WASHINGTON D.C. – Filipino American Charmaine Hunt is still going strong in the current NBC reality show, The Apprentice, as it marked its fifth session last week.  The show, which is essentially an extended job interview with the goal of winning a contract to head one of businessman Donald Trump’s companies, airs on Mondays 9/8 Central on NBC. ..

In the last session trump said: “She (Charmaine) made presentations to companies that were just unbelievable. Better than people who have been doing it for 20 years. She’s a natural salesperson, but beyond that an unbelievable presenter.”
When asked on the www.nbc.com website why she should be the next apprentice, Charmaine said, “My education, intelligence, leadership skills and proven track record are what got me here. My hard work and determination coupled with my ability to communicate well with people is what makes me the best candidate. My instinct and sheer inability to lose is what should make me the next apprentice!”
For Charmaine, success is “having passion and doing the absolute best you can at everything you do - and feeling good about it. If you enjoy your job and are great at it, but you don’t make the big bucks, you’re still successful.” So far, Charmaine has been doing well on the show, showing her business savvy and avoiding the boardroom boot. During the week when she was project leader, she successfully led her team in coming up with a campaign for a cereal brand.  The most recent episode showed her as one of the members of her team who actively worked on a jingle for a food chain.
 Charmaine’s definition of a good leader is a tall order to fulfill. According to her, a leader has to be tenacious, creative, an excellent communicator, can get along well with all different types of personalities, commands respect, is articulate, stands behind their word, can make decisions on their own but looks to their team or employees for suggestions, and can take constructive criticism. “I absolutely possess all of these skills!” she says. According to the www.nbc.com website, Charmaine, an only child, was born and raised in a small town in Kentucky. She says that her mother, an adventurous and hard-working Filipino immigrant who left everything to move to the U.S., has been a big influence on her.
After earning a B.A. in corporate communications from Western Kentucky University, and winning numerous awards for leadership and public speaking, she moved to San Diego, where she began her career in marketing and advertising sales, bringing in multi-million dollar clients, training new employees and structuring long-term pricing and contracts. Despite being the youngest member of the sales team, she topped sales for two consecutive years, exceeding her goals by more than 200 percent.
According to the website, “Charmaine went on to Scottsdale for her next challenge in new business development with a mortgage firm.  Charmaine now resides in Nashville, Tennessee  where she is an area manager for a Fortune 500 company. She works in warranty and risk-management consulting and is highly involved in the local real estate community.  Whether she’s driving the performance of the company or mobilizing an entire office to run a mini-marathon for charity, Charmaine has proven she knows how to get it done.”
True to her Filipino roots, she also gives a premium on working hard to provide for the family and balancing her life between work and play. The pretty Fil-Am, who filled out her status as “single,” says she enjoys the outdoors and being active, confessing to being partial to running and training for marathons, as well as traveling and experiencing new things. She also confesses to being a “huge food connoisseur,” enjoying a nice meal and wine with friends and family. She is also into live music. Her favorite book is “The DaVinci Code” and her favorite movies are “Shawshank Redemption,” “Training Day,” and “Meet the Parents.”
To succeed in life, Charmaine has this advice, “Take risks, sacrifice your time, never take ”no" for an answer, and work very hard."