NBC has announced the identities and profiles of the sixteen smart young entrepreneurs who will compete in The Apprentice, the new reality drama featuring Donald Trump and executive produced by Survivor’s Mark Burnett.
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Contestants range from Harvard MBAs to Real Estate Tycoons to Marketing Executives to politicians to restaurant owners. Some have multiple degrees from top universities and others will enter the competition with just a high school diploma. Will book smarts or street smarts prevail?
The Apprentice is poised to make a super-sized premiere after Friends on January 8 (8:30 - 10:00 p.m. ET). The following week it will move into its regular timeslot, Wednesdays (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET), beginning January 14.
Profiles of the sixteen contestants appearing on the program follow below. Photos of the contestants are available in our The Apprentice Photo Gallery
• Heidi Bressler (Philadelphia, PA)
Heidi Bressler, 30, has a Masters in Criminology from American University and worked alongside FBI agents at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Raised in Wayne, NJ (but currently residing in Philadelphia) Heidi holds a Senior Account Executive position at Qwest Communications. She is one of the top sales reps in her region.
• Katrina Campins (Coral Gables, FL)
Katrina Campins is a 24-year-old native Miamian who graduated with a BBA in International Finance and Marketing from the University of Miami (4.0 G.P.A.). A licensed Florida Real Estate Agent since the age of 18, Katrina has established herself as a multimillion dollar producing agent who ranks in the top 3% of all Realtors nationwide. Campins’ clientele list is extensive and impressive, many of who are well-known business people, sports people, diplomats and celebrities. Katrina is actively involved in her community through her participation in charitable organizations.
• Jessie Conners (New Richmond, WI)
Jessie Conners, 21, was born in Minnesota and she endured hardship in her early years. Growing up traveling---from the city of Minneapolis---to a 265 acre farm in Wisconsin with no running water or electricity---to an orphanage in Monterrey, Mexico. She now owns her own hobby farm and is a successful business owner. With her home school education, at the age of 17 Jessie started a chiropractic marketing and management company. She currently runs chiropractic clinics and is a realtor in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• Jason Curis (Detroit, MI)
This 24-year-old from Detroit graduated from Michigan State with a BA in Advertising, but decided to enter a career in Real Estate. Jason is the President and founder of his own company called JMG Management, LLC. He currently owns 39 rental units and 11 properties and rents primarily to low income families.
• Kristi Frank (Bel Air, CA)
Kristi Frank, 30, grew up in Lake Tahoe, NV where she worked as a blackjack dealer to help pay for her college education. Kristi attended the University of Southern California where she graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering. Soon after, with her broker’s license in hand, Kristi started investing in real estate and now owns two residential properties by the beach in Santa Monica, CA. Kristi expanded her investments and is currently a partner and co-owner of the trendy new restaurant, Juliano’s RAW in Santa Monica.
• David Gould (New York, NY)
Originally from Philadelphia, David, 31, works in New York City as a venture capitalist in the healthcare sector. His group is raising money to invest in biotechnology and medical device companies. David currently holds two advanced degrees, a M.D. from Jefferson Medical College and a MBA from New York University.
• Amelia (Amy) Henry (Austin, TX)
Amelia Henry, 30, grew up in Arlington, Texas. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Texas A&M University and received her MBA at Texas Christian University where she was recognized as a Neeley Scholar, graduating near the top of her class. Amy began her hi-tech career at The SABRE Group and then joined as a pre-IPO employee in 1999 at Commerce One, one of the internet's highest fliers during the dot.com boom. She currently works for BetweenMarkets, a hi-tech startup in Austin, TX. Like many in her generation, Amy made and lost millions in the dot.com boom.
• Bowie Hogg (Dallas, TX)
Bowie Hogg, 25, received his business degree from Texas A&M University. He is the youngest of four boys and comes from a long line of Texas heritage. Bowie worked as an Account Executive at FedEx handling multi-million dollar accounts. He is currently focusing on a new career as a motivational speaker.
• Kwame Jackson (New York, NY)
Kwame Jackson, 29 was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Charlotte, NC; which he considers home. Kwame holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Harvard. True to his entrepreneurial training at Harvard and the bounty of opportunities in the late 90’s, Kwame was heavily involved in several “dot-com” start-ups during his time in business school. However, his Fortune 500 professional foundation includes sales & marketing roles at Procter & Gamble and, most recently, on Wall Street as an Investment Manager for Goldman Sachs.
• Tammy Lee (Seattle, WA)
Tammy Lee, a 36 year-old Asian-American stockbroker attended the University of Washington and received a B.A. in Economics. After college, Tammy sought work in public relations and advertising which ultimately landed her a job in Merrill Lynch’s Private Client Group as a stockbroker. Tammy ended her nine year career there as an Assistant Vice President in 2002. She lives in Seattle and enjoys classical music, modern art, international travel and architecture.
• Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth (Washington, DC)
Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, 29, is a former political appointee in the Clinton and Gore White House. Four years ago she worked directly for President Clinton. She currently works as a political consultant in Washington, DC. Omarosa had humble youth---growing up in the projects of Youngstown, Ohio---but she eventually graduated from Central State University. She also earned a Master’s degree from Howard University and is now working toward her Ph.D which should be awarded to her in the spring of 2004. Omarosa’s hobby is pageantry and she enjoys working as an image consultant who has successfully trained a Miss USA, Miss Taiwan and Miss Guyana.
• Troy McClain (Boise, ID)
Born in Anchorage Alaska, Troy, 32, spent the majority of his childhood split between both Alaska and Montana. Troy ran a health club in Spokane, WA for a couple of years, before he decided to enter the field of investing. He is currently building an insurance business and working as a mortgage lender. He is also involved in real estate development and owns 7 properties.
• Bill Rancic (Chicago, IL)
William “Bill” Rancic, 32, founded cigarsaroundtheworld.com eight years ago in a 400 sq. ft. studio apartment. Today it is a thriving multi-million dollar national operation. The son of educators, he is a true entrepreneur, paying his way through college by starting a boat wash and wax business in the Chicago area. He is also an adventure junkie. When he is not making business deals he enjoys skydiving and scuba diving. In addition to his cigar company, Bill also develops real estate and speaks at universities and businesses around the country.
• Sam Solovey (Chevy Chase, MD)
Sam, 27, grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC. the youngest of three children. Following graduation from Colgate University, Sam headed to New York City to work for Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting). After a year in the corporate world, he returned to the DC area in 1999 and co-founded an Internet media company called Potomac Tech Wire, with sister Tech Wires since launched in seven other markets in the U.S. and Europe. Sam oversees sales and business development for all the Tech Wires but says his true passion is talk radio, having hosted an innovative radio program, titled The Untrained Psychologist, during his days at Colgate.
• Ereka Vetrini (New York, NY)
Ereka Vetrini is a 27 year-old native New Yorker who graduated with honors from Boston College. She has worked in Hong Kong, Australia, Greece and Spain as an Internal Operations Consultant for Estee Lauder. Most recently, Ereka worked as a Global Promotional Marketing Manager for Clinique where she managed all promotional programs worldwide. Growing up she learned her business principles by working in her parent’s pizzeria.
• Nick Warnock (Los Angeles, CA)
Nick Warnock, 27, hails from Bayonne, NJ where he was a star athlete for much of his youth. Nick attended The University of Richmond for a brief time before finishing up his degree at The University of San Diego. During his summers off from college, Nick launched a small Italian ice business known as Nick’s Authentic Italian Ice. He currently spearheads a sales team for Xerox in Los Angeles, CA. where his salary is based completely on commission.
The Apprentice is produced by Mark Burnett Productions in association with Trump Productions LLC. Mark Burnett and Donald Trump are executive producers. Burnett is represented by Conrad Riggs who will also serve as a producer on the project.