NBC.com

NELY GALÁN

EXIT INTERVIEW

Your team had so many advantages going for it in your last task. What went wrong?

I truly don't know... I sound like Gene Simmons but after seeing the other window, I don't know how anyone could have picked it over ours. I stand by ours being the best. I am very pleased I was able to raise 220,000 dollars for my charity, Count Me In on the TODAY show. www.countmein.org. I am happy Serta mattresses from last night's episode generously donated 20,000 to my charity.

It became a common theme in the show that you were best-suited to manage the entertainment-related tasks, yet your team lost each one. Was your experience with Telemundo not translatable to The Apprentice?

In all business if you are taking risks you can't be afraid to fail. Failing is a muscle I have used. I am not afraid to lose. Sometimes when you win you lose and sometimes when you lose you win. Life is a long distance run. This time I was fired and lost winning The Celebrity Apprentice, but my charity won 220,000 dollars so as far as I am concerned I won. Also the gift I received by meeting my cast and learning from each one of them and from Donald Trump is priceless.

Some of the women on the show, including yourself, have gotten emotional in the boardroom and beyond. What role, if any, does such emotion have in business?

The women of this season truly liked each other. We will be friends for life. Some of us are going on an empowerment tour for women. If we were emotional it is because we genuinely were sorry to see each other leave.

Omarosa has a reputation as being difficult. How was your experience working with her?

Omarosa and I got along. She is strong, can be difficult- if she were a man she would be admired for her "Difficultness" and rewarded for it.

So what's next for your?

So what's next? What am I going to do after "Celebrity Apprentice"? Well, this summer you can catch a groundbreaking daytime reality series that I've created, that you will also be able to follow on the web, called "The New You". It's a twelve-week program where we'll take women who have stopped putting themselves first and put them back on the path of health, wellness, and beauty - we will take them to all of their doctors' appointments, help them with any depression and mental health issues, provide advice on their career and mission in life, and give a boost to their appearance (the natural way). I hope you join us in this summer series that will transform the old you into THE NEW YOU.

CONTESTANT INTERVIEW

Let's put the million-dollar question out there first. You've achieved fame and success in your life. Why put yourself through the often-brutal Apprentice process?

The Apprentice has always been one of my favorite shows. I was excited by the challenge. I also felt that as a Latina entrepreneur I knew how important it would be for Latinos to see themselves represented in a business setting.

The charity I am playing for is COUNT ME IN, which helps fund women in their start-up businesses. This is my mission - to empower women!

What do you admire most about Donald Trump? Do you see a correlation between him and you in the sense that you are both famous AND business people?

I admire Donald Trump's clarity, directness and focus. Where we differ is in style and culture.

I believe you can make it without the winner-take-all cutthroat approach. It's a question of choices: what do you really want and what price are you willing to pay for what you want? There is always a price.

"Success" can mean different things to different people; what does it mean to you?

Success is working hard at what you love - having the financial security to not have to do it - and having the family and time to enjoy it. Almost impossible to achieve all at once!

What lessons have you learned from past Apprentice winners?

I should be the Celebrity Apprentice because I have exceptional work ethic, integrity and experience.

Since you are in the public spotlight, people already know a great deal about you. What's one thing that the public may not know?

As a producer, people think of me as great salesman with a big personality, but I am really a quiet nerd from New Jersey.

If you could be the star of any movie ever made, which star and which movie would it be and why?

I am definitely most like Melanie Griffin's character in Working Girl. I am studious and always come from behind to win the race.

What are your favorite albums of all time?

Luis Miguel, "Romances"

Madonna, "The Immaculate Collection"

Carole King, "Tapestry"

J. Lo, "On the Six"

Fleetwood Mac, "Rumours"

What are your three favorite books of all time?

"Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"Dirty Girls Social Club" by Alisa Valdes

"The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros