CORINNE GUIMONT cguimont@groupejcl.com

L’aile jeunesse de la Chambre de commerce et d’industrie Thérèse- De Blainville, dans le cadre de ses matins formation, a reçu Stéphanie Castagnier pour une conférence au Club de Golf Le Fontainebleau.

Femme d’affaires d’origine montréalaise, elle est devenue, à 34 ans, une entrepreneure américaine prospère et passionnée du milieu de la finance. Son succès l’a dernièrement mené jusqu’aux portes de Donald Trump, lorsqu’elle a été choisie pour l’émission The Apprentice.

La salle pleine était à l’écoute de l’histoire particulière de la jeune femme. Stéphanie Castagnier a débuté sa conférence en brossant une enfance difficile avec un père vendeur de drogue devenu sidatique et qui a contaminé sa mère.

Ses parents, décédés subitement, l’ont laissé à 16 ans, un peu déprimée, mais avec plein de rêves dont elle parlait à tout le monde. «Je me disais, je vais devenir une femme d’affaires et je vais être riche, partage-t-elle. Un jour, je me suis dit, ça serait amusant de travailler pour Donald Trump», ajoute-t-elle.

Stéphanie Castagnier a grandi avec l’idée de vouloir réussir «Je voulais relever les défis que je m’étais lancés. Ce n’est pas l’argent qui m’a

motivée. C’est le succès qui m’inspire» souligne- t-elle. Terminant des études en marketing affaires internationales, elle s’est retrouvée à Chicago et est devenue la seule femme courtière à l’époque. C’est en saisissant les opportunités et en étant fonceuse qu’elle a fait son chemin. «J’essaie toujours d’être deux pas en avance. Quand les opportunités se présentent, je suis sûre d’être prête à sauter», dit-elle.

Cette attitude lui a valu d’être reconnue dans l’univers des prêts, avec sa compagnie,

«Ce n’est pas l’argent qui m’a motivée. C’est le succès qui m’inspire.»

Commercial Real Estate Banker, alors que ses services sont utilisés par le gouvernement américain.

Elle avait toujours en tête l’idée de travailler pour Donald Trump lorsqu’est arrivée l’émission The Apprentice. C’est donc en avril dernier qu’elle s’est rendue à New York, où elle a dormi sur le trottoir pour être certaine de passer les auditions. «J’ai dit que j’étais pour le

faire et je l’ai fait», déclare-t-elle en riant. Cette expérience lui a ouvert davantage de portes, notamment une participation à un film sur l’économie. Stéphanie Castagnier est toujours passionnée, avec des idées claires sur plusieurs sujets, que ce soit l’éducation de nos enfants à la consommation, la façon de gérer son crédit ou son image et l’importance de savoir exactement ce qui se passe avec ses comptes. «On le fait souvent pour le travail, mais pas dans sa vie personnelle. C’est important d’être au courant de ses finances», dit-elle. Aujourd’hui, Stéphanie Castagnier a l’intention de continuer à bâtir son empire et s’intéresse davantage aux femmes dans

l’économie. En entrevue, l’entrepreneure mentionne

qu’elle adore inspirer les jeunes entrepreneurs. «Je ne donne des conférences qu’au Québec parce que je viens d’ici et que je connais bien la mentalité québécoise. On a beaucoup d’idées ici et je trouve ça inspirant», précise-t-elle.

«On a une valeur à montrer, mais on a peur de l’argent comme si c’était quelque chose de mauvais. Moi, ce sont les défis qui me motivent. Tu veux faire quelque chose? Fais-le», s’exprime-t-elle, un éclat de passion dans les yeux.

(Photo Pierre Latour) Stéphanie Castagnier: «J’essaie toujours d’être deux pas en avance, quand les opportunités se présentent, je suis sûre d’être prête à sauter.»

Page 16 NORD INFO.COM, 2 avril 2011

La nouvelle ère - FEMCONOMY

-Stephanie D. Castagnier-

Quel est le trait commun partagé entre ces treize femmes qui ont changé la face du monde?

Susan B. Anthony – activiste

Alice Paul – activiste et collaborateur à gagner le droit des femmes à voter en 1920

Benazir Bhutto – La première ministre du Pakistan

Princesse Diana – Princesse de Galles

Betty Friedan – Auteure et fondatrice de la National Organization for Women (NOW)

Indira Gandhi – La première ministre de l’Inde

Golda Meir – la première ministre d’Israël

Sandra Day O’Connor – Première femme juge de la Cour suprême des États-Unis

Éva Peron – Première Dame de l’Argentine

Rosa Parks – U. S. militant des droits civiques

Eleanor Roosevelt – U. S. Première Dame

Margaret Thatcher – premier ministre d’Angleterre

Harriet Tubman – activiste et de «chef» du chemin de fer clandestin aider les esclaves

Pensée indépendante. FEMPOWERMENT.

Le monde a changé grâce à la force de nombreuses femmes qui sont venues avant nous et n’ont pas eu peur de prendre position. Ces femmes ne se présenteraient pas à l’oppression et n’ont pas ete touchées par ce que les autres autour d’eux ont pensé ou dit. Ils restèrent FEMPOWERMENT, la capacité d’une femme de penser pour elle-même.

Au cours des prochaines années, les femmes contrôleront les deux tiers de la richesse des consommateurs aux États-Unis et elles seront les bénéficiaires du plus grand transfert de richesse de l’histoire de notre pays. Les prévisions ont estimé un transfert de richesse entre 12 $ – 40 $ billions de dollars qui seront cachés dans nos sacs à main de designers. Le plus grand aspect démographique des femmes sera les baby-boomers, ces femmes qui dans de nombreux cas auront un double héritage , un héritage des deux parents et celui de leurs conjoints. Étant donné que les femmes américaines dépensent environ $5 milliards par an, c’est plus de la moitié du PIB des États-Unis, ne serait-il pas impératif pour toutes les entreprises des États-Unis de commencer à embaucher des cadres féminins? À ma grande déception, encore aujourd’hui les entreprises américaines emploient moins de 10 % de leurs cadres féminins. Messieurs, vous ne serez jamais une femme, alors vous ne serez jamais vraiment capable de comprendre notre mentalité, quel que soit le nombre d’études de marche que vous faites. L’influence des femmes est de plus de 80 % de tous les achats. En fin de compte, il est temps d’embaucher des exécutives si vous voulez êtes compétitive dans cette nouvelle ère de FEMCONOMY!

Il n’est pas surprenant qu’il existe de nettes différences physiques entre le cerveau féminin et masculin. Nous avons étudié nos différents comportements pendant des années et pour avoir lu les théories telles que les hommes viennent de Mars / femmes viennent de Vénus, livre sur les relations couples. Le monde des affaires accuse un retard dans les dernières nouvelles à propos du pouvoir financier des femmes.  La réalité est que deux campagnes de marketing sont nécessaires pour les deux ensembles de consommateurs, hommes et femmes. Ou mieux encore, puisque les femmes influencent 80 % de tous les achats ne serait-il pas juste de faire un seul plan de marketing? Avoir un produit de couleur Rose  n’est pas une campagne de marketing! Regardez à quel point cela a fonctionné pour Apple au cours des deux dernières années. Apple a compris l’importance de la consommation des femmes et ont ajusté leurs produits et ont changé leur plan de marketing pour cibler les femmes. Ils ont conçu des produits plus lisses de différente couleur, les applications pour chaque membre de la famille! Les femmes sont heureuses d’acheter les produits Apple pour chaque membre de leur famille. C’est ainsi que les femmes font leurs d’achat!  Elles achètent pour les autres membres de leur famille dans. Les femmes ont toujours mis tout le monde devant eux, nous sommes les fournisseurs de soins et cela se traduit même de notre politique d’achat. Cela a du sens pour moi!  Le chiffre des ventes d’Apple a grimpé en flèche depuis cette révélation sur Venus.

Comme je suis assis ici en tapant sur mon Apple MacProBook  je multitâche sur mon iPhone 4, parce que le multitâche est également une caractéristique très nette des femmes comme nous le savons tous, je ne peux m’empêcher de méditer sur ma propre démographie des femmes de 30 et 40 ans. Mon groupe d’âge a également établi de nouvelles normes nous ne sommes plus a la une course pour se marier et avoir des enfants. Nous voulons maintenant atteindre notre propre liberté financière et réaliser nos propres objectifs. Les femmes célibataires sont les plus fortes croissances démographiques dans le marché immobilier américain, par exemple. Il y a actuellement plus de femmes inscrites dans l’enseignement supérieur à travers le pays. Plus de 57 % des étudiants inscrits pour leur Bac et 59 % des étudiants inscrits pour leurs maitrises sont des femmes.

Le monde des Affaires, réveillez-vous!  Une ère nouvelle est arrivée!

Mesdames consultez mon dernier blogue pour plus d’informations sur la façon d’aller de l’avant dans la jungle d’entreprise! www.StephanieCastagnier.com

The New Era – FEMCONOMY

-Stephanie D. Castagnier

What is the common trait shared among these thirteen women who changed the face of the world?

Susan B. Anthony – Activist

Alice Paul – Activist and contributor to gain a woman’s right to vote in 1920

Benazir Bhutto – Prime Minister of Pakistan

Princess Diana – Princess of Wales

Betty Friedan – Author and Founder of the National Organization for Women (N.O.W.)

Indira Gandhi – Prime Minister of India

Golda Meir – Prime Minister of Israel

Sandra Day O’Connor – First woman U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Eva Peron – Argentina’s First Lady

Rosa Parks – U.S. Civil Rights activist

Eleanor Roosevelt – U.S. First Lady

Margaret Thatcher – Prime Minister of England

Harriet Tubman – Activist and “conductor” of the Underground Railroad helping slaves

INDEPENDENT THOUGHT – FEMPOWERMENT.

The world has changed thanks to the many strong women who came before us and were not afraid to take a stand.  These women would not stand for oppression and were not affected by what others around them thought or said.  They stood for FEMPOWERMENT, a woman’s ability to THINK FOR HERSELF.

Over the next several years, women will control two thirds of consumer wealth in the U.S. and be the beneficiaries of the largest transfer of wealth in our country’s history.  The forecast has estimated a transfer of wealth between $12-$40 trillion will be stashed in our designer purses.  The largest affected demographic of women will be the lady boomers who will in many cases experience a double inheritance windfall from both parents and their spouses.  Given that American women spend about $5 trillion annually, over half the U.S. GDP, would it not be imperative for all U.S. enterprises to begin hiring female executives this very second?  Much to my disappointment, corporate America still only employs less than 10% of female executives.  Gentlemen, unless you are a woman you will never truly understand the mindset of a women regardless of the number of sample sets you draw your market research from.  Women influence over 80% of all purchasing.  The bottom line is, it’s time to hire female executives at the top if you are ever to compete in this new era of FEMCONOMY!

It is no surprise that there are distinct physical differences between the female and male brain which impact behavior.  We have studied our different behaviors for years and have read the theories such as the men are from mars / women are from venus relationship help books.  Corporate America is the last to read the memo on these distinct differences and the actual reality that two marketing campaigns are needed for both set of consumers, male geared and female geared campaigns.  Or better yet, since women influences 80% of all purchases wouldn’t it just make financial budgetary sense to design female targeted marketing campaigns?  Pink is not a marketing campaign by the way guys!  Look at how well this has worked for Apple the last couple of years.  Apple realized the importance of the female consumer and adjusted their product and marketing to target women.  They designed sleeker products, splashes of color, media related apps, consumer friendly plug and play and voila!  Women are excited to buy the Apple products for every member of their family.  That is how women purchase!  They purchase with the other members of their family in the back of their minds.  Women always put everyone else before them, we are the caregivers and this translates even to our purchasing.  Makes sense to me!  Apple’s sales figures have skyrocketed since this venus revelation.

As I sit here typing on my Apple ProBook multitasking on my IPhone 4, because multitasking is also a very distinct female characteristic as we all know, I can’t help but ponder over my own demographic of women in our 30s and 40s.  My age group has also set new standards as we are no longer in a rush to get married and have kids.  We now want to attain our own financial freedom and accomplish our own goals.  Single women are the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. real estate market for example.  There are currently more women enrolled in high education across the country.  Over 57% of enrolled bachelors students and 59% of masters students are women.

Corporate America, wake up and smell the designer perfume.  A new era has arrived!

Ladies check out my latest blog for more information on how to get ahead in the corporate jungle! www.StephanieCastagnier.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Stephanie Castagnier

Castagnier is one of 16 candidates vying to win a job with Donald Trump on The Apprentice this season. Eighteen years ago, Castagnier was struggling to find the resolve just to face the next day – never mind seeking fame and fortune on one of TV’s most popular reality shows.

When Castagnier was 16, she lost her mother to AIDS. Her mom had been infected by her father, a drug dealer who made the fatal error of becoming addicted to his own wares. He was serving time in Montreal’s Parthenais prison and would succumb to AIDS himself a few years later. Bitter and depressed, Castagnier spent her nights crashing on her aunt’s couch, holding little hope for the future.

“It came to a point where I realized I had to make some kind of decision about my life,” says Castagnier. “I could just give up, or I could try to get everything that I could out of life. I decided to just go for it, 100 per cent, the way that only somebody with nothing left to lose can.”

She took summer courses to improve her standing in high school and began to approach schoolwork with a new determination. She managed to earn the marks she needed to get accepted at McGill, where she studied marketing and international management. She waitressed at St-Hubert BBQ and worked an 11 pm to 7 am shift at a hotel to fund her studies.

“All my classmates were so ambitious and motivated,” she recalls. Castagnier was determined to keep up. Her work on a student marketing competition at McGill led to her first post graduation job, a marketing gig in Toronto for the Cheerios brand. Then, seeking bigger opportunities, she moved to Chicago and became a commercial real estate lender.

“People in the U.S. know about McGill,” says Castagnier. “That helped open a lot of doors for me.”

Now, Castagnier is hoping to open doors for others. “Once I had some success in Chicago, I started looking for a charity that I could support, but I didn’t really find one that was involved in the things I was interested in supporting.” So she started one.

Castagnier is the president and founder of Child Cause, an organization that supports teens who’ve been affected by AIDS or substance abuse – by building a peer network of individuals who’ve had to wrestle with similar challenges, for instance. More generally, it tries to encourage troubled teens to hold on to hope and to avoid making decisions that will haunt them in the future.

“One of the things I stress is the importance of education. I owe the life I’ve lived to my education. My parents didn’t have the same opportunities. My father made some terrible choices in his life, but he was illiterate and he came from a difficult background. It’s easy to just repeat what you know.

“I want kids to think it’s cool to be successful, it’s cool to be engaged with life, it’s cool to get good marks. It’s not always easy [for young people] to relate to the authority figures in their lives. They’ll say, ‘You don’t know what I’ve been through.’ They can’t say that to me. I do know. I understand despair.”

One of the things that Child Cause is involved with currently is a project involving former American Idol contestant Shaun Barrowes. Barrowes will be touring some Illinois schools this fall, participating in concerts with the schools’ bands and choirs. A portion of each concert’s proceeds will help fund art activities at the different schools.

According to Castagnier, Child Cause is keen to promote arts and athletic activities for teens. “When I was young, I played piano. I was captain of the basketball and volleyball teams. It was a refuge. It kept me distracted from how disastrous my life was at home.”

And now Castagnier faces her latest challenge – hoping to dissuade the stern-faced Trump from launching his once-an-episode “You’re fired” in her direction.

“I’ve admired Donald Trump for a long time,” says Castagnier. “He is a guy who came back from bankruptcy, not once, but twice, and he has managed to make himself into a brand that’s known throughout the world. I want to work with a man like that.”

When Castagnier heard a few months ago that Apprentice producers would be auditioning hopefuls for the upcoming season, she was quick to take action.

I flew to New York and I slept on the sidewalk so I wouldn’t lose my place in the audition line. The lineup went on for blocks. In the end, I think at least 25,000 people auditioned for the show.”

Castagnier is proud to be the first Québécoise to appear on The Apprentice. “I hope people back home will be rooting for me.

“It has been an amazing experience,” she says of her time on the show. “I’ve had the opportunity to meet CEOs, to meet star athletes. I’ve been able to meet with the elite from almost every industry you can imagine.”

While she was quite familiar with the show from previous seasons, she admits she was still caught off-guard by one thing.

“The one surprise I had on the show was finding out just how far some people were willing to go to win. I mean, I want to win, but I’m not willing to do anything just to win. I am not willing to sacrifice my integrity.

“I am who I am,” says Castagnier. “I didn’t put on an act. I think I’ll come across [on the Apprentice] as somebody who is straight-laced and hard-nosed. That’s the way I am in my life and that’s the way I was on the show.”

Stephanie Castagnier, originally from Montreal, will join 14 other contestants on the latest non-celebrity edition of “The Apprentice,” beginning Thursday night on NBC and Global.

A graduate of McGill University, Castagnier is a commercial real estate banker in Chicago.

“The recession impacted me tremendously,” she said. “I did very, very well for many a year and all of a sudden, the recession hit and my business came to a sweeping halt.”

Rather then give up, Castagnier fell back on a dream she had as a child in Montreal — to some day work for Donald Trump.

She was watching the most recent celebrity edition of “The Apprentice” and when she saw the call for non-celebrity contestants for the next edition, she became determined to find a way onto the show. Castagnier literally slept on the sidewalk to be near the front of the line for the New York audition.

The producers set things up differently this year by having prospective contestants debate issues such as the recession, politics and the economy. Castagnier impressed in the debates and landed an opportunity to compete against 14 American contestants on the popular reality series.

Win or lose (and no one knows until Trump makes his decision in the live finale), the striking blond has already heard the golden phrase, “You’re hired.”

She has a job back in Chicago as executive director of the Trump Network.

“To work with Donald Trump — I don’t even think you could buy that opportunity,” she says.

If Castagnier does win “The Apprentice,” maybe she could get right to work straightening out his office. The business mogul lords over his empire from the 26th floor of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, with a spectacular view of Central Park and The Plaza right outside his gold-trimmed window.

Along the walls, under the large windows and literally on much of the floor of Trump’s massive corner office are dozens and dozens of autographed photos, footballs, awards and other trapping of his decades at the top.

In an interview last month, Trump said he envies Canada’s business community.

“Your banks were smart,” he said. “You look at Europe, or here, generally, things are bad.”

Trump pointed out that he’s building a 60-storey, 275 metre luxury hotel and condominium tower in downtown Toronto that he says is doing very nicely.

“Frankly, that building in most places in the United States wouldn’t work and in Canada it works fairly nicely.”

He says this latest edition of “The Apprentice” will reflect the tough economic times and will be “less nasty, more aspirational” in approach.

“The show is very tough, but it is also about hope,” he says.

He won’t let the show get too soft, however: “Nobody would watch it.”

Still, the hard-hit U.S. economy has impacted the series.

“We have a lawyer from Stanford who has no job,” says Trump. “One guy had a good job and a wife and five kids and now has no job. Got no job! I said how do you live with five kids and have no job? And he said: ‘not easy.’”

Trump gets that the mood in television seems to be swinging away from bleak, anti-hero shows like “The Sopranos” and towards more upbeat, heroic fare. Still, as he sees it, “people are always going to want the bad guy, and the worse a guy is, the better.” Put him squarely in the anti-hero camp, he says.

Asked if he cares what people think of him at this point, Trump shoots back, “less than people think. If you care too much, it puts too much pressure on you.”

At 64, the New York native still shoots from the lip. His strong views on America’s involvement in the Middle East and other foreign policy issues have livened up appearances on “David Letterman” and “Larry King Live.”

“All we’ve done is make it possible for Iran to take over,” he says of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “That place will be a tinder box for years to come. We’re over there, losing lives and losing everything, there’s no control over there.”

He fears America is losing ground to China in terms of global business influence.

“We don’t use our smartest people to negotiate,” says Trump. “We use diplomats that don’t know anything about the art of negotiation. It’s a very sad thing for this country, to be honest with you, and to a lesser extent, Canada.”

Trump will follow this edition of “The Apprentice” with another celebrity edition. Production on that begins mid-October and it will premiere in the New Year.

Always the salesman, Trump says he has lined up an “unbelievable cast” of new celebrities. He takes credit for career boosts for both Piers Morgan and Trace Adkins, as well as other celebrity edition players.

“Look at what’s happened to Piers,” says Trump. He’s taking over ‘Larry King Live’ and he’s on ‘America’s Got Talent.’ Trace Adkins is the No. 1 country singer; Joan Rivers is as hot as a pistol. Annie Duke is everywhere.”

«Je n’ai aucune crainte parce que grâce aux petits succès que j’ai eus dans ma vie, j’ai réalisé que je peux tout perdre demain et recommencer sans problème. Lorsqu’on sait qu’on n’a rien à perdre, on fonce, tout simplement», explique Stéphanie dans une vidéo promotionnelle de l’émission.

Au cours des prochains mois, les concurrents de The Apprentice tenteront de convaincre Donald Trump qu’ils ont tout ce qu’il faut pour décrocher un emploi au sein de sa société. L’homme d’affaires offrira au gagnant un poste qui lui rapportera un salaire annuel dans les six chiffres.

«J’aime penser que je suis l’alter ego féminin de Donald Trump. Je n’ai rien à perdre dans cette compétition. Je vais tout donner. Je suis ici pour gagner et je sais que je vais gagner. Je ne serai pas que la prochaine apprentice, mais je serai la prochaine Donald Trump», explique la Québécoise qui a grandi à Montréal.

Stéphanie Castagnier n’a pas eu une enfance facile. Lorsqu’elle n’avait que 16 ans, sa mère est décédée du SIDA après que son conjoint, le père de Stéphanie, l’ait infectée. Il a lui aussi succombé aux symptômes du virus mortel.

Quelques années plus tard, Stéphanie a été admise à l’Université McGill de Montréal. Lorsqu’elle a obtenu son diplôme, elle a quitté le Québec pour s’installer à Toronto puis à Chicago, où elle habite toujours, pour entreprendre une carrière dans le domaine des finances.

Selon les informations publiées sur sa page Facebook, Mme Castagnier est présidente de l’entreprise Hudson Financial Group, à Chicago. On apprend également qu’elle est l’auteure de Fear to Fire, un mémoire dans lequel elle décrit les difficultés qu’elle a rencontrées lors de son adolescence.

Stephanie a également mis sur pied la fondation Child Cause/Fear to Fire qui a pour but d’offrir de l’aide aux enfants et aux adolescents atteints du SIDA.

Le premier épisode de la 10e saison de The Apprentice sera présenté le 16 septembre à 21 h sur les ondes de NBC.

Through organized events and forums, teens are invited to embrace sports and art related programs to develop skills and relationships that enhance their lives. Teens affected by addiction from various treatment centers, hospitals, schools and referrals across the country get the opportunity to network with other teens through our peer network. The focus is on finding their positive inspirational outlet and helping them build relationships they can trust and enjoy.

Through collaboration events are hosted ranging from education encouragement, sports involvement, art exhibitions, music concerts, dance recitals and drama productions. Our peer network strengthens needed peer support, raises awareness and removes the stigma associated with this disease.

For more information visit www.childcause.com or call (847) 477-7546. For statistics on AIDS and substance abuse and other updates, follow on Twitter @ChildCause.

To purchase a copy of Stephanie’s book:

Fear to Fire: My Life as an AIDS Orphan

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