Her passion for decorating and dynamic personality has secured her a spot on an HGTV design competition series.

A local resident is one of 10 contestants on Designer Superstar Challenge IV where her skills and on-air personality are tested through various competitions every week.

But for Jo Alcorn becoming a designer wasn't something she set her sights on while studying at a New York university, Manhattanville College, where she received her B.A. She thought mixing her passion and career together wouldn't be the best idea and decided to major in business and marketing and minor in design.

Now Ms. Alcorn is glad she followed her passion as her career choice since it doesn't feel like work.

She describes herself as a chameleon designer, as she is able to blend her style with her surroundings easily and give her clients what they desire.

After she saw a TV commercial for the contest she filmed a five-minute video and sent it off. She didn't receive the phone call until four months later, and then thought it was a prank by her sister.

Ms. Alcorn said the easy part of the contest was living with the other residents, compared to the amount of waiting they did for each challenge.

She said that was tough because while one contestant was performing their challenge the others were sitting in a small room just waiting for their turn.

It's not something she would do again, although she is thankful for the opportunity and exposure.

She said it was exhausting, as the days were often long, but great because she was able to learn what goes into producing a design show.

Knowing what the judges were looking for was hard considering it's all subjective opinion, said Ms. Alcorn. The point of the show was to test whether the contestants would have a good on-camera presence.

She says being sick may have given her a slight disadvantage. She started losing her voice after the first episode and that effected how she performed, limiting her personality and quick whit to shine through.

After the show Ms. Alcorn said she gained more confidence because she knows she's at the top of her game and up to date on what designers need to know.

Ms. Alcorn says she wants to be the next Martha Stewart or Debbie Travis and this experience allowed her to get her foot in the door.

She started her own company, Whitewash & Co., in 2005 and offers residential and commercial interior and exterior decorating, decorating consultations and event planning, home staging, seasonal decorating and window displays.

The winner will have the opportunity to pitch the show idea to HGTV producers and executives.

"Participating in the show allowed me to demonstrate my design ability, it tested m patience and tenacity and I feel lucky that I've been able to meet other fantastic Canadian designers," said Ms. Alcorn. "I look forward to using this experience and new skills with my clients in and around the Orangeville area."

Designer Superstar Challenge IV, which started airing February 5, is on Monday nights at 10. Visit www.hgtv.ca/designsuperstar for more information on the show or www.whitewashco. ca for more information on Ms. Alcorn's company.