The Apprentice star forced to scrap business after failing to win £250,000 investment
They missed out on Lord Sugar's life-changing sum.
The Apprentice star Mia Collins has revealed she’s ditched her meal prep business after failing to secure Lord Alan Sugar’s £250,000 investment.
A favourite to win earlier in the series, Mia missed out on the chance to make it to the momentous interviews stage after losing out in tonight’s fashion show task.
And she’s now completely walked away from her company, and used her experience as an amateur bodybuilder to start afresh.
Speaking of her time on the BBC One competition, the entrepreneur shared: ‘I loved every single second of it, I learnt a lot about myself, I honed in on skills that have set me up for the next few years of my professional life.
‘I’m definitely not leaving with any regrets or any resentment towards anything, I made friends for life and had an amazing few months, I loved it.’
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After her shock exit, she admitted: ‘I was very inexperienced when it came to fighting for myself in the boardroom. I’d not had to do it before, so there’s definitely an art to fighting in the boardroom.’
Mia Collins became the latest victim of Lord Sugar’s boardroom (Picture: Ray Burmiston/Naked/BBC/PA Wire)She added she had ’emotional whiplash’ having thought she may be saved for a moment, before Lord Sugar’s final decision.
And now, she’s walked away from her original business plan entirely.
Mia ran her meal prep business in Bristol for three years, and had hoped to set it up in London with the help of Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment.
‘But obviously I haven’t won, so I won’t be continuing with that business plan,’ she admitted.
Now, she has set up a sales coaching business with high performance and athlete-level discipline at its core, called Prep and Perform.
The bodybuilder is using her experience for her new company (Picture: Instagram/Mia Collins)‘It’s essentially for organizations and sales teams who want to develop that kind of proper athlete level discipline in the workplace,’ she explained.
‘I don’t envisage Prep and Perform needing investment, it’s only just launched,’ she added.
Mia went on: ‘Lord Sugar was very complimentary of me in the process, I think he’ll probably wish me well, knowing that he’s seen my sales competency on the show, I hope that he would wish me well.’
Prep and Perform arose from Mia’s training as a bodybuilder, which she juggled alongside her other roles.
‘I’ve always been into training, I’ve always been into the gym and I have never really shied away from pushing myself.
Mia has launched a new business, Prep and Perform, following her exit from The Apprentice (Picture: BBC)‘So my meal prep business was always run at the weekends whilst I worked full time.
‘I’m never shy of doing a lot of difficult things at once, and my love for training just developed into trying something new.’
She continued: ‘I just want to help businesses and individuals develop the skills that I’ve learned in my time on the show and through bodybuilding.
‘I think sales is a really difficult industry, and it’s really hard to be a good salesperson. I want to impart what I’ve learned in my experience and help as many organizations develop high performance sales teams as much as I can.’
At the same time as starting her new business, and while The Apprentice aired, Mia has been training for her next bodybuilding competition in just over a week.
Mia has no regrets from her time on The Apprentice (Picture: BBC)‘Throughout the entire time the show has been on, I’ve been on prep, juggling that with working full time, setting up a new business and everything else – I’m not scared of doing a lot of hard things at once,’ she said.
‘I just really enjoy it, it’s a bit different as well. And what it’s allowed me to do is develop gratitude for a lot of things that I previously took for granted.
‘I’m much more resilient when it comes to difficult things. No one wants to start their day doing an hour of fasted cardio, but it’s forced me to push myself, which I think is going to carry me through the entirety of my life.
‘So I’m thankful for finding bodybuilding, that’s for sure.’
Her passion could even lead her to her next TV gig, as Mia quipped: ‘I would love to go on Gladiators, that is definitely a bucket list item.’
The Apprentice airs Thursdays at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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