Martha Stewart taps her daughter Alexis Stewart, Consultant, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. and Charles Koppelman, Chairman of the Board, MSLO to be her advisors on NBC´s THE APPRENTICE: MARTHA STEWART (September 21, 8-9pm ET/PT). Alexis Stewart and Koppelman will serve as Martha´s "eyes and ears" during each week´s task and will join her in the conference room to counsel her on which candidate should be sent home.
"Charles Koppelman, Chairman of the Board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and Alexis Stewart, my daughter and colleague, are a dynamic duo with me in the conference room," said Martha Stewart, Founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. "No one knows me better than Alexis and she understands my way of conducting business and dealing with people. Charles brings the expertise of a legendary entrepreneur to the conference room each week."
"As the original APPRENTICE, it´s an honor to join my mother each week in the conference room," said Alexis Stewart. "Having contributed to almost every aspect of her business empire, I know first hand what it will take for one of these sixteen candidates to win the competition and I´m not afraid to call them out in the conference room."
"During the course of my career, I´ve been shoulder to shoulder with some impressive, powerful people, none more so than Martha Stewart," said Koppelman. "The world knows of her unsurpassed creativity, but to sit with her in any room, to watch her in action, reasoning, listening, making decisions, is to understand how bright she is, how good she is at the business of being Martha Stewart. What sitting with Martha and Alexis in the conference room of THE APPRENTICE demonstrates is how much fun she is too. Being on THE APPRENTICE with the Stewart ladies, has been a highlight of my professional life."
As previously announced, ten women and six men will compete to become Martha Stewart´s first APPRENTICE. Ranging in age from 22-42, this esteemed group of creative entrepreneurs will compete for thirteen weeks on tasks related to Martha Stewart´s area of expertise - publishing, apparel, entertainment and branding. Among the candidates - many of whom own their businesses - are ad executives, creative directors, accomplished chefs, lawyers, designers, a magazine publisher, and a TV newscaster. Martha Stewart´s APPRENTICE will feature a ´conference room´ and candidates will live in a ´loft,´ versus a ´boardroom´ and living in a ´suite.´
Alexis Stewart, Consultant, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. was raised in both New York City and Westport, Connecticut. Her first job was assisting her mother in her catering business where she learned first hand the ways to employ creativity and turn a passion into a profitable business. She attended Greens Farms Academy in Westport, and graduated from the Putney School in Vermont. She then returned to New York City to attend Barnard College where she graduated with a BA in English.
After graduating, Alexis Stewart then explored several entrepreneurial ventures including the construction of the upscale Bridgehampton Motel property in Bridgehampton, Long Island which she designed and operated. With a passion for exercise and yoga, Alexis Stewart recognized the Hamptons´ growing need for high-end fitness centers and built the East Hampton Gym, which she ran for several years until selling it to fitness trainer Bruce Cotter. She then partnered with Cotter, and together they completely redesigned and rebuilt the Sag Harbor Gym in Sag Harbor, New York. Three years ago Alexis Stewart partnered to create the Karma Yoga Studio in New York City. This large facility, which offered many types of multi-level yoga, has since been sold to Yoga Works.
At present, in addition to her duties on THE APPRENTICE: MARTHA STEWART and her consulting duties for MSLO, Alexis Stewart is developing Martha Stewart Living Radio for SIRIUS Satellite Radio.
Charles Koppelman, Chairman of the Board, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. previously served as Vice Chairman since December 2004 and as a director since July 2004. Koppelman also currently serves as a consultant to MSLO and was instrumental in initiating several key business relationships at MSLO, including MSLO´s partnerships with SIRIUS Satellite Radio to create Martha Stewart Living Radio; and relationship Rodale Publishing, publisher of THE MARTHA RULES: 10 ESSENTIALS FOR ACHIEVING SUCCESS AS YOU START, GROW, OR MANAGE A BUSINESS. Koppelman also serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CAK Entertainment, Inc., a music and entertainment business.
Koppelman has enjoyed a distinguished career in the music and entertainment industry where he began, in 1960, as a musician. As a member of the vocal trio "Ivy Three," Koppelman recorded the single YOGI which reached the top 10 on Billboard´s Hot 100. Soon after, he joined publishing executive Don Kirshner at Aldon Music alongside a songwriting staff of legends including, Carole King and Neil Sedaka. The following year, along with his friend and business partner Don Rubin, Koppelman formed Koppelman/Rubin Associates - the first of several independent publishing and record production companies he would operate. After selling his publishing company, Koppelman became Vice President of CBS Records´ publishing company, April/Blackwood Music. Two years later, he was appointed National Director of A&R for Columbia Records signing such greats as Billy Joel, Journey, Janis Ian and Phoebe Snow.
In 1976, Koppelman and Martin Bandier formed the Entertainment Company which was responsible for many hits including those by Barbara Streisand, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. By 1985, Koppelman and his partners had formed S.B.K. Entertainment World, which became the world´s largest independent publisher and, in 1989, S.B.K. Entertainment World merged with EMI Music. The transaction was the largest music publishing sale at the time. Koppelman took over as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EMI Music Publishing from 1990 to 1994. From 1994 to 1997, he served as Chief Executive Officer of EMI Records Group, North America.
A life-long New Yorker, Koppelman was born in Brooklyn on March 30, 1940, and was raised in a blue-collar neighborhood in Queens.
