Meet the former Westcliff grammar school pupil taking on The Apprentice

As the new series of The Apprentice kicks off tonight, former Westcliff High School for Girls student Chisola Chitambala will take centre stage as she goes head-to-head with 17 other contestants. Chisola, from Hullbridge, is the owner of a Basildon-based virtual assistant company and made the jump from healthcare to business after going back to school to earn her Master of Business Administration. The impressive entrepreneur says she hopes her appearance on The Apprentice helps persuade more women from diverse backgrounds get involved in business.

“I want to encourage every single young woman from every background to go for it and achieve what they want to achieve,” she said. “I’m doing it for Team Essex!” The Apprentice sees a group of entrepreneurs from around the UK take part in a series of business-themed challenges as they compete for a £250,000 investment in their business. “I’ve always been very business minded from a young age - I started selling sweets in the playground of my primary school and now run my own virtual assistant company,” said Chisola.



“I’d grown up watching the show and have always been inspired by the other candidates, particularly the women and especially those from diverse backgrounds.” “They’ve always inspired me and I’ve want to inspire the next generation of young, female entrepreneurs and show them that you can achieve whatever you want to.” While she has always wanted to give the show a go, Chisola said it was her fiancé who persuaded her to apply for series 19.

She said: “My fiancé encouraged me to apply this year and the rest is history. “I have always been a naturally confident person, but something was definitely holding me back and I just needed that push.” Chisola has described her experience on The Apprentice as both challenging and rewarding.

“It was such a surreal experience and is the most amazing and hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “Its challenging physically and mentally but it is so rewarding - I am definitely the best version of myself from being part of the process. “Even just from the application process itself, I learned so much about myself and am really proud of what I’ve done.

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