Filipino bet Lara Pearl Alvarez brings with her the lessons from a turbulent past when she participates in ONE Championship's edition of hit reality series "The Apprentice.”
Alvarez, who used to train martial arts in the famed Benguet-based stable Team Lakay and now a freelance tax accountant, is among the 16 participants in the "toughest version" of "The Apprentice" which will premiere in Asia next month and globally in June.
The 25-year-old Alvarez said the discipline and mental toughness she mastered while training in Team Lakay back in the days brought out the best in her when she joined the globally-acclaimed show.
Her struggles in academics, before finally becoming an accountant after graduating from the University of Cordilleras, wasn't also an easy task for the former wushu practitioner.
"Being an accountant naman kasi, 'yun 'yung isang pinaghirapan ko sa buhay ko though natagalan talaga ako sa school. And I've been through a lot of struggle sa pagkuha ko ng degree from my younger years (Being an accountant is a product of my hard work, though it really took a long time before I graduated. And I've been through a lot of struggle in getting my degree from my younger years)," recalled Alvarez over Radyo Pilipinas 2 Saturday, Feb. 13.
"I think 'yun 'yung talagang madadala ko sa competition, na ako ay very determined sa mga dreams ko. And being part of Team Lakay din, 'yun din naman 'yung naghulma ng character ko as a martial artist (I think this is something that I had to bring in the competition, that I am very determined in pursuing my dreams. And being part of Team Lakay molded my character as a martial artist as well)," added Alvarez, who got pregnant when she was 22 years old and since then became a proud single mother to one-year-old son Marcuz David.
These kinds of experiences proved to be instrumental for Alvarez since the participants in "The Apprentice" were required to take on physical challenges aside from business-related tasks.
In fact, Alvarez said she had lost seven kilograms and barely slept, or at the very least up to four hours, during the rigorous shooting and overall production.
Alvarez is firm that she has what it takes to become the next apprentice of ONE CEO and founder Chatri Sityodtong as the winner is bound to get a $25,000 job offer to work under the ONE chief himself in Singapore.
"I think 'yun 'yung edge ko for this competition na I know what Chatri is looking for sa mga martial artist and I'm going to bring 'yung character na na-develop ko through years (I think that's my edge entering this competition, that I know what Chatri is looking for in martial artists and I'm going to show my character development through the years)," added the Igorot representative.
Alvarez is joined by compatriot Louie Sangalang, also a former MMA champion who now runs his own procurement consulting firm, in the final 16 contestants from 11 countries out of the thousands of applicants in "The Apprentice."