Michelle Dewberry, a working class girl from Hull who left school at 16, was the winner of the second series of BBC's The Apprentice in 2006.
The youngest candidate at 26, she fought off competition from a lawyer, a management consultant, a business lecturer and the seemingly-unstoppable Ruth Badger to secure a £100,000 job working for Sir Alan Sugar.
Just how did she do it?
A tough start
Michelle had a tough start; physically and emotionally abused by her father who had driven her sister out of the family home.
Her first job was as working on the checkouts at Kwik Save. Humble beginnings, but she was determined to be a success and set herself her first big challenge: owning her first property by the time she was 21.
Achieving her goals
She worked at several extra part-time jobs to help her achieve her goal.
At 18, she phoned Hull's local telecoms company out of the blue and asked for a managerial post. Offered an admin role, she accepted and concentrated on learning everything she could.
Over the next eight years, she rose through the ranks of several Telecoms firms, in one instance being headhunted by a FTSE 250 company, before striking out on her own as a self-employed global telecoms project manager.
The Apprentice
Michelle was already earning £100,000 by the time she signed on for The Apprentice - the same salary she would eventually earn working for Alan Sugar, so why did she enter? She says it was for "the experience" and the opportunity to learn from a mentor as successful as Alan Sugar.
After 12 weeks of challenges, ranging from selling fruit and veg to renting out property, and only once being in the firing line in the Boardroom, Michelle was crowned The Apprentice.
Working for Sir Alan
Her task was to help set up a subsidiary company, Xenon Green, which disposed of unwanted computer equipment in an environmentally-friendly manner.
There were soon rumours of friction between Sir Alan and his apprentice, soon followed by news Michelle was pregnant by fellow Apprentice contestant, Syed Ahmed. The job didn't last long.
Bounce back
Never one to let a set-back get her down, Michelle promptly set up Michelle Dewberry Ltd, offering Project management, Outsourcing advice and Business consultancy.
She also wrote an "inspirational autobiography", Anything Is Possible, which tells the story of her tough start and explains her philosophy: "if you believe in yourself, anything is possible".
So far it's held true - even without a degree.
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