Kennedy Anderson (23) was already the Founder and Creative Director of his own social media agency when he dived headfirst in reality TV as a contestant on The Apprentice Aotearoa. He tells express about his life and loves.
Where did you grow up and how was that experience for you?
I grew up in a small-town setting in Waiuku, South Auckland. I loved growing up in this kind of environment, especially with my parents being in jobs that dealt with lots of people, it pretty much meant everyone in the town knew our family. This had its ups and downs, for example, I could never drive a passenger on my restricted license without someone ratting me out!
As I grew older I felt myself fitting in less and less, I had big goals and they were definitely more achievable in a big city hence the move to Auckland at 18.
What did coming out look like for you and how accepting were the people around you?
Coming out wasn’t easy. But I think like a lot of young people in the community the hardest part for me was telling myself. I struggled to come to terms with it, which moving to the city really helped with. I started fresh and felt much more comfortable talking to people about it and realising it wasn’t my personality it was just a cool part of me. I was so worried about being defined by my sexuality, but my friends really helped me through this. Opening up to my family was rough, they had to take some time to wrap their head around it. That was really hard for me as my family and I are super close, and I really wanted, my partner, Oliver to be able to fit into the family I knew and loved. With perseverance and growing more comfortable with myself, we managed to push through. Now I’m pretty sure my parents love Oliver more than me!
How long have you and Oliver been together and what aspirations do the two of you have together?
I am super happy in the best relationship I have ever been in. I’ve managed to find someone who I couldn’t do all of this without. Oliver is a young paramedic who helps support my dreams and crazy ideas. We have been together five years this year. We recently bought our first house together and have had a little fur child called Hudson.
We have so many goals together. We have just incorporated our very first company together. It’s called The OK Company, as in Oliver and Kennedy lol!
What inspired you to apply to be a contestant on the inaugural season of the Apprentice Aotearoa?
It was exciting to think I could be on a TV show that didn’t involve being ‘coupled’ up. So, when I was approached to be on a show that represented me and my world, the business world, I was chuffed and was onboard pretty quickly.
What was the moment like when you learned you had made it onto the show?
I was super excited, my first thought was ‘oh shit, work’ because I had to be away for five weeks and I had never left my company for longer than two weeks. Luckily I have an insane team and wicked mentors that encouraged me to take the leap.
What was the experience of filming like?
It was so intense. I had no idea what to expect but I was excited to learn about the behind the scenes of reality TV. The tasks were insanely fun and I was stoked to be pushed to my limits and have a bit of a shakeup in my day to day life. I didn’t expect it to be as hard as it was to adjust to, but looking back that’s to be expected from suddenly living with 14 large personality’s and doing everything with them for all hours of the day. It was an experience, to say the least, but I’ve formed amazing relationships, and all in all, I loved it!
Now the show has concluded what are the next steps for you?
This is where the exciting stuff happens. I made sure that if I couldn’t [win and] take home the $50k investment, we would make that up somewhere else. So I ensured that the final two chose our agency to launch their businesses with us to make sure we could control the market. The plan worked out perfectly and the brands launched successfully on the night of the finale!
 was already the Founder and Creative Director of his own social media agency when he dived headfirst in reality TV as a){kind=link}