day by day basis, like today, what we're doing today, what we're doing, survival mode. Running a business on survival mode, as opposed to what is the long term? One year plan, two year plan, five year plan? Young people need to know, don't use your own money, don't risk your personal assets. Find help. Yeah, what's the worst thing that you do? Lose banks money. Okay, we'll pay you back in installments over the next 20 years.
- [28:14]
Jimmy Carr
I think there's also, you're right in terms of like the Dr. Pepper, what's the worst that can happen? Right. Like whatever you do. But also you're saying, you know, you could launch it for under £5,000 and whatever. And I appreciate to some people £5,000, particularly early 20s, can still be a lot of money. But actually, you know, that is, it is achievable in the modern world with social media, with these new tools to have a minimum viable product. Right. That even 10 years ago, yeah, it might have been close to.
- [28:43]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
But things have changed now.
- [28:45]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [28:45]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Just yesterday, me and my sister on the drive home from Lord Sugar's office designed an entire business around a digital product for her. You don't even need to be selling real stuff anymore. I don't need to sell a glass of a glass bottle of oil. I could sell a digital product a hundred times over and make £20,000amonth. Yeah. Like the world is completely advancing and evolving every single day. Young people in business get so hooked up on like, it needs to be perfect and on social media it needs to bang and it needs to go viral. It needs to get like all this traction. I say it because I know it and I felt it. I've been in that chair and I was just thinking, why was I so, like scared to launch? I've delayed My launch by months because I thought it wasn't perfect. There was not even anyone watching. Like, I'm acting like half the. You know, like 3 billion people, half the world is watching over. Like,
- [29:40]
Jimmy Carr
I do think that Spotlight theory is a really. Something that can catch people out when they're young.
- [29:46]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Catches everyone out.
- [29:47]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [29:48]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Everyone I've met in business. Every single candidate on the Apprentice that came with an idea should have had a business by now.
- [29:53]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [29:53]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I genuinely. I was listening to them talk and I just kept thinking the difference between someone who's good at business and someone who's just. Just gonna, like, have a thought, and we'll probably just have a thought for a really long time, is that they don't know how to make fast decisions.
- [30:06]
Jimmy Carr
Yes.
- [30:07]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
The speed of a decision is what makes a business person good.
- [30:09]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [30:10]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
If you can't make a decision in a split second or three seconds even, like, I just think, like, that decision making, that gut instinct in business is, like, in your DNA or. And you learn it, you learn it along the way and then it embeds itself into your DNA, but then you realize the value of, like, making decisions quick.
- [30:27]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [30:29]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I just think that. And I've just. I'm watching, like, there'll be anyone applying to the show. Your chances of winning. Sorry, your chances of winning if you've just, like, got it going, are a little bit higher.
- [30:42]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [30:43]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Because you're not. It's not all talk. Or if you come with a great idea, it's still all talk.
- [30:49]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [30:49]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
You know, like, just. You need to. It doesn't need to be perfect and polished, but just start it. My biggest regret is starting when I was 28. I could have started when I was 24.
- [30:57]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [30:57]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
And I had the money, but instead I was like, let me save more. Let me do better. Let me get the perfect sticker and the perfect glass bottle. People were still buying it. Yeah, People still bought it.
- [31:08]
Jimmy Carr
What is your advice for young people generally? Right. Because you are about to be invited back to your primary school, your secondary school, your university, Every school in the country probably want you to come. What's your advice to the younger generation?
- [31:20]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
My advice would probably get me into, like, sleep slightly, some kind of trouble. I just think people are not going to agree 100%. I can only talk from my personal experience. Disclaimer. Nobody cancel me for saying this experience outweighs education, in my opinion. Right. I went and did a degree in biomedical sciences down the road from here at one of the best universities in the country. I learned more from actually Having acne from going to GPs and dermatologists and being prescribed drugs and medication than I did studying the layers of the skin. And yes, it looks great that. Oh, wow. She's got a science background. But I learned more from actually suffering. You know, I did business studies for my GCSes. Learned the definition by the book of cash flow. Don't know a single thing about how to make cash flow. It's wild to me they teach you that how they tell you, what does tax mean, what do dividends mean, what do deductibles mean? All of these things. In the real world, you have no idea how to pay your water bill. It's crazy to me. Like, nobody's asked my two cents on this, but on the education system, I change things, but it's not my, it's not my call. If we want successful young people, we need to change things. Yeah, we really, really do. Like, they need to know, like, if you want to, I know some people want the nine to five life, some people want to work for someone and that is okay also. But if you want to even 1%, maybe want to start a business, but you're like getting stuck and dragged into the nine to five, then you kind of are creating a slight cage for yourself if you want to, because you never will. You always just make and spend and make and spend.
- [33:07]
Jimmy Carr
It's interesting that you sort of rail against the education side of it because you are actually like clever. Right.
- [33:12]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I'm a straight A student.
- [33:13]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [33:13]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I got 100 in every single one of my GCSE exams. I got seven A stars in three years. Every single A was one ums off an A star. I say this as a highly educated person. The education like system, I can speak for it. I have a degree. I did, I was, I went to one of the best colleges in the country, St. Dominic's and I went to an all girls school and I was one of the top, like flights three students in the whole school in years. I did the UK cat medical school exam. I was in the top decile of the country.
- [33:40]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [33:41]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Like to the point where teachers were like, we just don't understand how you did that. That I'm seeing this as somebody not to like, you know, I'm not trying to gas myself up here. I've been through the education system and I've been a straight A student. I've been a student that people call back for talks and stuff and all of that. And I say with all my chest, it's unnecessary. If you want to go into business. If you haven't felt it, you can't sell it.
- [34:07]
Jimmy Carr
Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
- [34:09]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
No.
- [34:10]
Jimmy Carr
What was the first ambition?
- [34:12]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be a doctor and that is why I did all of that. You know, I wanted to do what I felt was the most noble deed in the world of saving lives. And when I realized, again, it kind of comes back to the system here. But when I realize doctors in this country are currently like on strike, even like, I know, it gets into a bigger, wider conversation, they are not very happy people. My sister's a doctor, my best friend's a doctor. My brother in law's a doctor. My aunt is a cardiac surgeon, My uncle's a cardiac surgeon. I know the industry. Yeah. When I say, before I can talk on something, I make sure I know it, otherwise I wouldn't start speaking on it because I have no right to. I know the industry, I know the world. I know what it looks like to be on the inside of medicine and the GMC and all of that. And then I know what they look like on the outside. And every single one of them is thinking about, how do I make more money? Yeah. Because the cost of living.
- [35:05]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [35:05]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Like the way this is all looping into like a very deep conversation. Do you mean like, it's wild. But just know that like in business there's no rules because you are the rule maker, the only person that gives you the rules, HMRC and tax people. And yeah, you've got to do all those things. Right. But what you do with your life and how you want to spend that money that you make of your profits and all of these things that you do, like it comes down to like your vision.
- [35:29]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [35:30]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Whereas like when you're in a system, the vision is like very much here, A, B and C, you must follow these rules, otherwise you could lose your license, your, you know, your privileges here and there, like your position at work you can make redundant. You can lose a job, you get fired. The only reason I started Kishkin is because I lost my job. I had 100,000 in the back. I was a social media consultant for a very big company. Had like multi million pound turnover every year. They were make, they were making people redundant left, right and center. I was a contractor, so I thought, okay, I'm fine. Trained people under me. Till today, people from that company messaged me saying, there's not one person that's done a shoot like you. There's not one, not one person has walked into this building and done something exciting since you left. And I left about three years ago, four years ago. But the money I earned from that opportunity when I got told by the director of that bit of that company. And let me tell you how I got that job. I was 24. I walked in in tracksuit bottoms just like this.
- [36:28]
Jimmy Carr
Okay, I want to ask about these, the tracksuit you're wearing, because it's very fetching.
- [36:33]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I don't believe in the need to wear a suit when I'm trying to speak to like, powerful and successful men like yourself. Like, I just, you know, you do have to in the boardroom. But like, my first job at 24, after Covid, I came out of uni, it was Covid. Couldn't really do anything for a couple of years straight after. I was like, okay, what do I do now to make money? Social media is doing great. I'm confident. Let me turn this into a business. I become a consultant. I walk into this multi million pound, like company. They want one social media video from me and they want to offer me £500. I'm like, okay, your social media sucks. I don't want to make a video for you guys. I could scream and shout about your company from the rooftops. No one's gonna buy a single thing. He's like, why? I said, because look at your social media. It's like, it's like very, very poor. Not one thing about this makes me want to follow you or work with you. I don't want to work with you. You're writing me a check. But I don't want to work with you because there's nothing about this that I want to represent. And they said, what would you do? And I said, 1, 2, 3, hire me. Like, that's it. Gave them free bullet points as to what they need to do next. And then I left that conversation in my tracksuit bottom with a 60,000 pound base wage, like, job, right? And like, I was 24, I shouldn't even be making 25 grand. I shouldn't even be making 21 like, at that time. But like, I sold myself to that guy. He bought it. I left that conversation thinking, shit, how have I just pulled this off? It was wild. And then I decided, actually my day rate is £400. And I started like invoicing them like crazy because they needed me more and more and more because I started making them more and more and more money few years ago. A few years went by. I've now trained people, made them as good as me. What do I get? Hey, Krishna. Thanks. You're a bit too expensive with a company. We don't need you. I remember those words like it was yesterday. We don't need your services. And I said, okay, that's fine. And I walked out and I started Kishkin within a couple of months. Because I never, ever will have someone tell me they don't need.
- [38:39]
Jimmy Carr
I can tell and I'm definitely buying. It's an amazing story. What's the one question you like to ask people when you're interviewing them to assess their kind of drive?
- [38:51]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Mm. Think it would be why do you do it? Why do you do it? And why do you do it again and again and again?
- [38:59]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [39:00]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Because if you can't do something again and again and again, then it. The motivation is there. Like, if I can go to. Despite of having the education that I do in the background that I do, I go every single morning and I pack boxes. Why? Because now I can have staff. There was a time where I couldn't afford it and I did it every single day for hours. Like the. The mastery of taping a box is within my reach. Like, I am the master of tape and box making. But I am somebody with a biomedical sciences degree from St. George's University and went to a great school and all of these things. But I go every single day and pack boxes because that is what drives me. I am selling product that works, unlike the other skincare brands that are selling you dreams.
- [39:49]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah, I quite enjoy doing some of the stuff that you do right at the beginning as well. Like, it's. There's elements of it that are quite old school. So how many people are you employing currently?
- [40:01]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
We have four permanent staff and we have about 10 people in the warehouse trying to panic and get these orders out. Right now, about 7,000 orders for them to do and they are just. They're trying their best.
- [40:14]
Jimmy Carr
You're going to need to go back and pack some boxes. If you could say one thing to government, right, we have a lot of politicians, a lot of policymakers that listen to this show. What's the one thing you would like them to hear?
- [40:25]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
The way we have maths, English, science, geography, history. Let's have one subject about money management. Just one. One hour, once a week. Teach the kids how the hell to make money, how the hell to keep money, how to turn it into more money, how to protect their financial interests. That's all we ask. I know I'll be doing it for my kids. I know I do it now for my younger siblings. I know that I Wish someone told.
- [40:51]
Jimmy Carr
So talk to us a bit about the production. You mentioned there how you're kind of like very polite and respectful of them. Like I asked this now, running a small kind of production company in boxlight, I suppose, like how many people are involved? What are all their different jobs? What are they kind of telling you to do? Do they. Do they sort of direct that much?
- [41:12]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So there is different sides of production. You've got house production. They make sure we don't kill each other in the house. And like we're all friends and it's okay and there's no drama and problems. And then there's obviously like PDs and producers and all of those types of production and runners that are like the backbone of the show that nobody like, thanks. In the end, like these 21 year olds are fresh out of union, like want to get into the world of TV and they just like, do you need a coffee? What do you need? Like, it's crazy but I think what it is, it's definitely not overproduced to show. Like a lot of people like, oh, it seems scripted. There's just no way, like no, they could put me and Jimmy in a room. They couldn't tell me and Jimmy what to talk about. You know, they might say Krishma asked Jimmy how his day is going. But how your day is going is up to. Up to you.
- [41:57]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [41:57]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So like in that way they can maneuver conversation but they cannot like orchestrate conversation.
- [42:02]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [42:03]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Do you know what I mean? So that is something very interesting about production. But also like production understands nobody will watch the show unless they create certain like, scenarios.
- [42:16]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah.
- [42:16]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
You know, like one minute you have like, like five minutes left and the next thing you know you have 30 seconds. Within 30 seconds of the 5 minutes left warning, you have 30 seconds left. Like stuff like that, you know, like it's not always fair, but it is designed to bring out the best in you. Like and that is their job. Cuz otherwise no one would watch the show. Watch it, you know.
- [42:38]
Jimmy Carr
Do the phone calls really come in at 4am in the house?
- [42:42]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Yes. The phone calls, if it's a cooking task, come in 2:33am like super, super early. It's still like the like bum crack of dawn, man. Like it's so early in the day and I just hated waking up and like just having to like run immediately. Like no coffee, no like, you know, just like Zen time in the morning. Like little like walk around the room. No, immediately you're up and you're running and like, you know, you Just have no energy left and you're just completely on survival mode constantly. It's very real. You get a phone call. The person who is going to receive the phone call gets told the night before. Okay, they know that they need to pick up a phone call. And then you run up and you wake everyone up. And that's all in, like, a natural reaction. Yeah, yeah. But the person who's going to answer the phone knows to answer the phone and.
- [43:35]
Jimmy Carr
Okay, and then how does the recording. So you recall for a day, two days. Then how. How long did you get off to kind of recover, if at all?
- [43:44]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
So most tasks would have two days of filming and then boardroom day. Boardroom day would be so long. You go out to these, like, like, studios in, like, West London somewhere, and then you are sat for, like, hours and everyone's just eating and, like, stress eating and, like, smoking, like, not enough cigarettes in the world, honestly, for that. That thing, that task. I mean, boardroom stress. And then, yeah, you go into the boardroom and then there's a break. And then they call for lunch. And then it's like, you know, you go into the bridge cafe if you lost, otherwise you go home. And then they film, like, segments of people coming back. And then, like, it's just so long. Boardroom day filming. These task days are much more fun. You're up and you're about. Like, there's no waiting around. It's constant, like, movement. Whereas, like, boardroom is like wait and wait and wait and wait.
- [44:43]
Jimmy Carr
Well, that's not the. That's not the penultimate. That's every episode.
- [44:46]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Every episode, really?
- [44:48]
Jimmy Carr
So a whole day to the boardroom?
- [44:49]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Yeah. And the boardroom is, like, at multiple hours long, really. But, like, you get there in the morning. Baroness Brody and Tim need to brief Lord Sugar and the ins and outs of what happened so that when we tell our stories, they must align with what they've said. And then Lord show will ask the questions, like, missing pieces of information to, like, really get to the bottom of stuff. If something's like a talking point, he'll have it written down. Like, this needs to be discussed. Why did this happen? Which is really good. Because, like, for me, it worked out because Baroness Brady always made sure that I was kind of vocal in there. Like, my. I think a lot of candidates had tried to, like, pin, like, not pin things on me, but it was like, well, no, like, it wasn't our fault. And she was sub team leaders. It must be hers. But.
- [45:41]
Jimmy Carr
So are Tim and Karen giving you much advice then? Because that doesn't come across in the show.
- [45:46]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
They don't. They don't say a single word. Not a single word. Like, they'll say, you have five minutes left. You know, stuff like that. Or they'll say, you know, something to encourage the direction in which you're going. But they don't give you advice. They cannot. Like, they need to watch you in your natural environment.
- [46:05]
Jimmy Carr
Yeah, you.
- [46:05]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
Yeah.
- [46:06]
Jimmy Carr
Who did you prefer? Tim or.
- [46:09]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I think Tim is more relatable, and I would be a lot more, like, calm, and his body language speaks a lot more. So, like, I can tell if he's enjoying an idea. But with Baroness Brady, she is my favorite of all three of them, because Baroness Brady, just, like, I don't know if I'll ever cross paths with her again, but just, I know, like, the aura that that woman has. Like, she walks into a room, like, I will be more nervous to speak to her than I speak to Lord Sugar. Like, lord Sugar, I can have a laugh with him now. But Baroness Brady, like, I feel like I need to bow down almost like, your highness. Like, I don't know why. I don't know why. She's just an incredible woman.
- [46:44]
Jimmy Carr
So what's the kind of. Like, you've obviously had fans, supporters, customers before the show. Like, what have been some of the comments that have been left since winning?
- [46:57]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
I've been really lucky with the comments. I think majority of the comments are around. You know, I had you picked out from the beginning or something like that. Or this was great. How did you think of that? This is very smart. And there's obviously, like, a few hate comments or, you know, you should have done this differently or you could have done this better. Now that, you know, I think a lot of people forget. Like, when I was on the show, it was five months of Kishkin, and now it's been a year and a half of Kishkin. And in that year, I've turned the brand around of myself without people knowing, even knowing I'm on the Apprentice. Like, before the actual airing of the show started, Kishkin was already very successful. Yeah, maybe not in the first five months because we were just a startup. It was just an idea that has just, like, you know, convinced a few people to buy a few bottles. But that whole year after the filming process, I was on it because I know Lord Sugar's watching. So I was working overtime just, like, trying to make sure I can give him something to be convinced about. Like, yes, okay, she's right. Like, this is the girl, you know, so now people are watching it back and they're like, oh, my God, we're so proud of you. You've come so far. Your dad must be so proud. He is so proud. Not just because of the show, but because of what I've shown my dad in the last year. Like, you're a businessman. So am I. Yeah. You raised me well, you know, so the comments are very, very personal to me. Like, my whole life has been live on social media for years. I make sure people know that it's not pretty and it's not perfect. And I think people like the transparency. So most comments I get is around, like, just, thank you for being, like, honest about how it really is and how hard business can be, and thank you for being yourself. And then there's a few haters that feel like it's necessary to, like, body shame me. And it's like, listen, I was the fashion icon of the season. Yeah. So you can try your best, but I know.
- [48:44]
Jimmy Carr
Krishna, thank you so much for coming on Jimmy's Jobs of the Future. It's been a real pleasure. I think we should. I think we should get you back in, like, a year and see how it's all good. I did enjoy it. I did enjoy, like, I thought. I mean, I loved you before the final, but having just had 40 minutes with you, I love you more. I think that was brilliant. And I think you're a credit to the show, credit to the country, and a credit to enterprise and business. So, yeah, I want you back. And maybe we could do you with Lord Sugar as well. I think that'd be quite interesting.
- [49:13]
Karishma (Apprentice Winner)
That would be. And I love you too,
- [49:21]
Jimmy Carr
Sa.