Page 111 - Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success

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T R UM P: N E V E R G I V E U P

the signature on my letter for enough money to cover the chari-
table donation he was enclosing. I wrote back thanking him and
told him I like having shrewd friends who know a good business
deal when they see one. Both of us had a good laugh, and a good
cause benefited.
That’s one way business works, and it can make every day a
pleasure. Try to spice up your dealings and daily work routine
with occasional jokes and laughter, and you’ll see how much
more enjoyable your work will become. The people you work
with will appreciate it, too, if you can make them laugh.
After the first season of The Apprentice, I wrote Mark Bur-
nett a letter about how it had been a fantastic experience work-
ing with him. I explained to him that little did I know while
writing The Art of the Deal back in 1987 that it would become a
bestseller while at the same time being a catalyst to a young
man selling T-shirts on Venice Beach in California. (That
young man was Mark Burnett.) I also told him that if I’d ever
said anything negative about guys who hang out on the beach,
that “I hereby take it back.” We had become business partners
but also friends, and the humor we enjoyed made the experience
all the better.
It pays to have a sense of humor about yourself. I did a com-
mercial for VISA a few years ago that required me to grovel
around (or appear to be groveling around) in a dumpster to
retrieve my VISA card. I was filmed on top of Trump Tower
showing my card, when a gust of wind blows it out of my hand
and onto the street below. A passerby notes when I crawl out of
the dumpster, “And I thought he was doing so well!” I didn’t
mind—I had a great time and the commercial was a big success.
If I took myself too seriously, I would have missed out on a lot of
fun and a nice paycheck. Business at its best should have both.

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