FAST RISE
I starred on The Apprentice after random Google search – I needed the money… then my business boomed
Stephanie also gave her top tips on any contestant lucky enough to get on the show
AN entrepeneur who starred on The Apprentice after a random Google search said her business has boomed since going on the show.
Stephanie Affleck, 30, made it to the final of the hit BBC show last year before being fired by Lord Alan Sugar.
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Stephanie is currently in the process of securing investment for her pre-loved children’s clothing business – .
She now dreams of turning the popular brand into the marketplace concept she went onto The Apprentice for.
But she only had her business for a month before appearing on the BBC reality TV show.
Stephanie previously worked as an events planner but had always had the idea to create an online store selling pre-loved designer wear for children.
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Speaking to , the 30-year-old said: "I had this idea and knew if I did not do it then I never would.
"However, I needed money and had no idea how to raise it so I Googled how to get money for a business and The Apprentice came up.
"I knew there was a slim chance I would win but I knew if I could get near the end I could expose my idea.
"I do not think most people go on the show to win but to get as far as possible.”
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After reaching the all-female semi final, Stephanie was fired after her plan for her Swanley-based firm was picked apart and Lord Sugar said he did not “love” the pre-loved market.
The Apprentice last year was won by Harpreet Kaur, who has gone from strength to strength since then – as has Stephanie.
Despite falling so close to the final hurdle, the entrepreneur said the show was the boost her business needed.
Stephanie said she went from cold-calling and emailing other business owners to being in the same rooms as them when the show aired.
She added: "It gave me notoriety in the field I wanted to work in. I found so many people contacted me after.
“I would not have got the opportunities I have had without it.”
Stephanie said that any business owners should not be discouraged even if they only recently started their venture.
She added: "People think because you have been in TV you have been in business for years.
"I started up my business as I got made redundant because of the pandemic.”
It comes as Stephanie gave some top advice to anyone competing on the Apprentice.
She said that you should never put yourself forward in the first task, or just before the interview stage.
Explaining their reasoning, Stephanie said: “We always said the riskiest time to put yourself up in task 1 and the task before the final five because if you leave at those points it’s so annoying.
“If you leave at task one no one has seen you, if you leave before the final five, it is so annoying.”
Stephanie graduated from the University of West London with a First Class BA (Honours) Degree in Events management.
She describes herself as confident, decisive and brutally honest.
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Stephanie said she enjoys watching Harry Potter and The Witcher in her spare time, while sunny Dubai is one of her favourite holiday spots.
She has amassed nearly 35,000 followers on Instagram where you can expect to see glamorous pics of her millionaire lifestyle.
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