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Ivanka Trump at the NBC Press Tour held at the Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif. on January 17, 2007. |
Ivanka Trump is more than just the daughter of billionaire Donald Trump. At the age of 25, the Wharton-educated former model is the Vice President of Development and Acquisitions for The Trump Organization. A tough, no-nonsense businesswoman, the New York native actively participates in all aspects of real estate development from deal evaluation, analysis and pre-development planning to construction, marketing, operations, sales and leasing. She has expanded the Trump Organization’s interests internationally, bringing the highly acclaimed Trump International Hotel & Tower brand to the global market.
Joining the hit NBC television series The Apprentice in its sixth season, the new setting (Los Angeles) and the shocking new twists and turns (including forcing the losers to sleep in tents in the backyard of a mansion that houses the winning team), Ivanka watches over the contestants as they perform their weekly tasks, and sits alongside her father in the dreaded boardroom, to help determine who will be sent home.
Wearing a $25 black vintage dress that she picked up in Los Angeles, the stunningly beautiful Ivanka tells Mediablvd Magazine about what it was like, growing up as a Trump.
Mediablvd Magazine> Were you at all hesitant to be involved with the show?
Ivanka Trump> I was worried about the time commitment that the show would take, in taking me away from learning and growing in a field that, ultimately, I want to be in. I don’t want to be a television star. But, at the end of the day, The Apprentice is a tremendous vehicle for us, as a family, and for making it about more than Trump, but Trump as a family, as we extend this brand and as we grow through the generations. It’s been a great resource for us. We’re able to generate publicity for our projects that other developers can’t buy, because of the celebrity aspect.
Mediablvd> People seem to be surprised at how tough you are.
Ivanka> I don’t feel like I was that tough, but I’m also not there to waste my father’s time, or waste the contestants’ time. There are certain people that just aren’t going to fit in with the company, and they might as well leave, not in week six. They could be so smart, they could be intelligent, they could even do pretty well on the task, but they just won’t work in the company, so I’m sort of doing them a favor. But, at the end of the day, when I’m across the table from 60-year-old German bankers, I feel like I’m a lot more tough. I didn’t feel like I was all that tough.
Mediablvd> Growing up, did you have to develop a tough exterior to deal with all the things that were slung at you because of your family?
Ivanka> Sure. I think that everyone has the trials and tribulations that make them who they are. I lived an easier life than a lot of people have, and maybe a more challenging life than some. There’s been some negative things that have happened that have, ultimately, helped me build a callus against some of the things that the press and the media will say. But, all in all, I really can’t complain.
Mediablvd> Was going to business school even more difficult for you, since certain things were expected from you?
Ivanka> No, I’ve always harnessed that negative energy and used it to motivate me and propel me forward. That doesn’t bother me. I feed off of that. When I got to the Wharton School of Finance, a lot of people said, “Oh, well, she got in because of who her father is.” Fine. But, I didn’t graduate summa cum laude because of who my father is. You can say whatever you’d like about why I got into the school, but I was also the top of my class in that school, and that’s not something that he could buy.
Mediablvd> You are very natural on camera. Did you take to it right away?
Ivanka> Because it really is reality, you sort of forget the camera’s there. The thing that surprised me most about the show is that I really didn’t think it was going to be so reality-oriented. They miked me up the first day, and tossed me into a room. I was waiting for instructions and I thought the cameras were going to start, and they were like, “No, just stand there and observe. Interact if you want to interact, don’t interact if you don’t.” We went into the boardroom and there was never one time where they said, “Stop the camera. Fix this. Fix your hair. This person, move that way. Repeat that sentence.” So, a lot of the time, I’ll mumble something, or there’s a word that’s slightly mispronounced that they don’t redo, because it’s all just natural flow and conversation, and then they edit it to make it the best boardroom possible. But, at the end of the day, the camera never stops.
Mediablvd> How do the candidates on the show compare to some of the other young executives that you have coming into the company?
Ivanka> The candidates on the show actually have access to us, whereas it would take other young executives much longer to have that sort of face time with my father.
Mediablvd> What does making the losing contestants live in tents teach you about them as potential employees?
Ivanka> I think it teaches us a lot. We know that every single person, especially those who are losing and living in the tents, doesn’t want to be in that situation. Each of those people also really wants to be there. You wouldn’t do that if you just wanted to be on television. Those people really will go above and beyond to work for my father. And, they’re in tents in beautiful Hollywood. There have been worse situations.
Mediablvd> Do you sense any kind of resentment or suspicion among some of the contestants, since you and your brother are probably younger than a lot of them, and because of your family connection?Ivanka> We are younger than a lot of them, but the fact of the matter is that we grew up living and breathing real estate with our grandfather and our father. We were always on construction sites, so we’ve had this practical application throughout our whole lives. We both went to the Wharton School of Finance, and have the academic background as well. Ultimately, for our age, we couldn’t really know more. And, a lot of our job is to advise our father on a type of personality, or a type of person, that will mesh within the fabric of the organization. They also see that The Apprentice is just a small part of what we do on a regular basis. We work at The Trump Organization. We’re actively involved in 33 deals, around the world. They see that The Apprentice stops, but the work continues to go on. We’ve done a very good job of embracing the winners, getting them involved in the company, and working with them, and they hear about that.
Mediablvd> Do you and your older brother fight much?
Ivanka> All the time. We’re siblings. We’re both alpha personalities and we know that there could be a potentially serious outfall if we fight against one another, within this company. We will be exponentially more successful as a team. My younger brother also just joined us, so if we leverage our individual traits, character strengths and abilities, and work as a unit, as opposed to fighting for who’s ultimately going to be the successor, we’ll be more successful.
Mediablvd> Isn’t his title at the company greater than your title, though?
Ivanka> Well, it should be. But, titles mean absolutely nothing, by the way. It’s my father, and then everyone else. I could make my own title tomorrow, if I felt so inclined. When I first got to the company, out of respect for my brother, since I worked for another developer for a year -- my brother’s four years older, and went straight to work for my father -- I wanted to take a lesser title because he had been there for five years, and I had just gotten there. I asked my dad to work under him for the first few years, so that it didn’t look like I just came in and negated five years of my brother’s work at the company. It was very important to me, to give him the respect that he was due. Does it mean anything anymore? No. But, he does have more experience, so technically, he should have a higher title.
Mediablvd> If your dad ever retires, will you run the company together?
Ivanka> We hope to. And, it won’t just be the two of us. It would be my younger brother, as well.
Mediablvd> We can see what traits you get from your father by watching the show. What traits do you get from your mother?
Ivanka> I think I get a lot. I think my father and mother are shockingly similar, in a lot of ways. They’re extremely driven, they’re extremely motivated, and they have more energy than possibly anyone I’ve ever met. From my mother, more specifically, I love to travel. One of the reasons why the company is going global, and you see us having a much greater presence on the international stage, is not just that my father didn’t realize Dubai was a great opportunity, but he didn’t necessarily want to get on a plane and fly there. We’re hands-on, old-school developers. We like to interact with our sites. We’re not the great financial guys, where it’s all about the numbers, and it’s not about touching and feeling, and being onsite. So, for us, it was very important to be involved in our developments. I’m in Dubai every month and a half, and that’s just one example. My brothers and I are really growing the company, internationally, and because we have the ability to travel, we do so.
Mediablvd> What’s the best advice your mother has ever given you?
Ivanka> I don’t mean to, but I get very passionate, and she always tells me not to take things too seriously. That was a good lesson to learn, when I was younger, because people would say things and I’d internalize it. So, now, if somebody wants to say something negative, that’s fine. I prefer it if they don’t, but it’s okay.
Mediablvd> You used to be a model. What did you learn from that experience?
Ivanka> If there’s anything that’s going to teach you how to be tough, it’s modeling because you don’t get more vicious than a room full of 16-year-old girls without their parents. It’s almost as mean as it gets. I guarantee you that a 16-year-old model is meaner than a 70-year-old German banker. I promise you. So, it teaches you a certain level of toughness, but it was never what I ultimately wanted to do. I always wanted to get into real estate.
Mediablvd> How do you do it all?
Ivanka> I don’t sleep. I get about three hours a night, sometimes four. I travel a lot, so I sleep on planes.
Mediablvd> Where do you like to travel for fun?
Ivanka> I love to ski, so I love Aspen. I love Mexico, for the beach and vacation.
Mediablvd> How do you keep your great figure?
Ivanka> Exercise is the thing I don’t make time for. It’s terrible. I play tennis, I ski, I play golf, but I don’t do any regular exercise.
Mediablvd> Do you have a boyfriend?
Ivanka> I don’t.
Mediablvd> Does your father give you dating advice?
Ivanka> He tries to. I don’t listen.
