{alltv} Canadian set for 'Apprentice'

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NEW YORK CITY - She was born in poverty, lost both parents to AIDS, worked nights to finish university, became a successful commercial real estate banker in the U.S. and is now the first Quebecer on NBC reality show The Apprentice.

I've rarely met anyone as determined as 34-year-old Montrealer Stephanie Castagnier.

"I want to be the Canadian Donald Trump and I will succeed," she said.

Her talents have been showcased on the past five weeks of The Apprentice, which focuses this season on contestants affected by the recession.

"I'm heading the project this week as well," she said of Thursday's episode over the phone from Boston, where she's promoting the show.

In the U.S., NBC even ran a promo for the episode with the slogan: 'The Canadian takes over.'

Castagnier's struggles to overcome adversity are inspiring.

Born in a poor Montreal neighbourhood, she lost both parents to AIDS as a teenager. Her father was a drug dealer who infected her mother with the disease. But the orphaned Castagnier never drowned in self-pity.

Instead, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

"My father had his faults," she admitted. "But he always told me: 'Do what I say, not what I do.' We only live once, after all."

Castagnier has been fascinated with the U.S. real estate market since she was young. Determined to succeed, she worked night shifts in a hotel and day shifts in a restaurant to pay for a marketing and business degree at McGill University in Montreal.

"I never really had an adolescence," she said. "I didn't party, but I knew where I was going."

After graduation she worked in Toronto before moving to Chicago in 2000 to work as a commercial real estate banker for a California-based company.

Despite being in a male-dominated industry, the feisty Montrealer quickly became one of the best in her field in the U.S.

"In that business numbers talk," she said. "If you don't deliver the merchandise there's no bonus, no promotion. I thrive in that type of environment."

But the global recession put a temporary halt to her ambitions in 2009. Everyone in her branch was laid off. Two weeks later, she learned she was one of 16 contestants picked from 25,000 wannabes to participate in the 10th season of The Apprentice.

"Donald Trump has always been my idol," she said, admitting she was so keen to get on the show she lined up overnight for the audition, sleeping in her business suit on the sidewalk in New York.

The selection process took six weeks and included debates on politics and the economy. The judges knew nothing of her difficult past.

"They just wanted to see my ability to debate," Castagnier said.

And what's Trump like in person?

"All business!" she said. "He's a man with lots of charisma and is just like he appears on TV."

Most of the episodes this season have already been recorded -- but Castagnier was obviously unable to tell me whether she was the last contestant standing.

The winner, who will be revealed on December 16, gets a one-year job position somewhere in the Trump enterprises. The prize comes with a $250,000 salary, Castagnier said. For now, she's working as executive director of a new Trump venture called 'The Trump Network.'

Whether she wins or loses, Castagnier isn't planning on returning to the banking world. Instead she has big dreams of hosting a TV interview show in Canada and the U.S. that she describes as a cross between Larry King Live and Chelsea Handler's late night talk show. Castagnier also founded Child Cause (www.childcause.com), a foundation that provides a support network for teenagers affected by AIDS and substance abuse.

"It's OK to dream, even if the dreams seem crazy. I'm proof of that. I began with less than nothing. You just need to focus and stop finding excuses."

The Apprentice airs Thursdays in Canada on Global.