#49 Crowned & Candid: Jordan Naylor, Miss Alaska 2024

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Sash and Soul everyone.
I'm here with another, ofcourse, episode in the Crowned
and Candid series, where we arepulling back the curtain on what
it really means and looks liketo be a state title holder, to
offer something that we don'tusually get, which is real talk
from the women that are in therole right now, as they're

(00:22):
wrapping up this year andheading into the next awesome
chapter of their life.
So the goal is to bring youreally candid conversations with
the current title holders sothat you get an honest and
unfiltered look at what itactually means to wear the crown
.
So it's not just the stuff thatwe see on social media or the
stage photos, but really thebehind the scenes.

(00:44):
Because when you're preparingfor interview and for
competition, what you should befocused on is that big picture
of what is this actually goingto be like, living in this
position for 365 days.
So that's what we are doing,and I'm glad that you're tuning
in because I mean, at least Ifind these conversations
incredibly valuable.

(01:04):
I'm really enjoying myself andlearning so much, so I hope you
are too.
Today, we have Miss Alaska 2024,jordan Naylor, with us.
I'm excited because she isactually going to be able to
share the perspective of being aMiss America affiliated title
holder and a Miss Alaska USA.

(01:24):
So we get to double dip here inthe experiences and the
conversation of what it means tobe a title holder from two
completely different well, Ishouldn't say completely
different.
There's a lot of similaritiesbut two different organizations,
which is so fun.
Jordan's overall message thatshe wants to share with you is
to never give up on your dreams,be ready to navigate whatever

(01:46):
the year throws your way and putin what you want to get out,
which I absolutely love thatsentiment.
So let's dive in.
Jordan, thanks for coming andbeing with me today in this
conversation.
Appreciate you.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Absolutely All right.
So you have the floor.
My friend, Tell us about whoyou are and what you're all
about.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, so well.
Where do I start?
I'm currently Miss Alaska 2024.
And so I got to compete at MissAmerica with so many of the
amazing girls you've beeninterviewing over the past few
months.
This last January, I am a bornand raised Alaskan and then I
graduated from Boise State withmy marketing degree and I

(02:30):
currently am a developmentdirector for Go Red for Women.
So that made my year really funand interesting, with the
partnership that Miss Americahas with Go Red.
I also I love to be outdoors, Ilove to travel.
I've been competing in the MissAmerica system for a very long
time.
I started as a princess,actually in our princess program

(02:52):
we have here in Alaska.
I was one of the firstprincesses we ever had and I am
the first princess to win theMiss Alaska title title.
I was Miss Alaska's OutstandingTeen in 2012.
So I've been to MAO Teen, I'vebeen to Miss America now and
I've also been to Miss USA.
So a bit all over the place.
But it's really exciting to beable to share kind of the

(03:17):
knowledge that I've gained,maybe some knowledge that my mom
has shared with me, because shehas tons of it at this point,
being a pageant mom and helpinggirls transition into this phase
of their life as I transitionout of it.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
That's so poetic too, because it is a transition and,
like we keep talking about that, every single episode has been
like you, trent, like it's a,you prepare so much for winning
the title, you get the title andthen it's like imposter
syndrome, challenging, learningthe position, learning the job,

(03:54):
all that stuff, and then by theend of the year you're like a
completely new person from whenyou were, when you started.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
In my year I had a pretty good idea of what the job
entailed because I had justcome off my Miss Alaska USA year
, which I don't recommend.
I had a week.
It was literally five days.
I crowned a new Miss Alaska USAon Saturday, and then we have
our pageant on Thursdays inAlaska, because in the

(04:21):
summertime you can't count onanybody being there on the
weekends.
It's our only time withsunshine.
So we got to get out there, uhbut right.
So I crowned a new girl onSaturday and I won miss Alaska
on Thursday, the followingThursday, and so I don't
recommend that.
Um, maybe take a little bit ofa break, but I was aging out and
so I just wanted.
Miss America was always thedream and miss America was

(04:43):
always the goal, and I didn'twant to miss that opportunity
when I had it.
So I had a bit of an idea.
I feel like more than mostpeople do when they go into this
position, but it's always alearning curve.
Every year is different, everygirl is different and, honestly,
the board is different withevery single title holder.

(05:04):
Every board in every state hastheir values and what they focus
on.
The board is different withevery single title holder Every
board in every state has theirvalues and what they focus on
the size of their board, thepositions on their board they're
all relatively the same.
They have the relatively samegoal but in every state it's
different.
You know, in Alaska we're areally tiny pageant state so as
a state title holder, I do a lotmore work than, say, somebody
in a big pageant state likeOklahoma or Texas or Florida.

(05:28):
Those girls that have reallylong-lasting pageant communities
and people understand whatbeing Miss Florida or Miss Texas
is and it's a bigger deal, Ifeel like, in those states.
And so, as a state title holder, we do a lot more on our end, I
feel like here, with thesupport of our volunteers.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
So it's a job like it's a full time job and it's a
job in every state, but it's alittle different up here, I feel
like hearing the stories andthe experiences from different
states, because they are,they're run differently, they're
different cultures, they'redifferent backgrounds and, yeah,

(06:11):
so I've been really excited tohear about Alaska.
I feel like it's just this,like little corner of our
country that I'm like what'sgoing on over there?

Speaker 2 (06:18):
I feel like people got a little bit of the insight
when Emma was Miss America andabsolutely love Emma, I love her
family.
Our parents actually went tohigh school together.
That's how like small town itis here.
So people got a little bit ofan insight into, like, what some
events are like up here.
But a lot of my events likethey're not fancy.

(06:41):
I don't wear gowns very often.
Um, we have a lot of galas,obviously for fundraisers and
things like that, but, um, youknow, I'm preparing for a big
event at the end of the monthand the entire time they're like
no, your boots are fine, yourboots and your jacket is going
to be just fine.
And I'm like, okay, perfect, um, can't wait.
Um, I'm going to the Kodiakcrab festivalrab Festival at the

(07:03):
end of the month in Kodiak,alaska, which is an island off
our coast and so prettydifferent than like a normal
event.
It's the celebration of crabseason and they start the crab
season and, as a special guest,I get to like part in the crab
this year, which means I get topick which one lives that they
pull out of the ocean.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
So, oh, my gosh, I've done things like what a
responsibility though Joy that's.
That's intense.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Very Alaskan, um, you are the giver of life at that
event.
The one crab, just one.
The other ones don't you know.
Um, I've done what other funlike we have very Alaskan things
here.
Um, I've done what other funlike we have very Alaskan things
here.
Um, I was at this start of theIditarod, which is a sled dog
race, the largest sled dog racein the world.

(07:52):
It's a thousand miles fromAnchorage to Nome, um, so that
was really cool.
I ran with the reindeer, whichis similar to like running of
the bulls in Spain, but we runwith reindeer here, similar to
like running of the bulls inSpain, but we run with reindeer
here.
Some other thing, you know,just random Alaskan things that
we do here.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
That are super cool, so it sounds like a completely
different country.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
A little bit.
We're our own little world.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, a little bit.
I'm gonna have to travel there,I want to do like an Alaskan
cruise.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
I have friends that have done that, and it depends
on how much adventure you like.
So Alaskan cruises are like theeasiest way to see a lot of
Alaska.
But if you're reallyadventurous, I recommend just
like flying into Anchorage andrenting a car and like going,
because you can reach a lot ofplaces by car here and so you
can just drive to all these coolplaces.
Here, too, you can drive 12hours and still be in the state
of Alaska.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
So I will have to discuss with my husband, because
that does sound right up ouralley for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah, before I hit record,jordan and I were talking about
how, you know, we could dive indeep to like Jordan's experience
as Miss Alaska.
We've talked about myexperience as Miss Wisconsin.
We've heard from other womenrepresenting different states
this year and about to give uptheir title and with the

(09:10):
intention of helping youunderstand what it actually
looks like to do the job.
But, as Jordan already kind ofalluded to and talked about,
different states, different girl, different experiences, and so,
with that in mind, I think myencouragement, my intention for
this episode and for the wholeseries is for you to kind of

(09:31):
like learn and gain valuable,like ideas of how you would
approach certain situations andalso, I think more importantly,
switch your mindset to thinkingthat you need to be some level
of excellence when you'recrowned Like yes, that's true,
but also know that it's going tobe a year of growth and things
are going to come at you thatyou weren't expecting, and you

(09:54):
kind of reach a point ofrealizing like, oh, okay, so
this is what it's about and thisis how I approach this and you
figure it out along the way ofhow to best take care of
yourself so that you can show upand get the most out of the
experience.
So I just wanted to point thatout because I think Jordan said
it really beautifully about likeevery state's different, every
board is different and theexperience with each board of

(10:14):
directors is going to bedifferent depending on the girl,
and that's the way that it'sbeen in Alaska.
So I just appreciated that andI really wanted to take a moment
to highlight that.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, I would also allude to the fact that it
really depends on what type oftitle holder you want to be, and
so, for me, I really wanted tomake an impact on our
organization.
It was less about how manyevents I can attend and where

(10:43):
can I be at all times, and moreabout how can I grow the Miss
Alaska organization for everyMiss Alaska after me, because I
am fortunate enough to have alot of experience.
I've been doing this a verylong time.
I had just come off of a yearas Miss Alaska USA where I met

(11:03):
so many amazing people.
I found so many coaches thatresonated with me.
That really changed me as atitle holder and as a competitor
.
I found connections with peopleall over the US, obviously with
the girls I've met and thesponsors I worked with, and so I
was able to make thoseconnections and my entire goal

(11:23):
was to one boost our numbers,obviously because you want to
give more opportunities to morewomen in our state, but I also
wanted anyone to be able to stepinto this role, so I wanted any
girl off the street that met meor thought like, wow, I want to
do that would be able to walkinto the role of Miss Alaska be
supported, feel supported and besuccessful at Miss America and

(11:46):
throughout her reign.
So for me it was really a focuson building our sponsorships,
getting our name in new doorsand making partnerships with
other organizations in town thatmaybe we haven't worked with
before or that could really helpus or really support us, or
that could really help us orreally support us Building the
prize package for the next MissAlaska, so that, because, again,

(12:09):
we are so secluded, we don'thave a lot of options here.
So like we don't, we have likeone gown store here and it's not
.
They don't carry like couture,like it's not Miss America level
gowns, you know.
So like you have to specialorder all of those things,
providing them the opportunitiesto take a lot of photos so they

(12:29):
can find that perfect headshot.
No-transcript, what MissAmerica is looking for, what

(13:08):
it's like to go to Miss Americaand then the rest of the people
who are part of the pageantindustry are like this is really
cool and we really want tosupport these women doing really
amazing things, but I have noidea what they want.
I have no idea what they'relooking for.
You know, 90% of the time oneof your judges is an engineer.
They don't.
They don't.
They've maybe watched MissAmerica once or twice, and so

(13:31):
it's a different environmenthere, because you have to be
personable, you have to be ableto articulate what you want to
do, when you want to do it, butalso be able to do it to an
entire audience that hasabsolutely zero idea what it
means to be in a pageant, and Ithink that's a little bit
different here.
So my year really was based onkind of the organization and

(13:54):
helping it grow, because it didso much for me when I was
younger and I just want to seeit flourish and I want to see
the next girl not have likestressors that I've had.
You know, not struggle to findan evening gown, which I have.
We have amazing evening gownsponsors and I was fortunate
enough to fly all the way toOrlando and shop at Regalia and

(14:14):
find my perfect evening gownwith Carrie and David and
they're amazing sponsors of ours.
But you know, if you know, saysomebody doesn't have the
opportunity with six weeks tofly to Orlando to try on
literally every single dress inthe Regalia store, we have to
figure out how to get them tothem.
You know we have to do thoseZoom calls with Carrie or David

(14:36):
and be like what's in your store, what can we get in six weeks,
and things like that, and sothat was really my goal as Miss
Alaska is to make thisexperience better for the next
person that comes after me.
And I had an amazing year.
My board is absolutelywonderful, I have a great
support system, but, again, noteverybody has that, and so I

(14:56):
wanted to ensure that the girlwho came after me felt as
supported as I did.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
I want to know what hurdles and setbacks you
experienced within this goal andgoals within that goal.
But first I want to hear, likewhat, what were your biggest
successes in this effort tobuild up the organization?

Speaker 2 (15:19):
So I think my biggest successes, which I love telling
all about the people who havecome on board.
Almost all of my coaches havecome on as Miss Alaska sponsors
or Miss Alaska coaches, officialcoaches.
So my hair and makeup artistArtistry by Amanda Amanda Cave
out of Washington is absolutelyamazing.

(15:40):
She has come on as Miss Alaskasponsor so she offers makeup
lessons to our new title holdersbefore they go to Miss America,
which is like again in Alaska.
I wear boots to 90% of myevents.
It's very different when you goto Miss America.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
Like it's a little more off-putting, I would say,
then, to like show up full glamat an event is what I'm kind of
piecing together show up fullglam at an event is what I'm
kind of piecing together.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
It's very different because we just don't.
We do it once a year when wecompete and then it's not even
the same kind of glam becauseour stage isn't as big.
We're not as big.
It's not competing in Alabama,where you have the massive
lights in the stage and ourstage is beautiful.
Our production team is amazing,but again, we're just not.
We don't have a massiveauditorium even here.

(16:29):
It's not even built Like we.
We only have so many options.
So, um, you know we, we do ourbest, but we are, you know we,
we have about as many people inour state as the entire state of
Rhode Island.
So it's a little bit different.
But Amanda came on and she isso supportive and amazing and
she travels to Alaska every yearnow for our state pageant.

(16:50):
She came last year, she'scoming again this year, which
I'm really excited about, andshe also offered a one hour
little tutorial, a littleinformation session for all of
our contestants.
I was able to build out, withthe help of Elle Adkins, who is
on our production team, and aformer Miss Alaska who took over
for Emma.
We built out like a six toeight week I think there was

(17:13):
eight of them one hour Sundaytraining sessions for all of our
girls, so we were able to helpthem with hair and makeup, with
styling, headshot information,paperwork, information, csi
class.
We did interview prep allstarting in January, right after
Miss America, to the last oneis on Saturday with our workshop

(17:37):
.
So we brought the workshop back.
We didn't have a workshop forthe last few years, so me and
Elle have worked really hard todo that.
Um, my uh, fitness coach hascome on as our nutrition and
fitness coach, morgan Morgan um,from South Carolina, who is
like the cheerleader that nobodyever knew they needed in their
life.
Um, she is always the loudestperson in the room, even if

(18:00):
she's not there.
Uh, she is the most sustainablefitness person I have ever met
because I'll call her and belike I need cake and she's not
there.
She is the most sustainablefitness person I have ever met
because I'll call her and belike I need cake and she's like
yes, you do 100%.
You eat that chocolate cake.
And I'm like this is great.
She is absolutely amazing.
And she's been my fitness coachsince I went to Miss USA and

(18:23):
probably the entire reason Ididn't develop an eating
disorder while I was Miss Alaska, usa, because it is such a
pressure to be in a bikini.
Now Miss America's a littledifferent.
We don't have to wear a bikinianymore, but she still was able
to help me have a sustainablelifestyle where I have energy,
where I feel healthy, where Ican have, you know, a night out

(18:44):
with my friends and not worryabout the calories I'm counting
while I'm there.
Um, and also a gym schedulethat I enjoy, um, and that I
love to go do each and everyweek.
And even the days when I don'twant to go, she's like that's
totally fine, just do yoga athome for 30 minutes, you know,
take a day off, stretch it'sokay not to go, um.
So having her in in our cornerand the Miss Alaska corner is

(19:09):
insanely beneficial to anybodythat steps into this role.
Um, my walking coach, isabellaRodevon a winning walk has come
on as our walking coach and ourwalking sponsor, so she will
help the girls get ready fornationals, which is amazing.
She's out of San Antonio, texas, and she has coached the likes
of Miss USA girls.

(19:29):
She's coached Miss Americagirls.
She was Arbeny's coach whenArbeny won Miss Texas, usa and
then went on to win Miss USA, soshe is absolutely amazing.
And then one partnership thatI'm really excited about that's
really based on my CSI this yearbut they've just been amazing
is actually our fire departmenthere in Anchorage.

(19:50):
So my platform is Nation ofLifesavers teaching hands-only
CPR, working with the AmericanHeart Association to teach one
person in every householdhands-only CPR by the year 2030.
And so I got connected with AFDthis year when I did something
called Fire Ops, which is like Igot to be a fake firefighter

(20:11):
for the day, which was reallycool.
They made me a sash.
It's hanging right next to me,actually out of hose, out of
fire hose.
So it's oh my gosh that's socool and it says says Miss
Alaska on it, and so I got to dolike I climbed the ladder, I
cut up a car, I put out a fire.
Um, we did, uh, a CPR likedemonstration so I learned CPR.

(20:36):
We did the whole paramedicslike lift them and put them in
the.
It was super cool.
Um, it was a whole day andafter that I was like well, I
want to help you guys do CPR andAED awareness and so I've been
working with them all year andthey actually are sponsoring one
full day of our Miss Alaskaweek.
So they gave us the trainingfacility to hold like our

(20:58):
orientation in and then they aredoing a mini fire ops for all
of our girls.
They'll learn hands-only CPR,get to cut up a car, get to put
on all the fire gear and havelike a whole afternoon out of it
, which is super cool anddifferent.
Like you know, you don't reallyget to do that during pageant
week, so that's really exciting.

(21:20):
We've worked really hard ongetting food sponsors for the
week, um, and just getting ourname out there more Um, and so
I'm really excited about all ofthat Um.
But I think one of the biggesthurdles that we find is that we
are a very small community wholoves to give but has a lot of

(21:41):
limitations, um, due to the factthat we are so small, we don't
have massive corporations we cango to and be like, hey, we need
10 grand for a sponsorship.
We only have the one universitysystem.
So, getting scholarships forour girls, there's only one
place they go to, you know.
So we have a couple differentoptions.

(22:01):
But so we have a coupledifferent options, but nothing
compared to, like some bigstates.
We don't have a lot of familydonor funds.
We don't have.
We don't even have departmentstores, like we don't.
We don't have Nordschleife, wedon't have Dillard's, we don't
have Macy's.
So we have to get reallycreative with who we ask to

(22:23):
support us.
A lot of people that support usare former Miss Alaska's or
former Miss Alaska families orpeople that we've interacted
directly with within our years.
So for me, thankfully, I amreally, really active in the
community, not only through MissAlaska but also through the
American Heart Association, so Iwas able to meet a lot of

(22:44):
people and so I was able toshare the message of Miss Alaska
and Miss America and bring onnew sponsorships.
But you also kind of have totalk people over the stigma that
follows a pageant girl around.
You know that we are, we lacksubstance, that we do it to be
pretty and to stand on a stageand smile and wave and we don't

(23:07):
have goals and aspirations andwe're uneducated and things like
that, and that stigma is stillvery strong in our state.
Um, it's getting better yearafter year.
You know, less and less peoplethink that.
Um, but getting over thatinitial hurdle, I think, is
something that all pageant girlsstruggle with.
Um, but it is some.
It's fun to see it click forpeople.

(23:28):
When you're having thatconversation.
They're like well, how doesthis benefit anybody?
And I'm like, well, do you havea sister?
Does she want to graduatecollege?
Because I did it pretty muchdebt free and she can too, and
here's how she can do it.
Um, it's also been really funto.
You know, there's always I feellike there's always one person.
Nobody gets along witheverybody right, and so changing

(23:52):
the perceptive that people havehad of former competitors or
maybe they came across somebodysomewhere or they've only seen
toddlers in tiaras and seeingthat change for them has been
really rewarding for me, becauseI have been able to do so much
and so, you know, getting morepeople involved and pulling them
in and just creating thissupport system that I feel that

(24:17):
any state title holder needs,because it is, it's a lot.
It's not easy.
As much as we all say that it'sa dream come true, being a
state title holder can be hardbecause you're not only in a
state like Alaska, we don't getpaid, so I'm doing it on my free
time, I have a 40 hour a weekjob and I'm also Miss Alaska, so

(24:39):
learning to balance that timemanagement skills and also
learning how to say no wasreally hard for me.

Speaker 1 (24:46):
How did you overcome like I don't want to put words
in your mouth, I'm assuming likekind of the guilt of saying no?

Speaker 2 (24:54):
Oh, I think I still feel guilty every time I say no,
especially because you're on atime crunch Like I have exactly
one month left and there's somany things that I wanted to do
that I didn't get to or that Ihaven't gotten to yet.
There's so many places, ourstate is massive and you have to
really try hard to geteverywhere.

(25:14):
We have 229 villages in thestate of Alaska that do not get
to see Miss Alaska every yearand, as Miss Alaska, I wanted to
reach those communities andshow them that you didn't have
to be.
Anchorage is our main city,that's where I'm from, but I
wanted them to see that youdidn't have to be from Anchorage
to be Miss Alaska, that youcould live in on Kodiak, which

(25:38):
is an island.
You could be from Ketchikan,soldotna, which is kind of on
our panhandle, or you could befrom Juneau, which is our state
capital.
That's only accessible by airor boat.
I didn't want people to feellike you had to be here to be
Miss Alaska and unfortunately,due to weather and other
situations that we have here inour state, we had a volcano

(26:02):
warning last month thateverybody was waiting for this
volcano to erupt.
We have everything.
Yes, we have arctic circle andthe ring of fire is here, so, um
.
And we have, um, all ecosystemshere.
So, like, southeast is arainforest, there's tundra,
there's technically high deserthere, um, so yeah.

(26:24):
So like learning that it's okaythat I didn't reach every goal,
because I got a lot done.
I definitely still feel guiltyevery time I have to say no to
something, but thankfullythere's girls who want to do
things.
So a great example, like thisweekend I had to say no to I

(26:47):
believe I was handing out awardsat the Special Olympics here at
one of their events, but wehave great local title holders
who want to go do it.
So, even if I can't be there,somebody can be.
One of the greatest things I'veever heard in my years of
competing, right before I won myteen title, it was when Teresa

(27:07):
Scanlon gave up her Miss Americacrown.
I don't know if you've everheard this story.
We heard it from our MissAlaska 2011.
At the time, teresa Scanlontook a rhinestone out of the
back of her Miss America crownand had it placed in a necklace
for every contestant that yearso that they could walk around
with a stone from the MissAmerica crown and I did not know

(27:30):
that.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
I've not heard that.

Speaker 2 (27:31):
Yeah, and so what she said was, and I remember, like
our Miss Alaska it probablylooked just like the necklace I
have on, actually, and it wasjust like you know, it's
something for them but that weare state title holders, are
people's Miss Americas becausewe are everywhere that she
cannot be.
Abby, my roommate.

(27:53):
I love her to death.
We are trying so hard to gether to Alaska, but there's a
shot that she might not be here.
She might not ever get totravel to Alaska as Miss America
.
She might not ever get totravel to Alaska as Miss America
.
So for everybody who never getsto meet Abby, but they get to
meet me, I am their version ofMiss America, I am what they see
.
And for anybody who doesn't getto meet me, the local title

(28:17):
holders here are their MissAlaska, and so I think, really
instilling that it doesn'tmatter what level your title is,
you could be a local titleholder, you could be a state
title holder, you could be MissAmerica, you are Miss America to
someone.
And so reaching out to theentirety of our state and

(28:38):
showing them that they can beMiss America, they can be Miss
Alaska, was something that Ireally wanted to do, and that
part of it makes me feel guilty.
Every time I say no, becausethere's probably somebody that I
could have made that differencewith.
But beggars can't be choosers.
I can't be everywhere at once,and so getting to the most

(29:00):
amount of things was importantto me that matched my goals as
my year two.

Speaker 1 (29:05):
Well, I think it's really important for you and for
anyone listening to recognizetoo that just because your year
wearing the crown and sash iscoming to a close doesn't mean
that you can't continue buildingupon the work that you've done
as Miss Alaska.
For me, I always feel guilty.
I think I will always feel alittle bit guilty because I was

(29:26):
so burnt out by the end of myyear that I just didn't have it
in me to come back and to keeplike volunteering and
contributing, like I needed abreak.
I was starting my firstfull-time job and I was just
like really struggling with,with trying to heal myself from,
I mean, a stressful year andsome like untreated mental

(29:47):
health struggles that I wasexperiencing too.
But for you, you made the goalat the beginning of your year I
want to build up thisorganization and now you have
the opportunity to continuedoing that and be a person that
can support the next Miss Alaskain doing that as well, because
part of what I experienced wasyou put things in place or you

(30:10):
want to bring on sponsors, butbringing on sponsors and donors
is majority relationshipbuilding, and when you are the
one building those relationshipsand then all of a sudden you're
done with your job after a yearof having it.
If someone isn't picking upthat baton and carrying it
forward, those relationships aregoing to fizzle and all of that
work kind of is for naught.

(30:31):
But you have the opportunity tocontinue doing that, especially
after like really working totake care of yourself and
balancing that, because oftenI'm hearing when I'm talking to
clients or when I'm doingconsults what are your goals?
What do you want to achieve as atitle holder?
And it's everything under thesun, which, of course, we all

(30:54):
have those aspirations.
We are change makers.
We want to be out there doingreally amazing things and
building our legacy andcontributing.
But the reality is and asyou've already mentioned, you
had a full-time job and therewas only so much that you could
do on the side.
You had to be kind of choosyabout what you made your year
about.

(31:14):
You couldn't do the I'm goingto build up the organization and
I'm going to do all theappearances that I could
possibly do and whatever else.
You had to choose and I thinkthat's really aspirational and a
really key thing to take awayfrom your particular Crown and
Candid episode, because that'show you burn out and that's how

(31:39):
you reach the end of your yearfeeling so regretful and maybe
even full of some resentmentbecause you kind of look back
and be like, well, did I reallydo anything of substance?
Because I couldn't do it all.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
I always think, too, like a really big hurdle for
most girls is comparingthemselves to other states.
And there's definitely beentimes in my year where I'm like,
oh I, I haven't done an eventin six weeks.
Or I haven't done X, y and Z,maybe not six weeks, but um, and
I remember, specifically beforeMiss America, I told my board I

(32:18):
was like I will not be doing anevent in December one.
It's really cold in Alaska.
I will not be standing outsidefor multiple hours at a time
three weeks before I have to goto Miss America.
The guy I did not want to besick at Miss America.
I was extremely selective.
I was like I will not be sick,I will do everything to stay.
And if you talk to a lot of thegirls you've probably talked to

(32:41):
, everyone was ill.
Everyone was so sick at MissAmerica that some girls were,
you know, they were loading upon every every cold medicine we
could find and and I didn't, andI had heard that before that.
You know you travel, especiallyme.
I traveled the farthestprobably besides Haley, from

(33:01):
Hawaii.
We're probably about the samedistance from Florida.
I knew that, that traveling andwhat traveling does to my
system as somebody who travelsall the time and I did not want
to get sick, so I didn't doanything in December.
I said I will.
I will do these two things.
One of them was indoors and onewas like a very short, really
fun, random parade that I likeselectively picked because it's

(33:29):
something like very small, veryAlaskany of us.
And so I told people I was likeI will not be doing events and
I will not feel bad about it.
And then throughout the month ofDecember, I saw these girls
posting like oh, I've done 150events in the last six months.
And I was like where did you go?
Like what did you do?
Because we don't even have thatmany things in my state.

(33:52):
Like we have really great andreally really cool experiences
here, but to find 150 events insix months, you got to dig or
you got to create them yourselfand so, like seeing other states
do that, I was like am I notdoing enough?
Am I not going to enoughschools?
Am I not?
And I had to remind myself that, like I made it a priority that

(34:15):
I wanted to be one healthy atMiss America, because otherwise
you don't get the sameexperience at Miss America,
because it's already it'sstressful.
You, we did not sleep.
I think I slept a total of likemaybe 16, 12, 16 hours the
whole week.
You know we were running onlittle sleep, we had so much

(34:35):
going on and it was an amazingexperience, but I never would
have made it if I was sick.
And looking back, I'm reallyglad I prioritized my actual,
like physical health, but in themoment I did feel like I wasn't
doing enough, and so I thinkthat, as long as a title holder
sets her goals very clear or herboundaries very clear, although

(35:00):
it may suck in the moment, inthe long run you will be proud
of yourself in that and that youstuck to those guns.
Because there was girls at MissAmerica that I felt so bad for.
They were so sick, theycouldn't interact with some of
us because they didn't want toget the rest of us sick.
And then you miss out on thatamazing life changing experience
because you're like I don'twant to get anybody sick and I

(35:21):
don't want to be around anybodythat's sick and I feel bad and
and so it was a that was a bigthing for me, like a big
learning hurdle of like it'sokay that I don't want to do
these things.
I think, specifically like myboard was amazing and they were
like 100%, we don't want you tobe sick, that sounds awful, um,
and so they were very supportivein that decision I made.
Um, but when you're I think,when you're preparing for a

(35:47):
pageant as well, like you saidlike everybody wants to do
everything, a really big thingthat we see up here is that
competitors will just list, likeeverything the former Miss
Alaska did.
So last year, our wonderful MissAlaska, hannah Utick, was able
to visit a lot of villages inour state and she got to go to

(36:08):
really cool places, and so a lotof girls came into competition
and were like, well, I want todo that, like which?
Yes, that's so cool and it's socool that Hannah got to do it.
But if you don't have a plan asto why you want to do that, it
doesn't really make sense foryou.
But if you don't have a plan asto why you want to do that, it
doesn't really make sense foryou.
So when I was getting ready tocompete, I thought of three to

(36:29):
five things that I wanted to doas Miss Alaska that was directly
attainable for me, thatdirectly related to me and that,
if Hannah did it, I took fromher experiences, like the time
of year she went, the people sheconnected with and those kind
of things, and I applied them.

(36:49):
But I didn't completely just say, well, hannah went, so I want
to go, and I think that's onething, that contestants they
have all these ideas but, likeyou said earlier, like you can
get so creative with what youwant to do with your year,
especially in smaller states.
I think that my Miss, southDakota, is a great example of
this.

(37:09):
She is a huge wildlifesupporter and it's her platform
and so she's really done a lotin the state of South Dakota
when it comes to the wildlife,when it comes to the endangered
species that are in South Dakotaand learning about the animals
that are there that I've neverseen that before in a title
holder, like I've never seensomebody go out and specifically

(37:31):
look for events that aresurrounded around like wildlife
and their platform in that sortof way.
So I think that she's Jolene's agreat example of that and for
me, again, like we've never hada Miss Alaska really work with
the Anchorage Fire that and forme, again, like we've never had
a Miss Alaska really work withthe Anchorage Fire Department
and for me it directly relatesto my platform, which is
wonderful, but it's arelationship that I'll be able

(37:54):
to help carry on for yearsbecause of the work I did this
year.
Like you said, and thankfullyyou know, I will take a slight
step back.
I will not be at every event inthe next year, but I will be
joining the Miss Alaska boardand the Miss Alaska support team
and helping our girls preparefor nationals and becoming

(38:15):
almost a sponsor liaison, Iguess you could say with all the
relationships I built.
Thankfully, my career is alsosponsorship relationship through
development with Go Red forWomen, so I have a lot of
experience doing it and so I'mexcited to see that.
But yeah, like you said, Ithink that when you're getting

(38:36):
ready to compete, people thinkthat to be unique you have to
reinvent the wheel.
But you don't.
All you need to do is to findhow it is unique to you, because
there's only so many thingsthat we can do as state title
holders and there's a lot ofreally cool things out there

(38:56):
that state title holders get todo.
That are they differ state tostate, but don't feel
discouraged from doing somethingjust because the girl before
you did it.
You don't have to reinvent thewheel, you can just add to it.
You can make it moreextravagant and you can build
that relationship farther sothat the girl after you can also

(39:17):
do it and can also build ontothat relationship and do really
cool things.
And because I did Fire Ops 101this year, miss Alaska will be
invited every year, and whethershe goes or not, you know that's
up to her, but it's something Igot to experience and so,
because it went well, they'llinvite them again in the future

(39:38):
and they'll be able to build onthat relationship.
Maybe she'll get to do morewith them next year, maybe
she'll get to ride in a firetruck in a parade, I don't know.
But that's one thing I'vereally like tried to instill in
the girls that are competing forthe title of Miss Alaska.
Like, I've done a lot, yes, andit's super cool and I'm really
proud of everything I've done.
But your year as Miss Alaskawill be entirely you.

(40:01):
It will look nothing like mine.

Speaker 1 (40:06):
I love what you were talking about like taking your
strengths, and I kind of Ididn't know in advance that you
were a development professional,but I was just kind of assuming
because you very much seem tounderstand the business behind
developing relationships withsponsors and knowing kind of the

(40:26):
ins and outs of donor relationsand soliciting donor donations
for a program and anorganization and what the
follow-through needs to looklike with that and kind of the
longevity of the process tomaintain those supporters.
That's something that I think alot of us struggle with.
I know I struggled with ituntil I also worked in nonprofit

(40:49):
development, so now I have abetter idea of that.
But that's such a scary thingis to ask for donations, to ask
for sponsorships.
So that was a strength that youbrought in that is unique to
you and unique to the legacythat you will leave as Miss
Alaska 2024.
And as I'm listening to you, I'mlike, oh yeah, like what were
my unique passions that Ibrought to the table?

(41:11):
One of them was public speaking.
I just absolutely loved beingup in front of an audience and I
loved sharing my personal storyand being vulnerable with that
and then building like real,vulnerable, authentic
connections with people in theaudience and then networking and
finding other events that wererelated to that where I could do
more of that speaking.
And then the other key piecethat I know now, especially as a

(41:35):
business owner, is that I loveproblem solving and I love
creative problem solving, and soI had the unique experience of
being Miss Wisconsin for sixmonths, having been first runner
up to Laura Kepler.
Then I went on to win MissWisconsin again.
So I had a very clear similarto you as a former Miss Alaska
USA that you had an idea of whatit actually means to be a state

(41:56):
representative on that leveland go to nationals and compete
at that level, that you came inwith a very clear understanding
of what this job looked like.
I had a similar experience, andso when I came in, there were
just things that I was like Iwould like this to be better for
the next girl Because I had twoMiss Wisconsin's in between me.
Be those two things.
I think that's really importantKnow what your passion is, know

(42:33):
what your skillset is and don'tcompare that to somebody else's
whether it's the girl beforeyou or the class coming ahead of
you what they might be bringingto the table like, stay in your
lane and bring what you aregood at to the forefront bring
what you are good at to theforefront.

Speaker 2 (42:53):
Yeah, I think a really great example of that in
my state, um are, she was 2017.
Yes, miss Alaska 2017.
Um, angelina Claprick amazing,wonderful woman.
Um, she went on to place atMiss America.
Um, her platform was calledCompassion and her whole goal
she wanted to get into the mostschools as possible.

(43:16):
I think she visited almostevery school in our state, which
is it sounds scary, but again,we're not that big of a state.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
But the biggest feat is connecting with someone at
all of those schools and gettingit organized and scheduled and
actually making it happen, likethe logistics behind that is
crazy.

Speaker 2 (43:33):
And so she went to, I think, like 75 schools or
that's probably not even closeto what she did, but that was
her thing.
That was what she wanted to do.
She wanted to get in schools.
And now she's a counselor in aschool district here and she's
absolutely amazing with children, and so that was her thing.
And now she's a counselor in aschool district here and she's
absolutely amazing with children, and so that was her thing.
And I remember thinking like I'mnot the biggest school, like,

(43:58):
like you said, like public speak, I go to schools with our
school engagement of theAmerican Heart Association and
we do hands only CPR and I getto help do that.
But I'm not that person thatyou called to be.
Like, hey, can you come run anassembly?
No, I don't really.
I don't really have anything totalk to elementary school kids
about, maybe middle schoolers,because they're, you know, we

(44:20):
can talk about the nation oflifesavers and hands-only CPR,
but elementary they're prettyyoung and technically, by
American Heart Associationscience, they're not big enough
to do hands-only CPR.
They just don't weigh enough.
It's like fifth grade is likethe estimate that they say.
So that wasn't my thing and soI was like I can't do those.

(44:41):
I don't really want to spend mytime at all of these schools,
that I feel like the events arereally fun and I love being
there to see the children and dothose things, but I really
again wanted to focus on thebuilding of the program in
general.
So I really focused most of myevents on where can I build
those relationships, where can Ifind new contestants, where,

(45:02):
you know, teenage and up waskind of like my thing and that's
something, too, that when youlook back on everyone who came
before you and everybody thatwill come after you, they all
had those things that they did.
They all have the things thatthey love.
I know that you talked toStephanie from Ohio and she
loves STEM.
She talks about STEM, we'vetalked about STEM so often and

(45:24):
so that's her thing, and for me,she had a great talent show
that they did in Ohio for herand so for me it was really I
wanted to work on building theexperience for any Miss Alaska
that came after me, because Ihad a year as Miss Alaska, usa,
where I got to do all these funthings, and then I had a year as
Miss Alaska where I got to doso many amazing things with the

(45:46):
support of the organization thatI wanted anybody to be able to
have.
Honestly, I just wanted anyMiss Alaska to have the year
that they want.
You know, because you walk intoit and sometimes they go those
things aren't going to happen.
So sorry, we can't connect youwith those people, but I want
anybody who comes after me to beable to have the year that they
deserve and that they worked sohard to have.

(46:10):
Every year you feel like it'sreally big shoes to fill, but I
think that it's a better analogyto say that we're putting on a
new pair, because we are not thepeople who come before us.
We are all different in our ownways.
We all win for differentreasons.
There's a group of my group, ofmy pageant friends up here I

(46:30):
love.
They have an organizationcalled Any Other Day Pageantry
and it's because simply becauseif they any other day, it would
have been a different girl If Ihad a different set of judges,
they probably wouldn't havepicked me.
If you know, when I was MissAlaska, usa, if I had a
different set of judges, theyprobably wouldn't have been my
day.
So any other day it would havebeen somebody else's, somebody

(46:51):
else's ballgame, and so I thinkthat relating to the Miss Alaska
before you and learning fromher experience was one thing,
but I wanted to create my own,and I want every girl to feel
empowered to create their ownversion of Miss Alaska.
As somebody who was a teen, Ihad an amazing mentor and my
Miss Alaska really pushed thatit's not what the crown can do

(47:17):
for you, but what you can dowith it.
So we didn't go to a lot ofevents with our crown on when I
was a teen because, simply, shesaid we don't need it.
There's no need Like it got usinto this room, but we're here
to volunteer, we're here tosupport, we're here to be a part
of this day.
Um, and sometimes it wasn't thetime or the place for them.
And I think learning thatbalance of it's really cool to

(47:40):
have a sparkly hat it's myfavorite accessory.
I don't know what I'm going todo when I don't have one that I
can wear all the time anymorebut it's also, like you said,
like building thoserelationships and creating
something sustainable for thefuture.
So, yeah, I would.
I would almost challenge everysingle person to try on their

(48:02):
own pair of shoes and to see,like, how they can make it their
own.
Extra Tufts are like the stapleboot in Alaska.
I have this little key chainright here.
I'll show it to you.
They look like this.
That's literally what they looklike.
They're rubber boots and theymold to your feet and so when
you wear them a lot, it becomesyour boot and, like my friends

(48:24):
can't wear mine, my mom can'twear them without getting
blisters on their feet, and sothey may all look the same.
They're all brown, they allhave different.
You know, some are steel toed,some are whatever, but they're
all like wet rain boots, right.
But on the inside they're alsodifferent and they mold to your
feet, and so that would be myanalogy of being a state title

(48:45):
holder is the shoes may look thesame, but they're all different
, if that makes any sense.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
It holder is the shoes may look the same, but
they're all different.
If that makes any sense, itdoes, and I love that analogy
too, because that's not going tomold to your feet immediately.
It takes some wearing andgetting used to and using them.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
And I always laugh because girls are like, oh, you
seem to like jump right into itand I was like, well, yeah, I
never stopped, like I never tooka break, I went from one to the
other to it.
And I was like, well, yeah, Inever stopped, like I never took
a break, I went from one to theother.
But even the most simple thingslike how to wear your crown,
like how to put it on, how toget it to stay, it's not easy.
Um, you, you learn that, likeyou know, oh, it sits on my head

(49:23):
a certain way, or I like itback here versus like up here,
and, um, those are all thingsthat you learn as a title holder
and as people support youthrough that journey.
Um, it's not just like whatkind of title holder you want to
be, it's everything that goesalong to it, and eventually it
just becomes second naturebecause it is, it becomes part

(49:44):
of you, um, and you leave thatlasting impression that,
hopefully, is what you want itto be.
But, yeah, everyone's differentand I think that's also the
beauty of pageantry is that youcan't hold it forever.
I love that.
You know they keep people keeprumbling like, oh, usa is going

(50:04):
to open it up more.
They're going to allow formersto come back and compete and I
love the fact that a formercan't compete or that you know,
if I've won Alaska, I can't gowin a different state and go
back to Miss America, becausethat's not the point of it.
The point of it is having ayear that you work so hard for
making lasting impression.
It will change your life andthen you get to watch it as it

(50:27):
changes somebody else's.

Speaker 1 (50:30):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love the word that you usedsustainability.
I think that is a beautiful wayto describe the effort that
should, in my opinion, go intothe work that you do to improve
an organization as a state titleholder, because, as we've

(50:52):
already discussed, you only havethat crown and sash on your
person for 365 days and thenyou're done.
And so if you're going to go inand try and influence and bring
in sponsors and partnershipsand all of these things, make
sure it's sustainable.
And I think that's somethingwhere I look back at my year and
I'm like man, I really pushedfor a lot of things.

(51:14):
Was it sustainable?
Did it stick?
And some things did and I think,helped the you know Miss
Wisconsin's that came after me,but there were other things that
, like, the organization justwasn't prepared for in the
infrastructure to keep up with.
And so we as title holders comein with all these big

(51:36):
aspirations and dreams.
We're only one person.
We also have to remember thatthis is an organization that has
been established before us andit will remain after we leave,
and making sure that we areproviding value in a sustainable
way.
I think that's really importantto remember.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
Yeah, I think too.
The other thing that peoplehave to realize is some
partnerships will not besustainable.
Some people come onspecifically for the
relationship they have with onegirl, and so even I have
relationships that will not besustained for years because they
came on because they'resupporting me, not supporting

(52:12):
the organization, and that'sokay too, because every girl is
going to have those right, likeI love my family.
They're not going to donate abunch of money next year to the
next girl to go to Miss America,that's just.
You know any family businessesthat donated, but every girl is
going to have those.
And so when you're bringing onsponsors as well and as somebody

(52:34):
that you know you havenonprofit experience, making
sure you understand deliverablesfor every single sponsor, no
matter the level of sponsorship,is really important and it's
okay if they don't, if it's nota sustainable partnership,
because it can support you inthis year in a way that maybe it
leads to something else.

(52:55):
So something that makes iteasier your life means okay,
we're going to take thispressure off of you here and
support you in a financial orwith physical items way so that
I can focus my time over hereand get something that is
sustainable or I can attend 18more events, or I can do X, y
and Z over here.

(53:16):
And it's okay to be a littlebit selfish with your time.
I think it's a little okay.
I think girls think when theyare, we are public servants as
title holders.
But it's okay to also beselfish with your year and to be
selective with your year.
It's okay to be selfish andbring on sponsorships that will

(53:37):
benefit you in your year andthat you are not sure will
continue, because maybe it will.
You don't know.
Some of them, not all of themwill.
It's okay to be selfish andsaying no to events that really
don't interest you, becauseyou're not going to be excited
to be there.
And the whole point is for youto be excited and somebody else
might be excited.
So pass it on to local titleholders, see if they would like

(53:58):
to attend.
If you don't want to attendsomething, be selfish in your
time.
Be selfish.
I think one thing that I amreally glad I learned very early
on in my pageant career is tobe selfish.
In my prep I was very clear onwhat I wanted when I won and

(54:19):
granted, I've grown up in thisorganization.
They knew that's how it wouldbe.
They were like, yeah, it'sgoing to be.
Whatever you want to do, youhave the experience.
I was very selfish in.
This is what I will wear.
These are the people I willwork with.
This is what I'm going to dofor my headshot.
This is where I'm going.

(54:40):
I knew when I won that I wantedto go physically to gown
shopping because unfortunately,I had a very awful gown
experience at Miss America orMiss USA.
Miss America was wonderful,absolutely amazing.
Perfect Love Lorgalia.
When I went to Miss USA, I hada very dramatic gown experience.
That was awful, that so manygirls experience that they don't

(55:04):
talk about.
I had a gown that came in threedays before I left.
It was extremely expensive andit did not fit and it never fit
right.
It still doesn't fit right andthere's nothing I can do to fix
it now, and I spent a lot ofmoney on it.
And on stage, the moment Iwalked off stage, they were like

(55:27):
you can't put that thing backon, you can't wear it again.
If you make finals, you have towear something else and it just
it was just like what?
And that was my experience withmy gown and thankfully I opened
up about it to other girls andthey said, oh, that's the same
experience we had, and so thatwas something.
When I was going to Miss America, I was like this will not

(55:48):
happen again to me.
I will not be.
I will not go through thisstress.
I will not go through thecrying two weeks before.
I will not go through thestress of even knowing if my
gown is going to arrive on time.
And so it's OK to be selfish ifyou've had negative experiences
that you want to avoid, and aslong as you're upfront and

(56:09):
honest about them, there's onlythe worst they can say is this
is actually how we need you todo it, or maybe we can find a
different way.
For me, it has always been mydream.
I started competing.
I went to Miss America'sOCEAN18 in 2012.
So I've been through a coupleboards with Miss America, a

(56:31):
couple different experiences.
It was always in my goal in myhead that when you win Miss
Alaska, you go shop at Regalia.
That's how long they've been asponsor.
You shop at Regalia and youwear a Regalia gown at Miss
America, and that was what Iwanted.
And I sat down and I said thisis what I'm going to do.
I know Carrie and David areamazing and they will support it

(56:56):
and we have a greatrelationship with them, and so
it wasn't a problem.
But I told them all.
I said this is the experience Ihad at Miss USA.
It will not happen again and ifit does, I will just go
somewhere else Like it, and ifyou don't support me through it,
I'm so sorry that thisrelationship like I, I just

(57:16):
can't do it again.
Um, I told them that the momentI got into regalia, I said this
was what happened at Miss USAand they said that will not
happen again.
And they stuck through methrough the entirety, the entire
process of it.
Um, and it was completelydifferent and it changed
everything at Miss America,because when I put on that gown,
it wasn't a oh my God, I'm sostressed out, I'm so worried.

(57:39):
What's going to happen?
Is it even going to stay on?
Does it even look right to?
This is perfect and I wouldnever change anything about it.
And so I think I think thebiggest things for me that they
don't tell you enough of is thatit's okay to be selfish and

(57:59):
it's okay to be selective,because you want to do so much
and you want to do everything inyour year and you want to make
every sponsor happy and you wantto build every relationship,
but you can't do that withoutburnout and you don't want to
burn out.
You want to enjoy it and youwant to make every sponsor happy
and you want to build everyrelationship, but you can't do
that without burnout and youdon't want to burn out.
You want to enjoy it and youwant to take it all in and you
want to love every experience.
And even for me, it got to apoint where I have a really

(58:21):
great relationship with ourlocal title holders and they are
wonderful and they want tolearn so much and they want to
do so much.
But at one point I was like I Ineed you all to talk to
somebody else because I'm twoweeks out of Miss America.
I can't, I can't help.
I'm really sorry, but I askedme in a month, you know and so
it was one of those things likecreating boundaries for myself

(58:44):
that allowed my year to gosmoothly, so that I'd never hit
that burnout phase was reallyimportant, and I don't think
title holders are selfish enough, which sounds really weird.
But we want to give and do somuch for our orgs and for our
state and we want to get so muchout of our year, but we can't

(59:06):
do it successfully unless we'reselfish with some things.

Speaker 1 (59:15):
I think there's also a fear of how we are going to
come across, like how, as atitle holder, you would come
across other people if you didadvocate for yourself not
wanting to be rude, not wantingto step on toes, not wanting to
get in trouble, not wanting tocause problems, not wanting to
get a bad reputation, like allthese fears that that keep you
from advocating for yourself.
Did you struggle with that?
Or was that something that youreally worked to overcome your

(59:37):
first time around as Miss Alaska, USA?
Like where did that come from?

Speaker 2 (59:42):
I really struggled with it as Miss Alaska, usa,
because I preparing for Miss USAis a different kind of beast.
It's a different kind of burden.
It's very well known that MissUSA is very expensive.
It's very expensive to go to.
It is a fashion show everywhereyou go, and I didn't have the

(01:00:03):
budget for that.
I don't, you know, I justdidn't.
And I didn't have the sponsorsto do it either.
I had great sponsors, I hadpeople who were in Mike Warner
to help me, but no, I couldn'tspend $1,000 per outfit.
I couldn't.
So I had to get really creative.
And before going to Miss USA, itwas kind of like I was too

(01:00:27):
afraid to say anything to a lotof people.
I was like I want to look thepart, I want to look great, I
want to be great, but I don'tknow how I'm going to afford it.
And then, when I got there, itwas like everybody was feeling
that.
Well, not everybody, but a lotof girls were like, oh no, like
I had the same thing.
I had to get really thrifty.
And this is where, where thisis how I did it.

(01:00:49):
And so, once I was there, itwas really eye opening as to
like I'm not the only one whostruggles with this and I'm not
the only one going through it,and if I had just opened up,
maybe that these girls wouldhave shared and they would have
my Miss USA class is amazing.
They would have shared how theyget around it and how they were
like, yeah, I couldn't affordit, but this is like I found it

(01:01:12):
on Poshmark or I found it onDepop or Queenly at the time.
They're like I wanted thisoutfit, so I dug and I found it,
and this is how I did it.
There's a lot of people outthere that will help you do that
, and so I think when I was MissAlaska USA, I was really afraid
to do it.
I didn't have the greatestexperience as Miss Alaska USA

(01:01:32):
when it came to some of thepeople I worked with.
I did butt heads with peopletrying to advocate for myself
but not wanting to step on thosetoes, and so I felt really worn
out.
By the end of my year.
I was exhausted, really wornout.
By the end of my year, I wasexhausted.
I think that we my yearspecifically we had a lot more

(01:01:59):
struggles than other people didas well with the changes
nationally, and so when I wonMiss Alaska that I told them.
I said this is what happenedthe last year and I will not do
it again.
Point blank, simple.
Thankfully, my Miss AlaskaAmerica board are people that I
have grown up with, that I'veknown a very, very long time,

(01:02:20):
and I said this is what I wantto do.
These are my expectations ofwho I'll work with sponsor-wise,
who I'm going to get myheadshot with, who I'm going to
prep with.
This is where I'm going to getmy outfits.
I'm going to do it this way.
And I just laid it all out forthem and I was upfront, I was
transparent and I said I knowthat you have these

(01:02:42):
relationships, but this is whatmy year will look like.
And they said perfect, how canwe support you?
And I know that's noteverybody's experience and I'm
extremely lucky to have a boardthat just said, of course, how
can we support you?
How can we make this easier onyou?
Do you need us to call somebodyfor you?
Do you want us to do x, y and z?
Um?
You know, when I told them, Iwas like I want to go to Florida

(01:03:05):
and I want to shop at Regaliaand I'm going to get my headshot
with Carlos Villas.
They said, okay, we'll callCarrie and David for you.
And I said perfect, thank you,wonderful, this is great.
And you know, the former MissAlaska hadn't used them, and so
they were like, we'll call them,we'll see what they say and we

(01:03:34):
will let you know, but we willget it worked out so that you
can, you can do that and that'swhat you're going to do, and
this is when you're going to doit.
Um, if I wanted to do any eventthis year, I was like this is
what I'm going to do.
Um, they would say is theresomebody you want us to call on
your behalf?
Do you want us to reach out toanybody we have connections with
?
Do you?
Here's the people we know thatmight be able to help you with
this, and so they're very, verywilling and able to work with me
, which I think makes me very,very lucky in our position,

(01:03:58):
because I know not every girlhas that experience, and I know
firsthand that some girls in myyear don't have that experience,
and so I continuously telleveryone that wants to compete
at Miss Alaska.
I'm like it is really what youwant it to be.
Don't feel pressure to do 1900events or every single thing in

(01:04:22):
our state, because our boardsits down and says what are you
capable of, what is in yourwheelhouse, what do you want to
do and how can we support you indoing it?
They have no expectations ofyou Except for the fact,
literally they sit down and theygo.
Here's the events we reallywant you to go to.

(01:04:42):
If you can't make them, that'sokay, but you do have to go to
Miss America.
They're so like everything elseis just whatever you want to
make it, and so I think that youknow every day.
I'm extremely thankful for them.
The Adkins family Holly Adkinsis a former Miss Alaska 1990,

(01:05:03):
and her daughter, elle, tookover for Emma when Emma won Miss
America in 2021.
Um, alyssa parents and BonnieFalk are all amazing people.
And then the rest of our boardyou know that have been there
for years.
Um, all of our volunteers areso supportive and they just want
us to have the best year andthe best year that fits us.

(01:05:25):
And it really sucks when youhear that other girls don't have
that.
And I know it's differentdepending on state because of
what you know, what partnershipsthey have and the requirements
they have.
As a title holder, you know Idon't have to quit my job.
I don't move into an apartment,and so I think that I just I

(01:05:49):
had a great experience because Ihave a great support system,
and the Miss Alaska board is asupport system that, year after
year, wants to make it amazingand we want girls to continue to
come back and we want them tolove it, and so I think that is
a specialty for the state ofAlaska is we're very lenient on
things like that, because I haveheard I don't know how

(01:06:11):
Wisconsin is, but I have heardsome stories of other states
where their boards are not likethat, and so I'm extremely
grateful for mine.

Speaker 1 (01:06:21):
Yeah, I think you.
It really does sound like youhad a wonderful experience with
the relationships with yourboard and were able to
accomplish a lot of your goals.
And you had a wonderfulexperience with the
relationships with your boardand were able to accomplish a
lot of your goals, and you had avery clear perspective going in
, which was also obviously very,very helpful.
So now you're a month out fromthe next chapter of your life.

(01:06:41):
How are you going to beapproaching your life now that
your year is just about over?

Speaker 2 (01:06:48):
Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do with
all my free time.
I got to pick up some morehobbies.
Somebody asked me the other day.
They're like what are yourhobbies?
And I was like well, for thepast two years of my life I've
been preparing to compete atnational pageants, so I don't
really have any, but I'm reallyexcited to continue working with
the American Heart Associationand building Go Red for Women in

(01:07:11):
the state of Alaska and theinitiative work that I get to be
a part of with the AmericanHeart Association advocating for
women and women's heart healthin our state, with Miss Alaska

(01:07:31):
to grow and to bring new girlsinto the fold and support the
next Miss Alaska as she goes andcompetes at Miss America, which
is only in like six weeks aftershe's crowned eight weeks.
It's a very quick turnaround.
They're going in August thisyear.
So, um, I'm really excited todo that, um and to step into
that role.
Um, and yeah, I'm definitelygoing to travel more.
I'm going to, you know, findsome new things to do here in

(01:07:55):
our state.
Maybe I'll pick up skiing orsnowboarding, since I live in
Alaska and that's probably whatI should have been doing my
entire life.
A lot of hiking, a lot offishing this summer, a lot of
being outside camping.
That I didn't get to do lastyear, um, but yeah, I'm really
excited to see how theorganization itself like grows
and changes with.

(01:08:16):
You know, robin is still so newwith the organization but she's
doing a lot of really coolthings and, um, I've stayed
connected with Abby her entire,the entire time since she's won
and she's been out doing so manyamazing things.
So I'm hopefully going toattend Miss America this year.
That's the goal, sorry.
And then, yeah, I just I don'tknow living it's so.

(01:08:40):
It's really hard to picturebecause, so, my specialty I have
a marketing degree.
My specialty is sportsmarketing, and the way I explain
it to people is like the dayyou decide to stop playing your
sport.
You know, because most peoplethey grow up in a sport.
The day you decide to startplaying it is it's pretty

(01:09:01):
traumatic one and it's also veryeyeopening because you learn so
much about yourself and you'reable to look back on your time
and see the growth and see thechanges and see what you've
learned, the connections you'vemade.
My favorite thing is that Iactually got my job through

(01:09:22):
pageants, so I got my careerthrough pageantry and that's how
I met my boss and that's how Igot hired at the American Heart
Association and that's how I metmy boss and that's how I got
hired at the American HeartAssociation and so being able to
build on that and help the orgas a volunteer and as somebody
who has benefited fromeverything they have to offer.
It's also a bit crazy to thinkabout like and it living a dream

(01:09:46):
come true is shocking becauseeverybody talks about it and
they talk about all the work andall the effort to make your
dreams a reality.
And when you do it because Ihave been dreaming about going
to Miss America since I was 12and being Miss Alaska and being
able to do all these things youget to make a new dream.
And being Miss Alaska and beingable to do all these things,

(01:10:06):
you get to make a new dream.
And so this year has been a lotof like what is that next dream
going to be for me?
And so I'm still figuring itout because I've been trying to
focus on this year and makingthis dream, like you know, the
biggest possible Disney fairytale that I could.
But I think that's that's onething that's going to be a

(01:10:29):
little bit weird is dreaming anew dream if that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (01:10:35):
Yeah, and that's going to come with its own
grieving process and growingpains as well.
It's a very interesting shift.

Speaker 2 (01:10:45):
Yeah, and I think one thing that I'm a very
transparent person, so I willjust be upfront, honest.
Any of the local title holdersask me questions.
I'm like, yeah, no, pleasedon't do that.
Like, love you, that's reallycute.
Maybe not for this, maybeanother time.
And so I try to be reallytransparent with them about the
experience in general.
And one thing I really learnedafter Miss USA and after Miss

(01:11:09):
America you go through thehighest highs of your life in
this position.
You win, which is like insane,pinch yourself.
You're going to Miss America.
And then you go to Miss Americaand for two weeks you are a
celebrity.
You are in full hair and makeupevery day, you are dressed to

(01:11:31):
the nines, you cut every line,you get to be at the front of
everything, you're takingpictures, you're eating, you're
hanging out with these beautiful, amazing women who do so many
amazing things.
And then, if you don't win,it's over and that's it, yep,
and you just completed alifelong dream for a lot of

(01:11:51):
people Maybe not a lifelong, buta current dream for a lot of
people and then you're just doneand nobody really talks about
the aftermath of that.
And one thing that I lovedabout my Miss USA class is that
we were so open about that rutthat you hit like right after,

(01:12:12):
because you are, it's like arollercoaster on the highest
highs and then you, you're doneand like.
For some people they have areally long time after Miss
America.
This year the girls will have agreat like eight months after
Miss America, but for us we havelike six.
You know, like we've beenairing for six months and then
we have six months of what?

(01:12:33):
What did we not do before?
And now we have to switch intojust being not just being, but
you switch into the other roleof appearances and fun things
you get to do in your state.
But it's different, it's not thesame, as you have this
potential to be Miss America andthen you're not Miss America,
and I think that there's a lotof feelings there that people

(01:12:56):
are afraid to talk about, andfor me it was a lot of like soul
searching, finding you feellike you're, cause you're also
built up before you go to missamerica, which I I'm sure you
understand is everybody buildsyou up as like the one who could
do it, especially when you'refrom a smaller state.

(01:13:17):
Um, emma won a couple years agoand it created this.
It created this.
Well, we can do it again, which100% we can.
But to go into an experiencebeing like am I the one that's
going to do it again?
Can I do it that quickly forAlaska?

(01:13:38):
Everybody thinks I can, but canI do it?
That was really difficult forme is almost that imposter
syndrome of like following aMiss America.
I wasn't right out I would.
I don't think I could ever gothe year after Like being the
next state title holder to goafter your state wins Miss

(01:14:00):
America.
I could never imagine thatpressure.

Speaker 1 (01:14:03):
I didn't have that pressure, but I had the pressure
of I was first runner up to aMiss America and then I was a
state title holder for sixmonths and then I had two years
of a break, so we had two MissWisconsin's in between, but then
I came back and now I'm goingto Miss America, having been
first runner up to a former MissAmerica and already having six

(01:14:26):
months under my belt at the job.
And so, yeah, it was a lot ofme thinking that fear of it not
being near there was thatbuildup and then the self-doubt,
and so it was just like thiswhole mess of things going on in
my head.
And you're totally right, thereis this drop off and this rut

(01:14:48):
and this very real emotionalexperience that happens after
Miss America that we don't talkabout.
And I, for me, I think one ofthe reasons that it's not talked
about very much is becausethere's like this idea that
we're just supposed to begrateful that it happened.

Speaker 2 (01:15:06):
Yes, exactly, and you don't want to ruin it for the
next girl, you don't want toruin her dream, like you don't
want her to be like, oh, but Idon't want to go through the
down and it's not foreverbecause you do.
Then you turn around and, likeI said before, like you are Miss
America to your state, likeeverybody's so proud of you,

(01:15:27):
they're so, they're so gratefulfor everything you've done and
they want you at everything andespecially like, if you do well
at Miss America, you look goodat Miss America and for me it
was one of those I was told likeI had.
I think that everybody has ashot at Miss America.
That's my other thing is likegirls are like, oh, I could

(01:15:47):
never, and I'm like you don'tunderstand.
Everybody has a shot at MissAmerica.
That's my other thing is likegirls are like, oh, I could
never, and I'm like you don'tunderstand.
Everybody has a shot at MissAmerica.
You never know what they'relooking for.
And it could be your day, likeyou walk into that interview and
one judge on the end could havedecided I want a redhead.
This year there's two of you,you know, like you never know,
they could have walked in andbeen like.

(01:16:08):
I want a girl who's passionateabout her CSI.
This year I want a girl who tapdance it.
You never know, like, what ajudge is looking for when you
walk in, and so I tell everybodythat I know competing for a
national pageant or looking tocompete for a state pageant that
it is literally anybody's gameanytime you walk in.
So never feel like you couldn'tdo it.

(01:16:30):
Prepare yourself as you're goingto and that you can, but also
don't be devastated if it's notyou.
Somebody on our board here hasa great saying.
She says it every year at Stateit's.
You can be disappointed, butyou can't be devastated because

(01:16:52):
it is somebody's game every day.
And you can be disappointedthat today was not your day, but
you can't be devastated becauseit's not you.
It doesn't change who you are.
It doesn't change what kind ofperson you are.
You are so much more than thecrown and I think that needs to
be reminded more of when you'regoing to.
Miss America, yes, it's so cool,it would be so cool to be Miss

(01:17:16):
America, but you have a lifeoutside of being Miss Alaska or
being Miss Wisconsin or beingMiss Texas or being Miss Alabama
.
You are also your own human andthere is life after this, and
so I think that playing up andbeing really excited and
focusing on that, this is onedream, but you're going to have

(01:17:39):
so many dreams in your life thatare going to come true and that
you get to work towards andthat you get to be a part of and
maybe you're lucky enough toeven be a part of somebody
else's dream and you get to helpthese girls make those dreams
happen.
If you stay on, or if you aresupporting your board in some
way or you're bringing onsponsors for somebody else, you
could make their dreams cometrue.

(01:18:00):
Right, and also realizing thatwe all have different goals and
aspirations.
When you're at Miss America Forme, I was like, well, it'd be
really cool to place or to winand I know I could do it, like I

(01:18:20):
could be in this position, butI just wanted to look good all
week.
That was my whole goal.
I was like I just want to lookgood, I want to feel good.
I want people to look at Alaskaand think, oh yeah, she looked
great at Miss America.
You know like she looked thepart.
I didn't want to stand out assomebody that like showed up in
her rubber boots which, granted,I probably would have for some

(01:18:41):
things but I just wanted to lookmy best and I wanted to feel my
best the entire time I wasthere, and that's what I did.
My mom always jokes she's likeI had random people coming up to
me telling me they liked youroutfit and I don't even know
what you wore and I was likethat's the goal, mom.
That was.
The goal Is that other peopleenjoyed it, that people, you

(01:19:04):
know, remembered things, and Iwanted people to remember us,
even though we're a small state.
Um, cause, we did have a MissAmerica a couple of years ago,
but before that we hadn't hadany.
You know, we've placed but wehad never won.
You know, emma's absolutelyamazing and she's, um, she is

(01:19:25):
our Miss America, but we hadnever really done anything prior
to that besides placing.
You know, top 10, top.
I think we had maybe a couple,maybe one top five place.
I don't know the actual thingthere, but representing smaller
states that don't have as muchsupport, because when you look

(01:19:46):
good at Miss America, morepeople want to support locally,
and so the better I looked atMiss America, the more my local
title holders are going tobenefit from that, the more that
the next Miss Alaska is goingto benefit from that, because I
shared some sponsor 18 times onmy social media page and they're
going to be like take it again,here you go, here's another one
.

(01:20:06):
Um, here's another thought, youknow, whatever their sponsorship
was.
And so I think that creatingrealistic expectations for
yourself and goals that minimizethat low after Miss America, um
, because what is it?
Everybody learns smart goals.
Any business major knows smartgoals simple, measurable,

(01:20:31):
attainable, realistic timeline.
Um, and so, yeah, I think onething I would urge, like any
anybody competing make realisticgoals for yourself, because
then anything above that is justa bonus.
Yeah, cause then it's.
You're not disappointed atanything, you're excited that

(01:20:54):
you made it there, you'reexcited that this happened.
You know, for me I just wantedto walk the Miss America stage,
so it would have been a bonus ifanything else happened, but I
got so much out of it still.
I think we could do an entireepisode on the rut after like
after you hang up the heelshonestly, when everything is
done, I know I think that, um, agreat like I would love to sit

(01:21:18):
down with like three or fourtitle holders and be like this
is how I dealt with my rut.
Because it is rut which, yeah,people like we said they don't
like to talk about it and theykind of brush over it.
They're like, oh my gosh, myyear is amazing.
I went to Miss America and thenI got to do all these things
and that's true.
But there's about a three weektime where you never feel I have

(01:21:40):
a TikTok that I made rightafter Miss America and it was a
trend for a little bit, but it'slike I'll never be as pretty as
I was at Miss America and youfeel like that for a while.
You feel like you'll never bethat pretty.
I got my hair and makeupprofessionally done every day at
Miss America and you know it'snot true, it's not how I
actually feel about myself, butwhen you look at pictures you're
like, oh, I guess I could try alittle harder this week.

(01:22:03):
And so I think that thatexperience dealing with a rut is
also as somebody I didn'treally touch on it, but I was
the perpetual bridesmaid.
That's why I talk about likenever giving up.
I think I was first runner uplike six times.

Speaker 1 (01:22:21):
Oof, that'll really get in your head.

Speaker 2 (01:22:24):
That kind of rut is so different because I it took.
I started competing in Misswhen I was my first one was 17.
I was 17, I was a senior inhigh school and then I didn't
win Miss Alaska until I was 26,turning 27, yeah, so I think I
did in place once.
I've been first runner-up twice.

(01:22:47):
I was second runner up to Emmaand then Miss Alaska USA.
I was first runner up before Iwon that one as well, um, and
then I ended up winning MissAlaska USA and then Miss Alaska
America.
But being first runner up is adifferent kind of rut that like,
yeah, also, people don't talk.

(01:23:07):
I always try to make an effortto sit down with first
runner-ups because that turmoilthat you put yourself through
after being first runner-up isone you probably don't deserve
it, because being firstrunner-up is extremely,
extremely amazing because youmade it there and you should be

(01:23:31):
really proud of yourself forbeing that far.
But it is a rut of what could Ihave changed?
And the answer is nothing.
You can't change anything andit doesn't matter.
If you had changed one thing,those judges probably still
would have picked that girl onthat day.

Speaker 1 (01:23:47):
Yeah, that honestly could be a whole nother series
is the runner up club.

Speaker 2 (01:23:53):
The runner up club.
Yeah, Cause it's I mean, youunderstand like and then too, I
remember like being on Emma'scourt, like and again, Emma is
the most amazing human, she isabsolutely wonderful.
Text me post Miss America.
I talk to her mom all the timebut like I remember being on her
court and like feeling defeatedthat one I had gone down

(01:24:15):
because the year before I wasfirst runner up and then she
went and won Miss America and wewere all kind of like, so do I
feel as bad now?
Or like you're, she's MissAmerica and like I placed to
Miss America.
So does that make me reallygreat too, which it does.

(01:24:35):
I think placing anywhere makesyou really great.
Even just stepping on the stagemakes you really great, because
that's the whole.
Another hurdle, like competingin your first pageant, is a
whole other hurdle you got toget over and coming back year
after year is like this wholeother thing.
But yeah, being first runner upis like honestly, like very
similar to the rut after MissAmerica.

(01:24:56):
I would say.

Speaker 1 (01:24:57):
I did do a Sash and Soul episode about, like, the
runner up mentality and mindsetas a runner up and I think I
just I always want to emphasizethat, like there's no recipe for
success in pageants and thescoring, though it's Olympic

(01:25:18):
style, doesn't have any specificcriteria.
It is all personal opinion andeach judge's unique perspective,
which is why we say differentday, different judging panel,
different outcome, and so, evenlike that, even you know,
looking at and this is not todownplay anyone that wins Miss

(01:25:39):
America or anyone that wins astate title, but it it's we
can't rank ourselves in terms ofvalue and in terms of ability,
in terms of preparedness, interms of like, I just don't see
anyone that doesn't win aslosers or as failures.

Speaker 2 (01:25:58):
And one thing that I tell people all the time I'm
like I like I didn't win a lot,I have not won a lot, and but
I've also win a lot.
I have not won a lot and, butI've also won a lot.
And so, looking at both sidesof it, you really have to, you
have to be willing to hearpeople out, but take it with a
grain of salt Because, again,this is the only sport where we

(01:26:22):
literally sign up to get judgedby five people.

Speaker 1 (01:26:26):
Yep, Like you're like our personalities and our
skills and the way we look andeverything.

Speaker 2 (01:26:34):
And you're the way you speak, potentially your
opinion on certain topics, ifcause, nobody is completely
unbiased, even though they'resupposed to be, and so they
you're.
It's the only sport that youtrain like an Olympic athlete,
because we do, we train thathard that it's for somebody's
opinion.
And if you really look atscoring rubrics, um, for me, I

(01:26:58):
call myself a talentless MissAlaska because I have not
trained, like I'm not a traineddancer, um, and so I figured it
out and I had a great time doingmy talent.
But, like, abby is a traineddancer and she's absolutely
beautiful every time I watch herdance.
Um, could never be me, I couldnever do those things.
I get too dizzy.
I can't turn like that.

(01:27:18):
Not for me.
Um, there's, if you look at thescoring rubric for talent, now,
not one thing about technique.
It's like entertainment value.
It's how they utilize the stage.
Do they use a prop?
Are they engaging?
Does she have great facials?
Does it like there's?
No?
Did she point her toes?

Speaker 1 (01:27:40):
Well, no, because, like the judges, all have
different backgrounds andexpertise, and so it's not fair
if you have a full panel ofsingers or musicians or people
with absolutely no artisticability, and now they're judging
dancers.

Speaker 2 (01:27:54):
Yeah, and so it's really interesting to see like.
It's simply like an opinionate,it's all opinion and it could
be.
I know, here in the state ofAlaska too, like we run into the
problem of when you bring in acertain judge that doesn't agree
with sustainable living orsubsistence living, they used a

(01:28:29):
gun when they were 12, becausewe go out into the woods with
bears and you have to know howto protect yourself.
And somebody in a differentstate was like I can't believe
you know how to use a gun at 12.
And it's like well, yeah, butit's not.
Like I'm not using a gun to usea gun, I'm in the woods.
If a bear tries to maul me, Iwould like to know how to
protect myself.
The same, I'm sure, inWisconsin.

(01:28:50):
Um, you run into the problem oflike, depending on what you put
on your fact sheet, you neverknow who's a part of PETA or you
never know who doesn't likethat, that doesn't like that.
You hunt and you fish and youdo all those things that are
normal Alaskan lifestyle.
And so, yeah, I think that,talking about first runner up
syndrome, I would say that it'svery, very close to the rut

(01:29:13):
after Miss America.
Um, but yeah, it's, that couldbe a whole dealing with that rut
out of it.
It's a whole thing.

Speaker 1 (01:29:25):
Yeah, it is.
I have a lot of clients thisyear that are runners up from
last year, and so that's a lotof our conversations.
Is that mindset?
So yeah, it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:29:37):
I would say that the last time I placed first runner
up, because the other thing thatyou run into is, um, they're
pretty strict about feedback,right?
So depending on the stateyou're in, depending on the
system you're competing in, itdepends on how much feedback
they can actually give you.
For me, year after year, I waslike what can I change, what can
I do better?
And it was always you're great,we'd love to take you to Miss

(01:30:01):
America one day, keep trying.
And at that point it's like,well, I can't do anything with
that and so I can't changeanything.
I can't better myself.
Um, right, and for me, what Itell a lot of girls is like
invest in yourself, invest inthe coaches, invest in you know

(01:30:25):
a gown.
It doesn't have to be the mostexpensive gown, but it needs to
be one that you feel confidentand beautiful in.
Invest in somebody to help youstyle, invest in your hair,
invest in the makeup, because itdoes make a difference, whether
it be that you are justspending three hours learning
how to do it yourself online, soyou feel more confident when

(01:30:47):
you step into a room.
That goes a long way For me,when it went from I was first
runner up at Miss Alaska, usa,and I was like I don't know if
this is for me.
And I had that conversation ofis this something that is
actually made for me or is itsomething I'm forcing into my
life?
Is it something that I need togive up?

(01:31:08):
Is it the time where I need tomove on and find the next dream,
because this one isn't going tohappen?
And it was sitting down,finding my why again and
reconnecting with why I started,why I continue to compete, why
I love competing, what I love todo with the title and the

(01:31:29):
community and why I put so mucheffort into it.
And then it was turning aroundand being okay, how do I make
myself the best version of mewith the most support?
And that was when I really satdown and was like I need to find
coaches and all of theseaspects.
I can't just.
Einstein says that thedefinition of insanity is doing
the same thing over and overagain and expecting a different

(01:31:50):
result.
Well, einstein doesn't say that, but maybe cut that part out
because that's not right.
But you are quite literallygoing insane if you do the same
thing over and over again andexpecting to win.
And so I really like.
Sat down, I figured out thatyou know there is a special
sauce for me and I found thepeople that I needed in that

(01:32:14):
room that needed to help me cookthat special sauce and you know
it worked out for me in thelong run of your first
runner-ups it's really it's okayto also be done is the other
thing that nobody says you don'thave to go until you can't

(01:32:34):
compete anymore.
It's okay that it's not for you,it's okay that you give up on
one thing to try another,because that was a big hurdle
too.
I competed at Miss America forso long and then people were
like this is not for you at thismoment.
You should do USA.
And so I took a break fromAmerica and I went to USA, ended

(01:32:56):
up winning that one, went toMiss USA and then I was better
as a Miss America title holderbecause of that experience I had
going to Miss USA.
So I think that there's a lotof things that people don't talk
about enough, and that's why Ilove like that you're doing this
podcast, because there's a lotas a title holder that, like you

(01:33:17):
, kind of hold your tongue untilyou're done Right, but I try
not to.
You don't want to ruinanybody's experience, but you
want them to be well preparedfor the experience that they're
going to have.

Speaker 1 (01:33:30):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And I don't think you know anyof these conversations so far.
I think are just valuable thereand I don't think they're
ruining anything, and therethere is a lot of harm and
that's why I said to you beforewe hit record I'm like I'm not
interested in the tea.
I don't need the tea.
This isn't about the drama orthe rumor mill or anything like

(01:33:51):
that.
I don't care about any of that.
I genuinely want to haveconversations that will be
beneficial for our listeners.
So, if nothing else, what doyou want our listeners to take
away?

Speaker 2 (01:34:00):
I think that anybody that listens to this as an
interested competitor to justsend it, because you will regret
that you don't do it in thefuture as somebody who was
considering not competing forher state title for the last
time.
If you think like if there'sanything in you that says this

(01:34:25):
is what you want, that youshould go for it, because you
never know how it will turn out.
You never know you could beexactly what they are looking
for and then you could literallymake your hopes and dreams come
true.
But it's okay if it's not foryou as well, and that if you
decide it's time to move on andit's time to do something

(01:34:46):
different, that you can stepinto a role, a different role in
this organization, because weare always looking for
volunteers and we are alwayslooking for help in so many
different aspects, and thateverybody has something to offer
, whether that be as a statetitle holder, a ED, a treasurer,
somebody on the board, you know, an events coordinator.

(01:35:07):
There's so many aspects thatyou could benefit and maybe help
somebody else's dream come true.
I would say that the rut isnormal.
It's okay to feel down after amajor thing that happens in your
life.
When you go to Miss America.

(01:35:27):
You will feel down after MissAmerica when you go to Miss
America.
You will feel down after MissAmerica when you give up your
title.
You will feel down after yougive up your title.
That's all natural parts ofdoing this and that we all feel
them.
So reach out to literallyanybody, and I think one thing
that we didn't touch on that ishuge for me is don't be scared

(01:35:49):
of a title holder, because ifyou reach out to me on Facebook
or if you reach out to myInstagram, as long as I see it,
I will respond to you, like Iwant to help every girl be
successful.
I want all of their dreams tocome true, just like mine have,
and so if you want something, ifyou want information, if you

(01:36:12):
want to know how somebody gotsomething or where they got it
from, or an outfit that they'rewearing, or how do you get
connected with the firedepartment, who would you call
Ask?
Because every single titleholder wants to share the
knowledge that we have with you.
I love anytime anybody's likehey, can I sit down with you for
an hour and ask you about MissAlaska?

(01:36:34):
Because I think I want to do it.
I will spend all afternoon withthem answering any question.
They have anything that comesto mind, because I want them to
get the most out of theexperience, because it truly
changed my life and I reallythink it can change other
people's lives.
And I don't want to seepageantry die out, because we
are in a generation that we aremoving away from things like

(01:36:55):
this, and I want it to be therefor my niece, who is three
months old, and my other niecewho's seven.
I want them to have the sameopportunities that I did.
So I would say just be fearlessin anything that you want in
your life and chase after it,but also don't be afraid of

(01:37:18):
having a team to get you throughit.

Speaker 1 (01:37:20):
Oh, jordan, thank you so much for joining me today.
This was an awesome and such avaluable conversation.
I swear like every singleepisode in this series so far
has come with a different theme,a different set of insights
that are valuable.
So there's something in thisfor everyone and it's just.
It's valuable and it'sappreciated.
So thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:37:42):
Of course, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:37:45):
Yeah, absolutely All right.
Listen to Jordan.
She said if you have questionsor want advice, reach out to her
cause.
She'd love to hear from you, sodo it.
Uh, and then for me, I'm a headout.
I'm going to go say goodnightto my dad and, uh, I will talk

(01:38:05):
to y'all later.
Thanks again, jordan.
Everyone, take care.
See you next time.
Bye, thank you, yeah, I lovethat.

(01:39:51):
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Oh, my gosh, I think we couldkeep talking for hours.
Um, so I'll have to have youcome back on and we can dive way
more into your year as Miss USA.
We can talk a lot more.
I think we could do an entireepisode on the rut.
After, like, after you hang upthe heels when everything is
done, mm-hmm no-transcript.

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