The Apprentice
What made you decide to try out for 'The Apprentice'?
The senior partner of my law firm, Goldman, Magdalin & Krikes law firm, Paul Magdalene, gave me the application, saw me watching the show one day and said that I could easily beat anyone on the show and I should try out. He kept encouraging me and told me I should go to the L.A. tryouts and I told him I was going to go but I didn't. He then found out there was one more casting call in San Diego and he said "You have to go, you have to try out, I know you can do this hands down." I went down there and I knew I had no idea what I was getting into when I showed up to see 5000 people stand around a building with ice coolers, suits and dry cleaning bags, igloos and chairs - these people were prepared and they were camping out for the long haul and I was there in my stilettos and by business suit thinking I'm going to be in court by 2pm, no problem.
How did you get ready to live your life in front of the cameras?
Because I had no expectations of what it might be like, and I had never been exposed to it before, I don't think it really affected me. I think I kind of felt like, "Wow, this is going to be a great adventure. I've quit my job. I'm going to go out and kick butt, and so what, a cameras going to be in my face. It won't be the worst thing ever. It is what it is. I'll just do my business and so what?" Some people took it very seriously. They were offended by it. They were very aware of themselves, and they would change how they would try to be in front of the camera, and you can't hide from a camera. It's going to capture the essence of you. It's you intensified, so if you're shy, you're going to appear shyer. If you're boisterous, you will appear absolutely obnoxious and loud. I mean it's just what they choose to focus on.
What was it like meeting Donald Trump for the first time?
I'm thinking back to that morning. It was nerve-wracking because it was day 1 of filming. There were 18 of us standing around in this little half-moon circle at the mansion in L.A., waiting for him to arrive. He pulls up in this big limousine, steps out, of course always looking immaculately put together, that's the essence of Mr. Trump. And he's huge in person, I think he's almost 6' 5” and I remember thinking “Oh, my gosh. Now I'm setting out to try to impress this man for the next 14 weeks of business tasks. I wonder what's going to happen.” I don't know. I wasn't really nervous, it's just nerve-wracking because it was an intense situation with a lot of strangers who I had never been allowed to speak to previously until the first day of filming.
Were you portrayed fairly on the show?
Oh, absolutely, the way the show showed me I think is exactly who I am. At least that's what my love ones have told me, except that I appeared to be more, I don't how I'd put it. My friends know me to be very out spoken and very opinionated and very boisterous. The show didn't show that about me. I think that's because I was never the source of drama. I was always sort of just doing my job. I was never brought to the board room. I was never in the heat of a battle with anyone, in terms of back stabbing or any of that. I managed to get through the entire show without ever having a back stabbing kind of a situation. So, I think that the way it portrayed me was great, it's just that you didn't see as much of me because I wasn't in trouble.
Did the show change you personally?
I don't think so. I am who I am. I'll try to use the show as a resource to raise money and try to do something good with it. It was great exposure and by exposure I mean exposure to a situation, a social experiment as I would say, to people who I never would have been exposed to before. I would never, in a life situation, be put in a circumstance where I'm living with seventeen strangers. I'm living outside in a tent, I'm living in a mansion. I'm all over the place. I'm sleeping on the street. I'm running all over and doing crazy things for fourteen weeks. I would never have that opportunity as an adult, as an attorney, as a professional. It put me in a whole different world, and so, win, lose, or draw, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a really great experience.
