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Today Prolific London will be doing one of our famous deep dives on business personalities and taking a look at the career of Steve Darken. Readers may already be familiar with this particular individual as he was one of the stand-out contestants on the BBC’s hit TV show The Apprentice. Season 18 of the popular show was eventually won by Rachel Woodford, but Steve more than held his own in the boardroom before he was fired by Lord Sugar in the quarter-finals.
Before The Apprentice
Steve Darken spent five years as a freelance financial consultant before he starred on the show. He used this time to help people and businesses expand their portfolios and put their money in the right pots to grow their finances. Steve’s innovative approach to the financial sector and business acumen made him a standout in his field and it was his tenacious and hardworking attitude that most likely led to him being noticed by the BBC showrunners and in tandem also led to his selection for series 18 of the apprentice.
Becoming A Household Name
He applied for the show in 2023. At the time, he had taken a year off work and was planning to relocate to Australia. In the midst of this, he felt a sudden urge to return home. On 28th January, he went on iPlayer, downloaded some episodes of The Apprentice to watch on his flight, and noticed that applications for the next series were open, with the deadline being the following day the pressure was on to throw his name into the hat, so, he applied immediately, and within three months, he was on set filming. It’s almost as if his selection was written in the stars especially with the deadline date being a day after he had realised he had a desire to compete on the show.
After The Show
After leaving the show, Darken felt inspired to embrace entrepreneurship. He realised he had lost some passion for financial services, which he described as a demanding field. He discovered he derived more satisfaction from being creative, helping others, and witnessing the value of effective delivery.
Darken reflected in an interview with Startup Magazine, “One thing he never experienced in his career was truly seeing the impact of delivery. You understand the big picture of the delivery system, make an acquisition, and start seeing changes. But having a tangible impact and making a difference in people’s lives provides much more fulfilment.”
What Comes Next?
It i hard to say what will specifically come next in Steve Darken’s future, of course, we here at Prolific London feel it will be a successful future, but like most budding entrepreneurs the landscape of their business and ideas can change quite drastically over the years. This has already become apparent as Darken has now abandoned his work in the financial sector as we mentioned previously.
What is certain though is his career is on we will follow closely and we all wish him every success in his future endeavours.
