Who is Surya?

I just ran for Congress, was on reality TV, was once a brand manager, and have worked at various startups. I'm still figuring out what's next...
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Category —
The Apprentice

May
15

the donald gives ‘em hell.

This is the donald at his finest. Seriously. You MUST watch it. Whether you agree or not, super-entertaining. And, on balance, I agree with my boy, Mr. Trump. Watch DT on CNBC. Agree: – Oil companies are just having a field day and making a freaking killing. There was a reason why we had public [...]

Nov
20

funniest moment of the day (month/year?).

Background: Phone call from a magazine fact-checker for an article having to do w/ex-reality TV people… Him: spell your name (me): S-u-r-y-a Y-a-l-a-m as in monkey-a-n as in nancy-c-h-i-l-i him: can you confirm that you were on the TV show, The Apprentice? me: yes. him: can you confirm it was Apprentice season 6. me: yes. [...]

Sep
05

simple stories. and simple people.

I want to share a musing on The Apprentice. But only because it ties together nicely with a personal reflection I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I’m still amazed at how similar main elements of The Apprentice rival every day life. The Apprentice was all about simplicity. I’m not talking about the tasks, but [...]

Jul
09

Surya on The Apprentice: how it all began.

How did I end up on The Apprentice? This story is as interesting as anything that came after. It’s the first Thursday in the eight month of 2004 in Cincinnati, OH. I’ve been working for a little over a year, and I happened to stumble upon a newspaper article. The article mentioned that the hottest [...]

Jun
11

europe!

So I’ve seen Europe. Or 4 amazing cities in Europe anyway: Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, and Paris. And they were, in a word…amazing! Part of the reason I wanted to take the trip was a little known fact. While I was traversing the continent of Europe, almost exactly a year ago, I was filming The Apprentice. [...]

Apr
29

answering a ? no one asked.

I’ve now been through my fair-share of interviews. They’re actually a lot of fun. But I’ve also managed to come up with good answers to questions that no one ever asked me. Well, they’re not that good. And in fact, this whole ?’s I wish had been asked is a pretense for a random blog [...]

Apr
26

my turn: on apprentice fan culture.

When you’re on TV you put yourself out there for “public consumption.” And consume the public does! The judgments, leaps of logic, mocking, and undue praise, all of it is really a trip. The beauty of the Internet is that all of these thoughts, “observations,” and judgments get posted for the world to see. But [...]

Apr
11

this isn’t that hard.

It’s raining in Cincinnati, and I’m kind of cranky from typing into a spreadsheet all day (don’t ask). So this is a quick entry. For the past 2 weeks, a very interesting phenomenon has occurred. And by “interesting”, I actually mean “terrible annoying.” When strangers come up to me these days they call me “Sanjaya.” [...]

Apr
09

The Apprentice: my favorite memory.

What was my favorite memory from The Apprentice? There were actually quite a few really sweet moments, where I caught myself thinking– is this really happening? But the first time I was asked the question and had to give an answer was on a radio interview a few weeks ago. Once I thought of the [...]

Apr
02

The Apprentice: looking at circumstance & outcomes.

I’ve got a series of thoughts on the Apprentice that discuss a (emotional) reaction to my fellow contestants. I won’t write about any of that stuff for at least a year. Until then it’s tainted by being too close to the event, and so it lacks credibility. But one of the questions I’ve gotten the [...]

Mar
12

my debrief on the apprentice…

An Introduction I want to start off by publicly thanking my friends and family. I couldn’t ask for better. And frankly, you’re all better than I deserve. Your kind words of support (and your anger at your TV’s!) really helped me escape this bizarre experience relatively sane (or as sane as before anyway). I write [...]