June 6, 2025 • 64 mins
From a driven competitor who placed as runner-up six times to the confident woman wearing the Miss Maryland crown, Bridget O'Brien's journey exemplifies the power of resilience and authenticity in pageantry and life. Her refreshing candor about the realities of state titleholder life will resonate with anyone who's ever faced rejection or wondered if they're "enough."
Bridget's community service initiative "Boomerang" perfectly encapsulates her philosophy: failure isn't final—it's simply a detour on your journey to success. Using the powerful metaphor of a GPS recalculating rather than telling you to turn around and go home, she's reached over 4,000 students across Maryland with this transformative message. Having traveled 30,000 miles across her state, Bridget prioritized reaching small communities that might otherwise be overlooked, creating meaningful connections that transcended typical "appearances."
What's particularly striking about Bridget's approach is her entrepreneurial mindset toward the role. From sending cold emails and booking her own appearances to securing sponsors and managing relationships, she embraced every aspect of the business side of being Miss Maryland. Her insights on overcoming rejection, building confidence, and learning to say "their loss" when faced with a "no" offer practical wisdom for competitors and professionals alike.
The conversation takes an emotional turn when discussing her Miss America experience, where she reclaimed her power by performing "Don't Rain on My Parade"—the very song that once led to rejection from musical theater programs. Through tears of pride backstage, she embodied what it means to transform failure into triumph. Her advice to want the state title more than the national crown, to build genuine sisterhood connections, and to celebrate others' successes knowing your time will come rings with authenticity and wisdom.
Whether you're competing for a title, facing professional challenges, or simply navigating life's roadblocks, Bridget's story reminds us that our greatest setbacks often prepare us for our most meaningful successes. Listen now to gain perspective on failure, resilience, and the unexpected joy found in detours.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Raeanna Johnson (00:00):
Hey you guys, welcome back to Sash and Soul.
It is a beautiful day in earlyJune.
I know that competition seasonis well underway.
It's been really fun seeing allof the newly crowned title
holders throughout the countryin Miss USA and Miss America and
other pageant systems as well,so just a really super exciting
(00:24):
time.
For those of you that arelistening and maybe new to this
show, welcome Thanks for beinghere.
Sash and Soul is a podcast thatreally came out of the
Fearlessly Authentic CoachingProgram, which is my coaching
program.
That focuses on mindset,community service, communication
, leadership skills all of theessential things that you need
(00:46):
to succeed in pageantry, incompetition, in the job of the
title holder.
So those are the things that wefocus on and really leaning
into being your true, authenticself, which is really that
buzzword that we keep hearingabout.
It's just like just be yourself.
So if you're in a space rightnow where you are really in the
thick of prepping, you're almostthere.
(01:06):
You're getting ready to go toyour state competition and
you're kind of looking for justa little bump in your mindset to
get over some comparison, toget over some self-doubt, some
fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown, worrying
about what other people mightthink of you or if you're good
enough for this job.
Fearlessly Authentic isabsolutely the place for you, so
schedule a consultation with methe link is in the show notes,
(01:29):
show description or reach out tome on social media.
I would be happy to connect anddo just a quick intro
conversation with you and see ifit'd be a good fit for you and
how I can help you reach yourdreams and feel your best while
we're at it.
So that's my little plug forFearlessly Authentic.
But we need to dive in becausewe have another awesome episode
in the Crown and Candid series.
This series is something that Iput together for all of you so
(01:51):
that you get an actual,realistic look at the job, of
what it looks like to be a statetitle holder, and today's guest
is so awesome in likeencompassing that whole message.
Today we have Miss Maryland2024, bridget O'Brien.
We were talking before hittingrecord, as I usually do with my
guests, just said what's youroverall message?
What do you want everyone toreally take away?
(02:12):
And she said her whole brandand her CSI is about overcoming
failure, which is awesome.
Let's dive in, let's talk aboutthat, because I think that the
mindset behind this idea offailure can be really, really
paralyzing.
So it's going to be a reallygreat conversation to talk about
and so timely for all of you.
But she said overcoming failureso that you use those
(02:34):
experiences to propel youforward.
And we're going to talk about alot of that, of how she
overcome experiences ofperceived failure as being part
of the runner-up club and reallylearning from those experiences
.
And, more than anything, shesaid she wants any local title
holder that's going into statecompetition to know and embody
the idea that you need to wantto be the state title holder
(02:57):
more than you want to be thenational title holder, more than
you want to be Miss America,because that's the job and
pouring your heart and soul intothat is primary and that is how
you will succeed as the titleholder as well.
She says if that's really notyour priority, if you're just
using it as a stepping stone toget to the next level, you might
want to reconsider yourpriorities and whether or not
(03:19):
this space is the right placefor you to be.
So I'm excited to talk moreabout that and excited to
welcome and introduce Bridget.
Thank you so much for beinghere, hi.
Thanks for having me Absolutely.
Bridget O'Brien (03:31):
Would you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Yeah, so, like you said in yourwonderful intro of me, thank
you so much.
My name is Bridget O'Brien andI am Miss Maryland 2024.
I am a Marylander through andthrough, born and raised here in
Maryland, in Frederick County,and I have been involved with
the Miss America opportunitysince I was 16 years old.
(03:54):
I competed in the teen programfor two years and both years
placed second runner up and thenI immediately transitioned to
Miss my senior year of highschool and that was the weird
COVID year.
So I won a local title and thenobviously kept that my first
year of college and then finallycompeted in the state pageant
that summer, made top 10.
(04:16):
That year came back, made top10 again and then I got second
runner up again.
This was in 2023 before Ifinally took home the title of
Miss Maryland in 2024.
Aside from my involvement withthe Miss America opportunity, I
received my undergraduate degreesumma cum laude from the
University of Alabama, with adegree in communications focused
(04:41):
in news media and sportsjournalism, and I'm now pursuing
my master's degree from theUniversity of Alabama as well,
in sports management.
Roll Tide I bleed crimson, soI'm loving all of the big bound
girlies who are going down therein the fall from the Miss
America opportunity.
And yeah, I've just been havinga blast as Miss Maryland this
(05:05):
year and I can't wait to reallydive into my experience.
Raeanna Johnson (05:10):
I honestly, I can't wait to hear about it, so
let's dive in.
I want to know if you had afeeling that this was going to
be your year.
Bridget O'Brien (05:17):
So I feel like that's so interesting, because
sometimes I thought I had afeeling and then it didn't
obviously go my way.
So I really wanted to just havefun and I knew that if I had
fun and I did my best, then nomatter who came home with the
(05:39):
crown if it was me or if it wassomebody else I'd be proud of
myself.
I thought to myself, you know,if it was going to be a perfect
time, this probably would be it,because I was graduating from
my undergraduate degree from theUniversity of Alabama, moving
back home to Maryland where Iwould be stationary.
I knew that, you know, the nextchapter of my life was kind of
(06:03):
a little bit up in the air, andso if there was going to be a
perfect time, it would have beenthis year.
But other than that I just waslike you know what I'm going to
let go and let God and have the,have a blast and have a good
time, and that's exactly what Idid.
Raeanna Johnson (06:19):
How did you handle, or if you handled, any
experiences of like am I doingenough to prepare Cause?
When you have that like momentof I'm going to release this,
you know and just enjoy thisexperience, you still have that
kind of angst of like, oh mygosh, but what am I forgetting?
Did you experience that and howdid you handle it?
Bridget O'Brien (06:37):
Yeah, so I think, competing while being a
college student in another state.
Obviously I competed in theMiss Maryland program every
single summer when I came home,but the majority of the year I
was living down at school inAlabama, and so I'd I'd travel
back and forth and do my best.
I was very involved on socialmedia, making sure that I was
(06:58):
getting my platform and my CSImessage out there, doing as much
as I possibly could from school, Obviously, like I was.
The time when the week came ofMiss Maryland I was like this is
going to be fun.
I'm not going to put thepressure on myself because I
knew when I did that, that'swhen I kind of crumbled.
So I definitely did feel likegosh, am I doing everything I
(07:22):
can?
You know, being down here inschool, going back home, all the
things.
But I really trusted in thepreparation that I did,
practicing my talent and myinterview I'd like constantly
call my mom and dad they're likemy favorite people to do mock
interviews with and made surethat I was, you know, doing
everything to continue to beable to spread my message while
(07:45):
also balancing that life that Ihad down in Alabama, and so it
was kind of hard, but I thinkthat's one of the reasons that I
was able to come out with thecrown, because I was able to
already handle that kind ofwork-life balance and I knew I'd
be able to do that if I were towin the title of Miss Maryland
(08:06):
as well.
Raeanna Johnson (08:07):
Life prepares you for this job more than any
other targeted preparation thatyou do for the competition
itself.
Interview preparation is alwayshelpful, of course, polishing
your communication skills, butit's the things that you're
doing in life, outside ofpageants, that actually prepare
you to do the job, and I thinkthat's the essential part,
(08:28):
wouldn't you agree?
Bridget O'Brien (08:30):
Oh yeah, 100%.
I found that being overlyinvolved in college while also
doing all of this and keeping upmy grades has been very, very
instrumental, because I'vealready gotten those skills that
I needed to kind of amplifymyself as Miss Maryland.
Raeanna Johnson (08:48):
You win.
Miss Maryland, who were youthen?
And now, as we're reaching theend of the year, who are you now
?
How have you changed, gosh,that's such a good question.
Bridget O'Brien (08:59):
So obviously I won Miss Maryland.
Freshly graduated from college,kind of everything was up in
the air because I was like, well, I don't want to tie myself
down to a full-time job and haveto move somewhere.
And then what if I win MissMaryland?
What if I don't win MissMaryland?
And so there was a lot ofunknowns happening.
Obviously I was kind of justbeing thrown back into my home
(09:24):
life, moving back home, andobviously you don't know what
the job is like until you'rekind of in the thick of it and
you're doing it yourself.
So I was kind of naive to likeeverything that this job was
going to entail.
But now, a year later, I cantruly say that I've stayed
authentic to myself.
I made a promise to myself theday that I won that I was going
(09:48):
to do it 110%.
I was going to do everythingthat I possibly could to make
this year as Miss Maryland asfull as I possibly could.
I didn't want to waste anymoment.
I wanted to make every singleappearance that I could perform
at every single opportunity.
I wanted to make every singleappearance that I could perform
at every single opportunity andspread my community service
(10:08):
initiative above everything else, get in schools, talk to
students, make personalconnections with every single
event that I went to.
And now, a year later, I cansay that I fulfilled those
promises that I made to myself.
And so it's really great tolook back on the year and, as
(10:32):
bittersweet as it is, see that Ihave, you know, fulfilled those
things that I've set out formyself.
Raeanna Johnson (10:35):
You kind of mentioned like the learning
curve of like you have an ideaof what the job is and then you
get into it and you're like,wait, what?
So what did you think it wasgoing to look like versus what
it actually was?
Bridget O'Brien (10:46):
I think you know, obviously you compete in
your state competition everysingle year and so you kind of
know the vibe, because some ofus, like me, I go I went back
six years in a row, so I knewwhat to expect um, preparing for
that and competing, and thenyou become the state title
holder and it's like okay, soyou have to do this job, but
(11:07):
you're also preparing for, like,the competition Miss America,
and it's in that second yeartransition and we're all just
trying to figure it out as we goright.
So from you know, going to NewYork and designing my own
evening gown gosh I didn't evenknow what that was going to be
like because I never did thatbefore.
(11:27):
Or going down to Florida andgetting my headshots done by
Carlos Velez Another thing, likeI've I'd never done anything
like that before.
You know, I'd gotten myheadshots from, like, the local
sponsors here, but that was justlike wow, I felt like a movie
star, and so those kinds ofthings were like really
(11:47):
different from anything I'd everdone before, and obviously you
don't know until you know.
So that was one aspect.
And then I guess for the otherhalf of like actually doing the
job of Miss Maryland, every MissMaryland is different, right?
So I had this idea of what I'veseen Miss Maryland do in the
past six years, and they're notme.
And so when I got into the role, I had this idea of what I've
seen Miss Maryland do in thepast six years, and they're not
me.
And so when I got into the role, I had to decide okay, what
(12:10):
events do I want to do?
How do I want to reach out tothese different schools?
What do I want to do with myschool program?
Raeanna Johnson (12:17):
And obviously that's going to be different
from the people that came beforeyou Do you feel like your
preparation and like your planof what you ideally want to do
and how you'd want to do it wasdoable once you got into the job
, or did you have to kind ofpivot in any way?
Bridget O'Brien (12:34):
So I definitely would say it was doable.
But I did have to pivot becausewhen I got into the role, I
didn't have connections with allthe schools in the state of
Maryland or all of the eventsthat I wanted to do, and so I
had to figure out, you know, whodo I know here and there that
(12:54):
can connect me to somebody.
Or I literally wrote so manycold emails and did so many cold
calls this year because I hadto make those connections
somehow that I didn't alreadyhave them.
And so, yes, the goals that Iset were attainable, but I had
to figure out a way to make itwork, if that makes sense.
Raeanna Johnson (13:18):
Yeah, it totally makes sense, because you
don't really know what hurdlesyou're gonna have to jump over
and who else you're gonna haveto climb through until you're in
it.
Yeah, and I think that's a partof why you become a, not a
different, person.
I feel like that's a littledramatic, but like that's why
you grow so much.
It's because you are faced withall of these challenges that
(13:41):
you didn't expect to face orknow like.
You expect challenges but youdon't know what those challenges
are going to look like.
So how can you prepare?
And I just the the coachingcall that I was on right before
this.
One of the things we were kindof talking about was money
mindset and the fear of thefinancial strain that you might
have as a state title holder,and I was like you just can't
(14:03):
solve all the problems thatdon't exist yet.
Right, and so to some extent,you have to go in blind and you
have to go in with this blindfaith that you'll figure it out
and that you're resourceful.
Bridget O'Brien (14:14):
Yeah, I definitely.
I can completely relate to thatkind of like I don't know like
what all this is going to looklike for me and my family
financially.
And then we got in there andit's one of those things where
it's just like you have to kindof roll with the punches and
obviously, like we were able tofigure it out with help.
(14:37):
You know, everything takes help, and so even things from like
every single piece of wardrobethat I wore at Miss America
aside from my competitionwardrobe I got secondhand I
bought from literally TJ Maxx,marshalls, homegoods, like all
of the things that I was doing,like we budgeted, we did it on a
(14:59):
budget and it's I think that'ssomething people don't know or
see.
It's like oh well, I'm going tobe Miss X state.
I need to have a custom, everysingle outfit or the most
designer, this, that or theother.
Like no, truly, I borrowed halfof my clothes from people.
I got them hand-me-down.
Facebook Marketplace is my bestfriend.
(15:21):
I always get stuff off of there.
Bargain hunting is like myfamily's favorite thing.
My sister is like the queen ofit, and so that's the other
thing I always tell the girlshere in Maryland is like y'all
do not have to be walking theMet Gala runway.
You just have to, you know, beconfident in what you're wearing
(15:43):
, and that doesn't mean that ithas to be the most expensive
thing on the rack.
Raeanna Johnson (15:49):
Completely Absolutely.
So earlier you mentioned thatyou you know, you recognize that
you weren't the same MissMaryland as Miss Maryland's
before you.
You're a different person.
You've got different goals,different, different dreams.
So, as we're talking about kindof the business side, you had
mentioned trying to plan outwhat kind of appearances you
wanted to do what did that looklike for you?
(16:11):
What was the business side ofthings for you in Maryland?
Like how involved were you inthe professional aspects of
booking your appearances andsecuring those things?
Bridget O'Brien (16:20):
Right.
So I am doing it all.
I book my appearances, Ischedule with the people that
you know, run the event thatI'll be attending and I figure
out my travel and all of thatkind of things.
The administrative stuff, likemy Miss Maryland email, is like
(16:41):
my child.
I have, like a, crafted andcurated that over the past year,
my Google calendar, same thing,and so for me it was really
interesting because I was ableto.
You know, if I wanted to do anevent, I could do it.
I just had to find a way tomake it happen and I think that
made me so strong in who I amand making sure that I can sell
(17:05):
myself and I tell the girls likeyou know you better than
anybody else, you know why thisevent should have you there.
Be confident in that, beconfident in who you are and why
you should be there.
Just a few examples would bewhen I was first getting into
going to school.
So I have a school program withmy community service initiative
(17:27):
called Boomerang and it's aboutbouncing back and bouncing
forward from your failures toyour future success, and so I
had to market that to differentschools and you know, once you
get into one school and theylike what you have to say.
You know they're gonna tellother schools.
You know, hey, like I had MissMaryland in my classroom today
and she was awesome, and so onceI got my foot in the door there
(17:49):
, things just started rolling.
And then kind of a more funappearance that I did was I
performed at Olympic medalistAaron Brooks homecoming
celebration.
So Aaron Brooks is an Olympicbronze medalist wrestler from
Hagerstown, maryland, and that'sactually where we have the Miss
(18:09):
Maryland competition everysingle year.
And I saw a ad for it onFacebook and I thought to myself
, wow, I mean, that would besuch a cool experience to go
meet an Olympian and my talentis singing, so I would always
use my talent as kind of a wayto put my name in the ring.
And so I just reached out to thepeople who were organizing the
(18:29):
event and I offered to sing GodBless America before the mayor
gave him the key to the city andthey said of course, we'd love
to have you there.
I got to meet him and thenthrough that I was able to
secure different events in thatsame town because they loved
what I had, and I've seen thathappen so many times this year,
(18:50):
just by fostering therelationships from different
events.
Simple things like a thank younote, handwritten thank you note
, a follow-up email those thingsgo a super long way because if
they have another event andthey're like gosh, I need an MC
or I need a performer oh wait, Iremember Miss Marilyn.
She was awesome.
Let me just reach back out toher again.
(19:11):
So having those kind of littleconnections have been super,
super helpful for me this yearas well.
Raeanna Johnson (19:18):
It is amazing how much pageantry is selling
yourself, in a sense, a hundredpercent.
The things that you'redescribing right now is
everything to do with sales.
You know, like the networking,the follow-up, what you said
earlier about like, you knowbetter than anyone why you
(19:39):
should be at that event, why youwould be valuable for that
event.
That starts in the competition.
That's that's why we areincredible at interview, because
anytime you're interviewing fora job or anything else, you're
trying to sell yourself, you'retrying to sell your value, and
you do that all year as a titleholder too, in order to get the
most out of your year.
So I think that is such anincredible skill that we
(20:03):
underestimate about ourselves.
And I think having thatconfidence to go out there and
be like, nope, I'm valuable, Iknow why that I'm valuable, and
then also being comfortable inthe spaces when you're told no
and not taking it personally howdid you handle no's?
Bridget O'Brien (20:18):
Oh my gosh, I've gotten so many.
Either it's just like theydon't answer me or they say, you
know, we don't really havespace for that, or whatever.
And it's one of those thingswhere you just take it on the
chin, take it with a grain ofsalt and you're like okay, got
it, move on to the next one.
Let me go send another coldemail and figure it out.
And sometimes it's even I wouldemail about an event and I
(20:44):
always, like I said, I wouldalways pitch myself as a
vocalist.
You know, if you need anational anthem singer, here I
am.
If you need a performer, here Iam.
And sometimes it was even justa simple hey, we don't actually
need any entertainment, but we'dstill love to have you at the
event.
Totally fine, I would just belike you know what?
That's cool, I will be thereand I will be there with a smile
(21:06):
and make it a great event andconnect with as many people as I
possibly could.
So to always try to find kindof the positive that came out of
it.
Raeanna Johnson (21:14):
Yeah, I love that.
What?
What was it like handlingsponsors or bringing on donors
or maintaining donorrelationships?
Yeah, yeah.
Bridget O'Brien (21:25):
So I think the first thing is always my family
has always taught me thathandwritten cards go a very,
very long way, and so that's onething that we prioritize during
the Miss Maryland competitionand able to foster those
relationships and make sure thatthey continue year after year
(21:53):
for every single girl whocompetes.
And then also, as well,bringing on new sponsors.
I was able to bring on F45 as asponsor.
I just was at an F45 classbefore I happened on this call
and it was something that I hadstarted going to workout classes
with my friends and realizedthat I loved it and I'd love to
(22:15):
bring them on.
You know, via that, you knowMiss America Fit initiative that
we have and being able to goand utilize that space and
becoming friends with the peoplewho work there, who manage the
business, being a friendly face,giving 110% at every single
class, I was able to pitchmyself and the Miss Maryland
(22:36):
organization to them and theywere able to sponsor me for my
entire year with workouts.
And so I'm going to be very,very sad when that is over, when
I am no longer Miss Maryland,but I will be continuing to go
because I believe in the missionand the brand and that's
something that's reallyimportant.
And then in the donor aspect soactually at the Miss America
competition I was recognized andawarded for my fundraising and
(23:00):
leadership efforts through theAmerican Heart Association and I
was able to raise over $6,000to the American Heart
Association and was awardedtheir Go Red for Women
Leadership Regional Award.
And I was able to raise thatmuch money because I went out to
those local businesses.
(23:21):
I hosted different restaurantnights, I hosted a dance class
at a local dance studio, I wentout to different business owners
that I knew in my neighborhoodand told them who I was, what I
was raising money for and thatthis was a tax-deductible
donation that they would be ableto give.
And once I was able to connectwith those people and make those
(23:43):
personal connections, that'swhen people started donating
large sums.
That's when people starteddonating large sums and then
even just asking friends andfamily.
I was able to garner thosedonations as well.
And then I always followed upwith either a thank you note, a
handwritten thank you note, anautograph card or an email to
those people as well.
(24:03):
So it's always, you know,pitching yourself but then
thanking those people for whatthey do so that they can feel
you can feel valued andappreciated because they are,
and that will help them comeback year after year.
Raeanna Johnson (24:15):
You sound so confident and self-assured when
you're talking about some ofthese steps that you took to
book appearances, to fundraisefor American Heart Association,
to bring on sponsors.
But sometimes that is the mostanxiety-inducing piece of the
job.
Do you ever struggle with thatanxiety?
Bridget O'Brien (24:38):
Oh yeah, Okay, 100%.
At the beginning, when I was afreshly crowned Miss Maryland, I
would always get so, so nervousto hit send on an email,
because what if they say no tome?
You know, and it was kind ofgoing back to what we said of
like, how do you handle thoseno's?
And I think it's afterrealizing, okay, it's not the
end of the world If someone saysno to you, and kind of figuring
(25:00):
out how to navigate that.
That's when I found thisconfidence of like all right,
I'm just going to send the emailbecause the worst thing that
someone can do is say no, right,and then it's like no skin off
my back.
And usually if they say yes,then it's a win-win for
everybody in those situations.
And so, yes, the anxiety isthere and it was very, very
(25:21):
prevalent at the very beginning.
Then, after you know, you getinto the groove of it.
You're like what I said before,I know me better than anybody
else, so if they say no, it'stheir loss.
You know, one of those kind ofthat kind of mindset that I've
given myself this year.
Raeanna Johnson (25:36):
Yeah, I think it's just like with anything
that you're afraid of or nervousabout.
You know they say practicemakes perfect, but I think it's
more so that with practice andwith action comes comfort, comes
ease.
Practice and with action comescomfort, comes ease, comes like
this.
I don't know this lightness toit that you know every time that
you hit send and the worlddidn't end you grew a little bit
(26:03):
more comfortable in doing it.
Bridget O'Brien (26:04):
Yeah, and I've seen it even translate to my
personal life as well Applyingfor jobs, looking for those next
steps, post Miss Maryland, andI've received a lot of
rejections and a lot of no's anda lot of just never got a reply
, never even got an interview,and in my mind I'm like gosh.
I mean, I know I can do thesejobs because I'm doing literally
(26:26):
everything right now, but it'stheir loss that they didn't want
to take a chance on me, and sothat when that clicks and
someone you know goes out oftheir way and it's like, yeah,
like let's give her an interview.
I know that I'm able to, youknow, show up and show them who
I am and what I bring to thetable.
Raeanna Johnson (26:48):
Yeah, no doesn't necessarily mean never
it sometimes just means not now,not right now.
Yeah, yeah, oh, good stuff.
Really, this is one of the mostanxiety-inducing things.
Is the fundraising, is theasking for sponsors, is the
putting yourself out there,because rejection is hard, it's
(27:10):
so hard and it's so scary, butit's not the end of the world.
What were some of your mostmeaningful projects?
I mean, you mentioned in thebeginning that, like all the
things that you set out to dothis year as Miss Maryland, you
felt like you have accomplishedand you feel really satisfied
with everything that you put in.
So what were some of the mostmeaningful projects or
(27:31):
appearances, or even thepartnerships that you developed
throughout the year?
Bridget O'Brien (27:35):
So I think, first and foremost, the most
meaningful thing that I've donethis year is my school tour with
my Boomerang workshop.
I've been able to speak withover 4,000 students ranging in
age from 7 to 24.
And being able to see mymessage implemented across grade
(27:56):
level, across age level, hasbeen so special.
And what Boomerang is all aboutis realizing that failure isn't
final.
That, like you said, no doesn'tmean never.
It just might mean not rightnow, and so you have to learn
from those experiences and growfrom that and figure out how you
(28:17):
can utilize those as a catalystfor success.
And so I always talk about itlike it's a road trip.
Our lives are like a road trip,and when there's a road closure
or a roadblock, our GPS isnever gonna tell us to turn
around and go home.
They're gonna give us a newroute to get there, and so
that's really what ourexperiences and our lives are
(28:39):
all about.
When you face a failure or youface a setback, that's not
something telling you to turnaround, quit, go home, stop.
It's just saying, hey, you needto find a detour, you need to
learn from this and you need tofind a way around it, and that's
what I've done with my entirelife, both competing with the
Miss America opportunity andthen also through my personal
(28:59):
life as well, and I get to sharethose stories with students and
being able to see it kind ofclick with them and their
mindset change whether that be afirst grader or a senior in
high school or even a collegestudent has been so, so special
to me and I've had a lot ofreally great interactions with
(29:20):
students that have will holdspecial, a special place in my
heart forever.
So that's the first thing thathas been super special to me.
And then I think another morefun thing was that I wanted to
travel across the state and Iwanted to go in those little
nooks and crannies of Marylandthat you know, you might not
really even know exist.
(29:40):
And I've been able to travelover 30,000 miles across the
state, all the way from the mostnorthern western point in
Garrett County to the mostsouthern eastern point in
Crisfield, maryland, and beingable to connect with those
different people and then goback there and see familiar
faces and then recognize me andlook at me as a friend.
(30:01):
I went to Crisfield, maryland,which is on the eastern shore.
It's the most southern easternshore in the most southern
county in Maryland and I wasable to go there about a month
after I was crowned MissMaryland and stayed there for a
week, did a ton of differentreally cool appearances.
And then I got to go back inChristmas time and I was in a
(30:23):
parade and there were so manypeople lining the streets who
knew who I was because of backin the summer when I visited,
and they just saw me as a friend.
So I got to go to a localrestaurant after and hang out
with some of the people that Ihad met and those little moments
were so, so special to mebecause I wanted to make the
most of my year as Miss Marilynand touch as many people's lives
(30:45):
as I could.
Raeanna Johnson (30:46):
You, oh man, you're so brilliant at, I wanna
say, storytelling.
It's not, it's you just likesharing your experiences that
you had.
But you're so brilliant at it.
And I say that because, like,you're just sparking like all of
these like visions in my head,my memories of like when I was
traveling and the experiencesthat I had on, like my school
(31:07):
tour and all that like and howspecial that was.
And the experiences that I hadon, like my school tour and all
that like and how special thatwas.
In the way that you talk,you're just so genuinely
passionate about it.
Did you have bad days where youstruggled to be as present as
on, as passionate as you areright now, in this moment with
me?
Bridget O'Brien (31:26):
Yes, a%, like there were definitely really
hard days where I felt like theworld was crumbling and around
me and I didn't know what to do.
And, honestly, the things thatgot me through those were A my
support system, my family, mymom, my dad, my twin sister and
(31:47):
my friends and be the fact thatI knew that I could change
someone's life with aninteraction.
And if I would let those baddays get to me then I wouldn't
have the opportunity to do that.
And so there were days where Iknew I had to go to an
appearance but I wasn't reallyfeeling it and I knew that if I
(32:11):
didn't give 110% then maybe Iwouldn't be inspiring somebody
as much as I could have.
And so I always not that I likebrushed it off or I put it to
the side, I let myself feelthose feelings.
But when I got to thatappearance I knew, you know, I
could touch someone's life thatday and I kind of let all of
those things go away andmajority of the times I would
(32:32):
come out of those appearancesfeeling so fulfilled, feeling so
joyful.
I went to the Ronald McDonaldhouse here in Bolts for and I
did a craft hour with them andwe made our own crowns.
And I remember, earlier in theday I was, I was feeling a
little bit, you know, down onmyself.
Comparison is the thief of joy,but that doesn't mean that we
don't feel it all the time.
(32:52):
You know, we tell ourselves,you know we can't compare
ourselves to each other orwhatever.
And so, you know, leading up toMiss America, I'm sure you felt
this way.
It's a constant like, oh mygosh, like she's prettier than
me, or what if I'm not doing asmuch as her, or she has this and
that and I don't.
And so sometimes, like I'd wakeup in the morning and be like,
(33:14):
oh, like I'm never, like it'snever going to be it for me,
like I'm not, I'm not, I'm notgood enough.
And so it was just one of thosedays and I was like, okay, like
I have this appearance at theRonald McDonald house, me and my
mom.
We got in the car, we went tothe appearance and, oh my gosh,
we left that appearance likecrying tears of joy because we
had so much fun.
(33:34):
And that was something else.
That was really special is Igot to share these experiences
with my mom, who's been therewith me since day one, and so
she's kind of felt all thefeelings that I've felt, and so
I walked into that appearanceand I knew, okay, I'm going to
let everything go and I'm justgoing to be present in the
moment and, oh my goodness, itwas one of the best days of my
life.
So, yes, I definitely feltthose times where I, like, was
(33:58):
having a bad day and it justwasn't going my way, but a lot
of the times I'd come out ofthose things feeling better than
I went into them.
Raeanna Johnson (34:06):
Sometimes, distraction can be the best
medicine.
Bridget O'Brien (34:13):
And also it those doubts from myself, you
know, not feeling pretty enoughor good enough or doing whatever
.
You'd go to those appearancesand you'll have kids and they
are like you are the best thingsince sliced bread, like you are
a real princess to them.
And in those moments you'relike wow, like why am I
(34:36):
comparing myself to somebodyelse when I am just being myself
?
And these little girls theywant to, they want to be like me
when they grow up.
Like wow, and that just reallyputs it into perspective and
that just really puts it intoperspective.
Raeanna Johnson (34:53):
Yeah, it really does.
Appearances like that can besome of the most fulfilling and
refueling when you're in those,yeah, and those moments where
you just feel so depleted andbroken, like it's appearances
like that that actually fuel youand I think, like, isn't that
like some of the addiction ofpageantry and being a title
holder?
Bridget O'Brien (35:11):
Yeah, you're 100% correct.
It's like how many times areyou going to go out in public or
whatever, and someone's goingto just come up to you and be
like, oh my gosh, you are sobeautiful.
Or oh my gosh, miss Marilyn,like you are so cool, like I
think about it all the time,like I'm walking on the street
(35:31):
by myself and like I don't havethe crown and sash on and
everyone's just kind of goingabout their day.
But like you put the crown onand then everyone's like, oh my
goodness, like you're awesomeand wow, I just feel so good
about myself.
Raeanna Johnson (35:45):
It's powerful and that's I mean, that's that's
what you want other people toexperience too, right Like.
That's why we want everyone toto join the Miss America
opportunity, to do a pageant, tolike to put themselves out
there so that they can feel thattoo.
We just want to like spread thejoy because it can be so
wonderful.
And then there's haters.
Let's flip to the other side ofthings.
(36:06):
Did you ever experience anyhate throughout your year?
Bridget O'Brien (36:10):
I did.
I did so.
I was very, it was veryinteresting because when I was
crowned Miss Maryland, it was, Iwant to say, maybe a week or
two weeks after the MissMaryland USA competition, and
the woman who won Miss MarylandUSA this year was the first ever
transgender women to win thetitle of Miss Maryland USA.
(36:33):
And you know, people onlinedon't?
They don't know there's adifference between Miss America
and Miss USA, and so she wasreceiving a lot of backlash and
my heart, my heart, was breakingfor her because I was watching
that on social media before theMiss Maryland competition and it
(36:53):
just it broke my heart becauseobviously this woman worked so
hard to get there and then to befeeling all of those emotions
and that hate was very, verydevastating and heartbreaking
for me.
And then I won Miss Marylandand that hate translated onto my
(37:13):
social media because peopledidn't know who I was and they
didn't know the difference andthey were just ignorant to that
and they're already beinghorrible people for hating on
someone and then they're justkind of like spreading that hate
to whoever kind of pops up ontheir feed, which was crazy to
me.
And so I had to kind ofnavigate that and I was like
(37:38):
asked about it on a radiointerview about like all the
controversy, and I just kind ofwas like well, that's kind of
not, yeah, like we don't.
We don't hate here, obviously,like there's no butting heads
between organizations, like atleast not for me.
Like I'm kind of likeeveryone's yes, miss Maryland,
(38:00):
sister, okay.
But yeah, like I just thoughtit was very interesting that
people just kind of felt likethey could say whatever they
wanted, and that's clearlypeople love to hide behind their
screens, um.
And then on the flip side ofthat um, after I won, I I felt
some hate from like within notwithin myself, but like within
(38:28):
the group of people that Icompeted with.
Um, there were some people thatdid not obviously want me to be
the next Miss Maryland, andthat was really sad, because I
am one of those people who'slike happy for everyone.
I've watched so many girls getcrowned Miss Maryland before I
(38:48):
did and I always knew and I saythis every time I go to a school
appearance or anywhere I'm likesuccess is found when you
celebrate others, because oneday you're going to be the one
that wants to be celebrated andso you need to celebrate others
in order to receive that back.
Treat others the way you wantto be treated.
So it was really dishearteningto see these girls that I stood
(39:09):
on stage with.
I mean, it wasn't everybody.
I don't want to like generalizethat, you know there's always
just like maybe one or twopeople who just weren't very
happy and that was really sad tosee.
But I knew it gave memotivation to prove them wrong
that they were saying you know Iwasn't going to be a good Miss
Marilyn, while I was going toprove to them that I was.
And in that respect, you know,I'm feeling fulfilled that I was
(39:32):
able to please myself and makesure that I fulfilled my goals.
But also I feel like I was ableto prove the haters wrong with
that one too, I love that,because what I love most about
what you just said was Ifulfilled my goals.
Raeanna Johnson (39:49):
Like number one priority, it should never be
about proving someone else wrong.
Uh, I think that that can bereally powerful motivation, but
I don't think it's thehealthiest, I don't think it's
the most powerful.
The most powerful motivationtruly comes from your own.
Why, yeah, how did?
(40:11):
Okay, well, let's talk aboutnationals.
I want to talk about MissAmerica.
Yeah, what was your prep likefor Miss America versus for Miss
Maryland?
Bridget O'Brien (40:21):
It was definitely a lot more intense
because, right, you have alittle bit more of a condensed
period of time to figure it outand, honestly, though, the main
thing that I wanted to do wasthe job, and so I packed my
schedule with things speaking,engagement, school appearances,
(40:41):
performances, emceeing events,just like anything to prepare
myself for what it would be likeif I were to be crowned the
next Miss America, and alsoprepare myself if I wasn't to be
crowned the next Miss America,because it doesn't serve you to
sit in a little hole of justprepping for Miss America,
(41:03):
practicing your walks,practicing your interview,
practicing your talent and notgetting out in your community
and being your state titleholder, being a state title
holder and doing your job as thestate title holder.
I feel like that was the mostpreparation that I could do,
because I was talking todifferent people all the time.
(41:24):
Like I just said, like I gotthat kind of weird question in a
radio interview and, gosh, Ihad to figure out how to answer
it because I was on live radio.
So I knew that if I got aquestion in the Miss America
interview that I wasn't preparedfor or was kind of out of left
field, well, I knew I could doit because I've already done it.
So all of those thingspreparing for everything by
(41:47):
doing it actually in real lifewas the most helpful thing for
me.
Raeanna Johnson (41:53):
What were some of the biggest lessons that you
learned, or maybe even likeunexpected challenges that you
had competing at Miss America?
Bridget O'Brien (42:03):
The first one, through actually competing at
Miss America, is that theexperience is so much more than
what you do on stage.
Yes, I gosh, I walked off stageat Miss America and I felt like
a million bucks and that's howyou should feel, right, you're
at Miss America, so you shouldwalk off stage and feel so proud
(42:25):
of yourself.
And but it's the moments thathappen kind of behind the scenes
.
Those are kind of the ones thatcreate the most memorable
things and that's through thefriendships that you make.
If you go to Miss America andyour only goal is like tunnel
vision, crown, evening gownaward, preliminary talent award,
(42:47):
stage competition, stagecompetition, stage competition
you are missing the experience.
That is sitting right in frontof you on a silver platter and I
made so many great memories.
I made so many great friendsthat will be my friends for the
rest of my life.
That's the real prize for me isthat I left a having had a
(43:08):
great experience, like beingproud of myself and what I put
on the stage, but be having camehome with friends and memories
that I will literally be friendswith for the rest of my life.
So that's like the first thingthat I tell everybody is like
you can't have that tunnelvision of just the competition,
because you're going to miss thereally really cool once in a
(43:30):
lifetime experience that youhave really cool, once in a
lifetime experience that youhave.
What was the emotional build-upto miss america?
Like, oh my gosh, crazy.
I feel like as somebody whogrew up watching miss america,
um, wanting to be on that stage.
It's a lot of like amped upenergy, like I'm so excited to
(43:52):
be here but oh my gosh, I'm sonervous because like this is it
as somebody who competed for sixyears in the state competition
and then it's like you got onechance at Miss America.
There's no re-competing there.
That's a little bit scary,actually, it's really scary.
And so it's feeling all of thefeeling at once.
(44:14):
But then it's so important haveyour people there, bring you
back down to earth, be like, hey, girl, you know, it's okay if
you don't win, it's okay if youdon't make top 10.
We are so proud of you, you'redoing such a great job.
And then also having thosefriends that you make there
standing backstage with you,being like, girl, you just
killed that and who cares whathappens at the end of the day,
(44:36):
like you're on the Miss Americastage and I always say like I'm
friends with Miss America.
I think that that's pretty coolin and of itself.
So all of those amped upemotions.
But then having those peoplearound you to, kind of like,
bring you back down to earth isso important.
Raeanna Johnson (44:53):
Ground you and to anchor you.
Bring you back down to earth isso important.
Ground you and to anchor you.
Bridget O'Brien (45:01):
What was the aftermath like for you?
What was the letdown after?
Nationals like, yeah, soobviously like I worked my butt
off to go to Miss America and todo my best and hopefully make
the finals and win, andobviously that's not the outcome
that happened for me.
But at the end of the day Irealized that if it was
different judges on a differentday or whatever that might be,
(45:26):
you know, it could have been adifferent outcome.
And going back to somethingthat we said earlier, it's like
I was proud of myself.
Going back to something that wesaid earlier, I was proud of
myself.
I got off stage from performingmy talent and I sat in the
dressing room and I just sobbedbecause I was so proud of myself
.
A little backstory to my talentI performed Don't Rain on my
(45:47):
Parade as my talent vocalselection and I've been in
musical theater my whole life.
When I went to the Universityof Alabama, I wanted to pursue
that as my career and my majorand I auditioned for the program
at the University of Alabamawith the song Don't Rain on my
Parade and I got rejected and Ididn't get in.
(46:09):
And I and I re auditioned theyear after and I didn't get in
again and I was told that myvoice was too raspy and I wasn't
good enough and that there werejust people that were better
than me.
And that crushed me Because itwas something that I love to do.
And so when I went to MissAmerica, I knew I wanted to take
(46:31):
the power back from thatfailure and that rejection and I
sang Don't Rain on my Paradeand I also sang that at my state
competition as well and I justI walked off stage from singing
and I had never done it, that.
I'd never done it like thatbefore.
I'd never had the feeling ofwalking off stage and being like
, oh my gosh.
I nailed that I felt so proudof myself and I just sat in the
(46:55):
dressing room and I just criedbecause I was so proud of myself
and so feeling that sense ofpride and accomplishment within
myself helped me in the face ofdefeat and rejection.
When it came to that finalnight of competition and I
didn't hear my name called intothe top 10 and then coming home
(47:18):
and kind of sitting with like ohgosh, now I'm not preparing for
anything anymore, I'm justbeing Miss Maryland.
But I knew that I was.
I was proud of what I put onthe stage, and so I was able to,
you know, give a full effort tothe job now.
Raeanna Johnson (47:35):
Yeah, it's really nice to come back without
any real regrets.
Bridget O'Brien (47:41):
Right, like I didn't regret anything that I
did or anything that I well,during competition I was just
like all right, like it wasn'tmy day and that's okay.
God had a different plan for me.
Raeanna Johnson (47:56):
Yeah, there's cause I came back with regrets
and I had like a huge letdownand there's like powerlessness
in that.
And it's such a yucky feelingand it takes away then from the
experience of what you haveright in front of you.
So yeah, that I'd love thatperspective of taking in
everything, going in without thetunnel vision and just kind of
(48:16):
taking everything in stride.
Bridget O'Brien (48:21):
Right, and I'm not saying that I didn't come
home disappointed.
I went back to the hotel thatmy parents and my family were
staying at the night of finalsand I literally cried all night
Like I was.
It was obviously a feeling ofpent up emotions and like lack
(48:41):
of sleep and just like being inthe competition atmosphere for
an entire week, with the factthat the dream that I had
dreamed my entire life was overand now I have to find a new
dream, right?
So you're mourning the loss ofthat dream and I was
disappointed because obviously Iwas so proud of myself and I
was like I couldn't have doneanything better.
(49:01):
What do you mean?
I wasn't good enough.
So, like, it's totally okay totake that time and be upset and
mourn that loss of you know,that dream, but always look
forward.
Don't spend all of the timelooking at what could have been.
Like, oh gosh, what if I?
What if I would have won?
Or what if I would have madethe top 10?
(49:22):
Like, if I spent my wholeentire life thinking about that,
gosh, I wouldn't have done halfthe things that I've done in
the last six months of beingMiss Marilyn.
So how?
Raeanna Johnson (49:31):
how did this entire experience doing the job
going to Miss America, thegrowth that you've experienced,
how have you been stretchedemotionally, mentally and
spiritually this year?
Bridget O'Brien (49:46):
Very candidly, I feel like I've been stretched
very thin because it's a lotright, you're in this
once-in-a-lifetime job for oneyear and you want to give it
your all, and so for me, I'mlike gosh, I need to do
everything and I wanted to dothat and I've loved doing that.
But there are days where I'mlike I am so tired I need to
(50:08):
sleep for multiple hours, likefor all day, or days where I
just cry because it's just Ihaven't slept or I am tired and
have so much to do.
I went to the beach overMemorial Day weekend with six of
(50:28):
the other girls who compete atMiss America with me so six
other state title holders and Igot into the car after a really
long day of traveling back homein Maryland and I sobbed all the
way home because I was justlike I can't believe this
experience is kind of coming toan end and I'm like on the home
(50:51):
stretch and I've done so muchand I'm so proud of that and
there's just been so much goingon.
So some days it feels like Iknow everything and some days it
feels like I know nothing atall, and some days I feel like
I'm giving 110% and some days Ifeel like I can give more and I
don't regret anything that I'vedone, though I am like so proud
(51:12):
of everything and I would do itagain.
That's the thing is like nomatter what, like I would do it
all over to have had thisexperience.
So in my mind, I'm like it'sonly a year so I can do it and
I'm going.
Raeanna Johnson (51:29):
Yeah, but now it is coming to an end, right?
What are you feeling?
Bridget O'Brien (51:33):
Right, and I feel like so many people ask me,
like they'll come up to me.
Either it was at orientation orat an event.
Well, how do you feel?
How do you feel?
I don't even know how I feel.
It's definitely bittersweetbecause it's like I have done so
much and like I am, you know,tired and ready to you know, be
(51:56):
Bridget, but I'm also notbecause it's again something
that I've wanted for so long.
And going back to somethingthat we said at the beginning is
like when every local titleholder, like you need to want
this job so bad, you need towant to be your state title so,
so bad and give it your 110%effort so that by the end of the
(52:18):
year, you're like gosh, I wantto hold on forever.
But also like I've literallydone so much, like my, like I
don't know if I can take muchmore.
Do you know what I mean?
It's like one of those likeit's kind of like a hard
dichotomy between the two,because I've wanted it so bad
for so long and I've done thejob and I've had a blast doing
(52:41):
it.
But I'm also like I'm ready tosee what the next phase of my
life looks like and I'm soexcited for that too.
Raeanna Johnson (52:48):
Do you know what the next phase of your life
looks like?
And this is the dreadedquestion.
I feel like everyone gets thiswhen you're getting to the end.
Everyone's asking you what'snext, what's next, what's next,
and it's like ugh, like enough.
Do you, do you know?
Bridget O'Brien (53:00):
Yeah.
So, um, right after MissAmerica, I started applying to
different jobs because I waslike, all right, might as well
just get a kickstart on this now.
Um, nothing was really clickingfor me.
I'm going to school for sportsmanagement, so I'm finishing up
my master's.
I should be on track tograduate by next May, which is
(53:20):
really exciting for me, so atleast I know that I'll be
getting my master's degree.
I'll be getting my graduatedegree, um, either by next May
or by the fall.
And I, so I was applying for allthese jobs and nothing was
really clicking.
I'd get interviews here andthere, but nothing was really,
you know, working for me.
And I was kind of feeling alittle bit lost because and I'm
(53:40):
sure you can relate to this asthe state title holder you gain
so many skills Like you're, likeI can literally do any job,
because I am basically doingevery single job all at once.
I'm being a public figure, I ambooking appearances, I'm being
a salesperson, a marketingperson, pr, social media,
content creator.
Like I literally feel like Iwear a thousand hats and I feel
(54:04):
like that makes me so uniquelyqualified for literally every
single position I've applied for.
But it's like people don't getthat, and then they don't give
you an interview that gives youthe opportunity to share, like
hey, listen, I've been aroundthe block this year, like I know
what it's like, so that was alittle bit frustrating.
But then it only takes oneperson to take a chance on you.
(54:29):
And so I had someone reach outto me about a position that
opened up at a public affairsfirm in DC, on Capitol Hill, and
they were like hey, like I'mgoing to send your, your resume
to this company.
In my mind I'm like OK, whatever, like nothing's going to come
of it, because nothing's come ofanything else.
Recently, and I hop on thisinterview with some executives
(54:54):
from this company and they werejust so excited to meet me, they
were so excited to hear aboutmy experience as Miss Maryland
and they were so excited to kindof figure out how my experience
and my skill set lends to thejob and to the company that I
would be working for if I wereto get the position.
And so I'm so excited now thatI finally have an answer for the
(55:16):
people who say what are youdoing next?
I'll be working on Capitol Hillwith a public affairs firm as
an associate to the seniorexecutives for the company.
So I'm really excited to kindof dive into that part of my
life while still pursuing mymaster's degree and seeing where
everything leads.
So super excited about that.
Raeanna Johnson (55:36):
Congratulations .
That is really exciting and ithelps with some of the angst of
what's next.
I mean, that was the thing islike I need.
Bridget O'Brien (55:49):
I was like I need.
I need something, cause I'm Iwould.
I would be sad, I'd bedepressed, I'd be in my bed, not
wanting to get out.
Raeanna Johnson (55:57):
Yes, yeah, it's very, very scary, but also
you'd be okay.
You'd be okay if you didn'thave something lined up because
all in good time and yeah, but Iremember that that was, that
was a really scary transition,because I also won right after I
graduated from my undergrad, soI hadn't been in the
professional world yet to buildup my resume in that way.
(56:18):
And you're totally right.
Like, how do I, how do Iarticulate all the things that
I've done in a year and how do Itranslate that into what
they're looking for in this jobposition?
It's, it's tricky, but it'sjust another one of those
opportunities to kind of buildyour confidence in a space where
you're uncertain and uncertainand have never been before.
(56:38):
Yeah for sure, all right.
So, as we're wrapping up ourconversation, what advice would
you give to the next MissMaryland, or to anybody that's
listening, that is vying fortheir state title and are really
serious about taking this onand doing the best job they can
do for a whole year?
Bridget O'Brien (56:58):
So the first thing is what I've been saying
about you know wanting to do thejob and like wanting to be your
state title holder so bad,because then that gives you the
passion, the drive to go and dolike everything that you want to
, to go and do like everythingthat you want to and promote the
(57:19):
organization and keep yourstate title and your state
organization relevant and in theface of different people, which
I think is really important.
The second thing is to enjoythe sisterhood and that's
something that I've found andheld so deeply with me this year
from competing at Miss Americaand making those friends and
(57:41):
it's so cliche because peoplesay it all the time, but it's
literally so true Like I havemade friends with girls who will
be in my wedding, who I willtalk to every single day for the
rest of my life, and it's justcrazy how life works because you
never know who you're going tomeet or who your best friend
(58:07):
might be standing right next toyou in the lineup at Miss
America and if you don't turnand talk to her, you'll never
know that.
And I literally experiencedthat where my roommate Kirsten
she's Miss Massachusetts, wehave become so, so close.
Miss New York, abby Quammen.
We literally went to collegetogether, had a class together.
She was two years older than me.
(58:28):
We never talked, we weren'tfriends.
It wasn't because we didn'tlike each other, we just didn't
know each other.
We get to Miss America.
I text this girl every singleday.
She knows everything that I'mdoing, at every single hour of
the day.
She will be in my wedding as abridesmaid.
Like, literally, she is my bestfriend.
Lauren Frost, miss Oklahoma.
(58:49):
Janae, miss Michigan.
Annette, miss Texas.
Like we literally text everysingle day, I'm going to Miss
Oklahoma this weekend.
So it's like one of thosethings where it's like, even at
the local level, I have girlswho I will be friends with for
the rest of my.
My all-time best friend was MissMaryland's teen in 2018.
I was her second runner-up.
She has now.
(59:12):
I was in her wedding as abridesmaid.
We were in the same sorority incollege.
She, her and her now husbandintroduced me to my now
boyfriend.
Like, literally, our familiesare best friends.
And like you would never.
If you don't just take thatmoment, if you're not blinders
into the competition the wholetime and you make those friends
(59:35):
like, wow, your life will willchange, which is so special.
Um.
And then the last thing is forthose girls who know they want
this job, who know that theywould be the best x state title
holder.
If that is not what the outcomeis this year, that does not
(59:57):
mean that it will never be theoutcome.
I stood on that stage at MissMaryland and watched five other
girls win the crown that Iwanted so bad and I celebrated
them and I was so joyful forthem and so excited for their
year because I knew that if oneday I was lucky enough to be in
(01:00:20):
their shoes, I want the girlsbehind me to be clapping and be
cheerful and be joyful for metoo.
And above anything else, you canlearn so much from the
experience, and it was honestlybecause I lost and I failed or
didn't achieve that goal thoseyears.
That's why I was the MissMaryland that I was or that I am
(01:00:44):
.
That's why I feel like that Itruly was able to win the title,
because I knew what I was goingto bring to the table and how I
was going to spread my message.
And it's literally my wholebrand of bouncing back from that
failure to your catalyst andusing it as a catalyst for
(01:01:04):
success, because that thing thatyou didn't get could be the
best thing that you never had,and you just don't realize it
until you take a moment toreflect and learn from that
experience and become betterfrom it.
So all of those things, I knowI kind of just word vomited, but
it's so, so important toremember.
Raeanna Johnson (01:01:23):
Oh, my gosh, bridget, thank you.
Thank you for your time, Thankyou for your heart, thank you
for your stories and for pouring, like your passion into this
conversation.
Um, I really appreciate you andI'm excited to see where you go
next in your career.
And, um, you've definitely lefta legacy for for future Miss
(01:01:44):
Maryland to look up to and tofind inspiration from.
So, congratulations to you on areally incredible year, on a
dream come true, andcongratulations on all the
awesome stuff that you are goingto do in the future, cause it's
kind of inevitable, you know.
Thank you so much.
That means a lot.
(01:02:04):
You're welcome.
All right, thanks again forjoining you.
Guys.
I will be back again soon withanother episode of Sash and Soul
in our Crowned and Candidseries, as we're kind of
wrapping up this series here aswe come to kind of the middle to
end of the state season, andthen we'll kind of be back to
regularly scheduled programmingas well.
So stick around, reach out Ifyou have any requests for who
(01:02:29):
you want to hear from or topicsthat you'd love to hear
discussed on Sash and Soul.
And until we talk again, bewell, take care of yourselves
and we'll see you soon.
Bye.
Hey you guys, welcome back to Sash and Soul.
It is a beautiful day in earlyJune.
I know that competition seasonis well underway.
It's been really fun seeing allof the newly crowned title
holders throughout the countryin Miss USA and Miss America and
other pageant systems as well,so just a really super exciting
(00:24):
time.
For those of you that arelistening and maybe new to this
show, welcome Thanks for beinghere.
Sash and Soul is a podcast thatreally came out of the
Fearlessly Authentic CoachingProgram, which is my coaching
program.
That focuses on mindset,community service, communication
, leadership skills all of theessential things that you need
(00:46):
to succeed in pageantry, incompetition, in the job of the
title holder.
So those are the things that wefocus on and really leaning
into being your true, authenticself, which is really that
buzzword that we keep hearingabout.
It's just like just be yourself.
So if you're in a space rightnow where you are really in the
thick of prepping, you're almostthere.
(01:06):
You're getting ready to go toyour state competition and
you're kind of looking for justa little bump in your mindset to
get over some comparison, toget over some self-doubt, some
fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown, worrying
about what other people mightthink of you or if you're good
enough for this job.
Fearlessly Authentic isabsolutely the place for you, so
schedule a consultation with methe link is in the show notes,
(01:29):
show description or reach out tome on social media.
I would be happy to connect anddo just a quick intro
conversation with you and see ifit'd be a good fit for you and
how I can help you reach yourdreams and feel your best while
we're at it.
So that's my little plug forFearlessly Authentic.
But we need to dive in becausewe have another awesome episode
in the Crown and Candid series.
This series is something that Iput together for all of you so
(01:51):
that you get an actual,realistic look at the job, of
what it looks like to be a statetitle holder, and today's guest
is so awesome in likeencompassing that whole message.
Today we have Miss Maryland2024, bridget O'Brien.
We were talking before hittingrecord, as I usually do with my
guests, just said what's youroverall message?
What do you want everyone toreally take away?
(02:12):
And she said her whole brandand her CSI is about overcoming
failure, which is awesome.
Let's dive in, let's talk aboutthat, because I think that the
mindset behind this idea offailure can be really, really
paralyzing.
So it's going to be a reallygreat conversation to talk about
and so timely for all of you.
But she said overcoming failureso that you use those
(02:34):
experiences to propel youforward.
And we're going to talk about alot of that, of how she
overcome experiences ofperceived failure as being part
of the runner-up club and reallylearning from those experiences
.
And, more than anything, shesaid she wants any local title
holder that's going into statecompetition to know and embody
the idea that you need to wantto be the state title holder
(02:57):
more than you want to be thenational title holder, more than
you want to be Miss America,because that's the job and
pouring your heart and soul intothat is primary and that is how
you will succeed as the titleholder as well.
She says if that's really notyour priority, if you're just
using it as a stepping stone toget to the next level, you might
want to reconsider yourpriorities and whether or not
(03:19):
this space is the right placefor you to be.
So I'm excited to talk moreabout that and excited to
welcome and introduce Bridget.
Thank you so much for beinghere, hi.
Thanks for having me Absolutely.
Bridget O'Brien (03:31):
Would you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Yeah, so, like you said in yourwonderful intro of me, thank
you so much.
My name is Bridget O'Brien andI am Miss Maryland 2024.
I am a Marylander through andthrough, born and raised here in
Maryland, in Frederick County,and I have been involved with
the Miss America opportunitysince I was 16 years old.
(03:54):
I competed in the teen programfor two years and both years
placed second runner up and thenI immediately transitioned to
Miss my senior year of highschool and that was the weird
COVID year.
So I won a local title and thenobviously kept that my first
year of college and then finallycompeted in the state pageant
that summer, made top 10.
(04:16):
That year came back, made top10 again and then I got second
runner up again.
This was in 2023 before Ifinally took home the title of
Miss Maryland in 2024.
Aside from my involvement withthe Miss America opportunity, I
received my undergraduate degreesumma cum laude from the
University of Alabama, with adegree in communications focused
(04:41):
in news media and sportsjournalism, and I'm now pursuing
my master's degree from theUniversity of Alabama as well,
in sports management.
Roll Tide I bleed crimson, soI'm loving all of the big bound
girlies who are going down therein the fall from the Miss
America opportunity.
And yeah, I've just been havinga blast as Miss Maryland this
(05:05):
year and I can't wait to reallydive into my experience.
Raeanna Johnson (05:10):
I honestly, I can't wait to hear about it, so
let's dive in.
I want to know if you had afeeling that this was going to
be your year.
Bridget O'Brien (05:17):
So I feel like that's so interesting, because
sometimes I thought I had afeeling and then it didn't
obviously go my way.
So I really wanted to just havefun and I knew that if I had
fun and I did my best, then nomatter who came home with the
(05:39):
crown if it was me or if it wassomebody else I'd be proud of
myself.
I thought to myself, you know,if it was going to be a perfect
time, this probably would be it,because I was graduating from
my undergraduate degree from theUniversity of Alabama, moving
back home to Maryland where Iwould be stationary.
I knew that, you know, the nextchapter of my life was kind of
(06:03):
a little bit up in the air, andso if there was going to be a
perfect time, it would have beenthis year.
But other than that I just waslike you know what I'm going to
let go and let God and have the,have a blast and have a good
time, and that's exactly what Idid.
Raeanna Johnson (06:19):
How did you handle, or if you handled, any
experiences of like am I doingenough to prepare Cause?
When you have that like momentof I'm going to release this,
you know and just enjoy thisexperience, you still have that
kind of angst of like, oh mygosh, but what am I forgetting?
Did you experience that and howdid you handle it?
Bridget O'Brien (06:37):
Yeah, so I think, competing while being a
college student in another state.
Obviously I competed in theMiss Maryland program every
single summer when I came home,but the majority of the year I
was living down at school inAlabama, and so I'd I'd travel
back and forth and do my best.
I was very involved on socialmedia, making sure that I was
(06:58):
getting my platform and my CSImessage out there, doing as much
as I possibly could from school, Obviously, like I was.
The time when the week came ofMiss Maryland I was like this is
going to be fun.
I'm not going to put thepressure on myself because I
knew when I did that, that'swhen I kind of crumbled.
So I definitely did feel likegosh, am I doing everything I
(07:22):
can?
You know, being down here inschool, going back home, all the
things.
But I really trusted in thepreparation that I did,
practicing my talent and myinterview I'd like constantly
call my mom and dad they're likemy favorite people to do mock
interviews with and made surethat I was, you know, doing
everything to continue to beable to spread my message while
(07:45):
also balancing that life that Ihad down in Alabama, and so it
was kind of hard, but I thinkthat's one of the reasons that I
was able to come out with thecrown, because I was able to
already handle that kind ofwork-life balance and I knew I'd
be able to do that if I were towin the title of Miss Maryland
(08:06):
as well.
Raeanna Johnson (08:07):
Life prepares you for this job more than any
other targeted preparation thatyou do for the competition
itself.
Interview preparation is alwayshelpful, of course, polishing
your communication skills, butit's the things that you're
doing in life, outside ofpageants, that actually prepare
you to do the job, and I thinkthat's the essential part,
(08:28):
wouldn't you agree?
Bridget O'Brien (08:30):
Oh yeah, 100%.
I found that being overlyinvolved in college while also
doing all of this and keeping upmy grades has been very, very
instrumental, because I'vealready gotten those skills that
I needed to kind of amplifymyself as Miss Maryland.
Raeanna Johnson (08:48):
You win.
Miss Maryland, who were youthen?
And now, as we're reaching theend of the year, who are you now
?
How have you changed, gosh,that's such a good question.
Bridget O'Brien (08:59):
So obviously I won Miss Maryland.
Freshly graduated from college,kind of everything was up in
the air because I was like, well, I don't want to tie myself
down to a full-time job and haveto move somewhere.
And then what if I win MissMaryland?
What if I don't win MissMaryland?
And so there was a lot ofunknowns happening.
Obviously I was kind of justbeing thrown back into my home
(09:24):
life, moving back home, andobviously you don't know what
the job is like until you'rekind of in the thick of it and
you're doing it yourself.
So I was kind of naive to likeeverything that this job was
going to entail.
But now, a year later, I cantruly say that I've stayed
authentic to myself.
I made a promise to myself theday that I won that I was going
(09:48):
to do it 110%.
I was going to do everythingthat I possibly could to make
this year as Miss Maryland asfull as I possibly could.
I didn't want to waste anymoment.
I wanted to make every singleappearance that I could perform
at every single opportunity.
I wanted to make every singleappearance that I could perform
at every single opportunity andspread my community service
(10:08):
initiative above everything else, get in schools, talk to
students, make personalconnections with every single
event that I went to.
And now, a year later, I cansay that I fulfilled those
promises that I made to myself.
And so it's really great tolook back on the year and, as
(10:32):
bittersweet as it is, see that Ihave, you know, fulfilled those
things that I've set out formyself.
Raeanna Johnson (10:35):
You kind of mentioned like the learning
curve of like you have an ideaof what the job is and then you
get into it and you're like,wait, what?
So what did you think it wasgoing to look like versus what
it actually was?
Bridget O'Brien (10:46):
I think you know, obviously you compete in
your state competition everysingle year and so you kind of
know the vibe, because some ofus, like me, I go I went back
six years in a row, so I knewwhat to expect um, preparing for
that and competing, and thenyou become the state title
holder and it's like okay, soyou have to do this job, but
(11:07):
you're also preparing for, like,the competition Miss America,
and it's in that second yeartransition and we're all just
trying to figure it out as we goright.
So from you know, going to NewYork and designing my own
evening gown gosh I didn't evenknow what that was going to be
like because I never did thatbefore.
(11:27):
Or going down to Florida andgetting my headshots done by
Carlos Velez Another thing, likeI've I'd never done anything
like that before.
You know, I'd gotten myheadshots from, like, the local
sponsors here, but that was justlike wow, I felt like a movie
star, and so those kinds ofthings were like really
(11:47):
different from anything I'd everdone before, and obviously you
don't know until you know.
So that was one aspect.
And then I guess for the otherhalf of like actually doing the
job of Miss Maryland, every MissMaryland is different, right?
So I had this idea of what I'veseen Miss Maryland do in the
past six years, and they're notme.
And so when I got into the role, I had this idea of what I've
seen Miss Maryland do in thepast six years, and they're not
me.
And so when I got into the role, I had to decide okay, what
(12:10):
events do I want to do?
How do I want to reach out tothese different schools?
What do I want to do with myschool program?
Raeanna Johnson (12:17):
And obviously that's going to be different
from the people that came beforeyou Do you feel like your
preparation and like your planof what you ideally want to do
and how you'd want to do it wasdoable once you got into the job
, or did you have to kind ofpivot in any way?
Bridget O'Brien (12:34):
So I definitely would say it was doable.
But I did have to pivot becausewhen I got into the role, I
didn't have connections with allthe schools in the state of
Maryland or all of the eventsthat I wanted to do, and so I
had to figure out, you know, whodo I know here and there that
(12:54):
can connect me to somebody.
Or I literally wrote so manycold emails and did so many cold
calls this year because I hadto make those connections
somehow that I didn't alreadyhave them.
And so, yes, the goals that Iset were attainable, but I had
to figure out a way to make itwork, if that makes sense.
Raeanna Johnson (13:18):
Yeah, it totally makes sense, because you
don't really know what hurdlesyou're gonna have to jump over
and who else you're gonna haveto climb through until you're in
it.
Yeah, and I think that's a partof why you become a, not a
different, person.
I feel like that's a littledramatic, but like that's why
you grow so much.
It's because you are faced withall of these challenges that
(13:41):
you didn't expect to face orknow like.
You expect challenges but youdon't know what those challenges
are going to look like.
So how can you prepare?
And I just the the coachingcall that I was on right before
this.
One of the things we were kindof talking about was money
mindset and the fear of thefinancial strain that you might
have as a state title holder,and I was like you just can't
(14:03):
solve all the problems thatdon't exist yet.
Right, and so to some extent,you have to go in blind and you
have to go in with this blindfaith that you'll figure it out
and that you're resourceful.
Bridget O'Brien (14:14):
Yeah, I definitely.
I can completely relate to thatkind of like I don't know like
what all this is going to looklike for me and my family
financially.
And then we got in there andit's one of those things where
it's just like you have to kindof roll with the punches and
obviously, like we were able tofigure it out with help.
(14:37):
You know, everything takes help, and so even things from like
every single piece of wardrobethat I wore at Miss America
aside from my competitionwardrobe I got secondhand I
bought from literally TJ Maxx,marshalls, homegoods, like all
of the things that I was doing,like we budgeted, we did it on a
(14:59):
budget and it's I think that'ssomething people don't know or
see.
It's like oh well, I'm going tobe Miss X state.
I need to have a custom, everysingle outfit or the most
designer, this, that or theother.
Like no, truly, I borrowed halfof my clothes from people.
I got them hand-me-down.
Facebook Marketplace is my bestfriend.
(15:21):
I always get stuff off of there.
Bargain hunting is like myfamily's favorite thing.
My sister is like the queen ofit, and so that's the other
thing I always tell the girlshere in Maryland is like y'all
do not have to be walking theMet Gala runway.
You just have to, you know, beconfident in what you're wearing
(15:43):
, and that doesn't mean that ithas to be the most expensive
thing on the rack.
Raeanna Johnson (15:49):
Completely Absolutely.
So earlier you mentioned thatyou you know, you recognize that
you weren't the same MissMaryland as Miss Maryland's
before you.
You're a different person.
You've got different goals,different, different dreams.
So, as we're talking about kindof the business side, you had
mentioned trying to plan outwhat kind of appearances you
wanted to do what did that looklike for you?
(16:11):
What was the business side ofthings for you in Maryland?
Like how involved were you inthe professional aspects of
booking your appearances andsecuring those things?
Bridget O'Brien (16:20):
Right.
So I am doing it all.
I book my appearances, Ischedule with the people that
you know, run the event thatI'll be attending and I figure
out my travel and all of thatkind of things.
The administrative stuff, likemy Miss Maryland email, is like
(16:41):
my child.
I have, like a, crafted andcurated that over the past year,
my Google calendar, same thing,and so for me it was really
interesting because I was ableto.
You know, if I wanted to do anevent, I could do it.
I just had to find a way tomake it happen and I think that
made me so strong in who I amand making sure that I can sell
(17:05):
myself and I tell the girls likeyou know you better than
anybody else, you know why thisevent should have you there.
Be confident in that, beconfident in who you are and why
you should be there.
Just a few examples would bewhen I was first getting into
going to school.
So I have a school program withmy community service initiative
(17:27):
called Boomerang and it's aboutbouncing back and bouncing
forward from your failures toyour future success, and so I
had to market that to differentschools and you know, once you
get into one school and theylike what you have to say.
You know they're gonna tellother schools.
You know, hey, like I had MissMaryland in my classroom today
and she was awesome, and so onceI got my foot in the door there
(17:49):
, things just started rolling.
And then kind of a more funappearance that I did was I
performed at Olympic medalistAaron Brooks homecoming
celebration.
So Aaron Brooks is an Olympicbronze medalist wrestler from
Hagerstown, maryland, and that'sactually where we have the Miss
(18:09):
Maryland competition everysingle year.
And I saw a ad for it onFacebook and I thought to myself
, wow, I mean, that would besuch a cool experience to go
meet an Olympian and my talentis singing, so I would always
use my talent as kind of a wayto put my name in the ring.
And so I just reached out to thepeople who were organizing the
(18:29):
event and I offered to sing GodBless America before the mayor
gave him the key to the city andthey said of course, we'd love
to have you there.
I got to meet him and thenthrough that I was able to
secure different events in thatsame town because they loved
what I had, and I've seen thathappen so many times this year,
(18:50):
just by fostering therelationships from different
events.
Simple things like a thank younote, handwritten thank you note
, a follow-up email those thingsgo a super long way because if
they have another event andthey're like gosh, I need an MC
or I need a performer oh wait, Iremember Miss Marilyn.
She was awesome.
Let me just reach back out toher again.
(19:11):
So having those kind of littleconnections have been super,
super helpful for me this yearas well.
Raeanna Johnson (19:18):
It is amazing how much pageantry is selling
yourself, in a sense, a hundredpercent.
The things that you'redescribing right now is
everything to do with sales.
You know, like the networking,the follow-up, what you said
earlier about like, you knowbetter than anyone why you
(19:39):
should be at that event, why youwould be valuable for that
event.
That starts in the competition.
That's that's why we areincredible at interview, because
anytime you're interviewing fora job or anything else, you're
trying to sell yourself, you'retrying to sell your value, and
you do that all year as a titleholder too, in order to get the
most out of your year.
So I think that is such anincredible skill that we
(20:03):
underestimate about ourselves.
And I think having thatconfidence to go out there and
be like, nope, I'm valuable, Iknow why that I'm valuable, and
then also being comfortable inthe spaces when you're told no
and not taking it personally howdid you handle no's?
Bridget O'Brien (20:18):
Oh my gosh, I've gotten so many.
Either it's just like theydon't answer me or they say, you
know, we don't really havespace for that, or whatever.
And it's one of those thingswhere you just take it on the
chin, take it with a grain ofsalt and you're like okay, got
it, move on to the next one.
Let me go send another coldemail and figure it out.
And sometimes it's even I wouldemail about an event and I
(20:44):
always, like I said, I wouldalways pitch myself as a
vocalist.
You know, if you need anational anthem singer, here I
am.
If you need a performer, here Iam.
And sometimes it was even justa simple hey, we don't actually
need any entertainment, but we'dstill love to have you at the
event.
Totally fine, I would just belike you know what?
That's cool, I will be thereand I will be there with a smile
(21:06):
and make it a great event andconnect with as many people as I
possibly could.
So to always try to find kindof the positive that came out of
it.
Raeanna Johnson (21:14):
Yeah, I love that.
What?
What was it like handlingsponsors or bringing on donors
or maintaining donorrelationships?
Yeah, yeah.
Bridget O'Brien (21:25):
So I think the first thing is always my family
has always taught me thathandwritten cards go a very,
very long way, and so that's onething that we prioritize during
the Miss Maryland competitionand able to foster those
relationships and make sure thatthey continue year after year
(21:53):
for every single girl whocompetes.
And then also, as well,bringing on new sponsors.
I was able to bring on F45 as asponsor.
I just was at an F45 classbefore I happened on this call
and it was something that I hadstarted going to workout classes
with my friends and realizedthat I loved it and I'd love to
(22:15):
bring them on.
You know, via that, you knowMiss America Fit initiative that
we have and being able to goand utilize that space and
becoming friends with the peoplewho work there, who manage the
business, being a friendly face,giving 110% at every single
class, I was able to pitchmyself and the Miss Maryland
(22:36):
organization to them and theywere able to sponsor me for my
entire year with workouts.
And so I'm going to be very,very sad when that is over, when
I am no longer Miss Maryland,but I will be continuing to go
because I believe in the missionand the brand and that's
something that's reallyimportant.
And then in the donor aspect soactually at the Miss America
competition I was recognized andawarded for my fundraising and
(23:00):
leadership efforts through theAmerican Heart Association and I
was able to raise over $6,000to the American Heart
Association and was awardedtheir Go Red for Women
Leadership Regional Award.
And I was able to raise thatmuch money because I went out to
those local businesses.
(23:21):
I hosted different restaurantnights, I hosted a dance class
at a local dance studio, I wentout to different business owners
that I knew in my neighborhoodand told them who I was, what I
was raising money for and thatthis was a tax-deductible
donation that they would be ableto give.
And once I was able to connectwith those people and make those
(23:43):
personal connections, that'swhen people started donating
large sums.
That's when people starteddonating large sums and then
even just asking friends andfamily.
I was able to garner thosedonations as well.
And then I always followed upwith either a thank you note, a
handwritten thank you note, anautograph card or an email to
those people as well.
(24:03):
So it's always, you know,pitching yourself but then
thanking those people for whatthey do so that they can feel
you can feel valued andappreciated because they are,
and that will help them comeback year after year.
Raeanna Johnson (24:15):
You sound so confident and self-assured when
you're talking about some ofthese steps that you took to
book appearances, to fundraisefor American Heart Association,
to bring on sponsors.
But sometimes that is the mostanxiety-inducing piece of the
job.
Do you ever struggle with thatanxiety?
Bridget O'Brien (24:38):
Oh yeah, Okay, 100%.
At the beginning, when I was afreshly crowned Miss Maryland, I
would always get so, so nervousto hit send on an email,
because what if they say no tome?
You know, and it was kind ofgoing back to what we said of
like, how do you handle thoseno's?
And I think it's afterrealizing, okay, it's not the
end of the world If someone saysno to you, and kind of figuring
(25:00):
out how to navigate that.
That's when I found thisconfidence of like all right,
I'm just going to send the emailbecause the worst thing that
someone can do is say no, right,and then it's like no skin off
my back.
And usually if they say yes,then it's a win-win for
everybody in those situations.
And so, yes, the anxiety isthere and it was very, very
(25:21):
prevalent at the very beginning.
Then, after you know, you getinto the groove of it.
You're like what I said before,I know me better than anybody
else, so if they say no, it'stheir loss.
You know, one of those kind ofthat kind of mindset that I've
given myself this year.
Raeanna Johnson (25:36):
Yeah, I think it's just like with anything
that you're afraid of or nervousabout.
You know they say practicemakes perfect, but I think it's
more so that with practice andwith action comes comfort, comes
ease.
Practice and with action comescomfort, comes ease, comes like
this.
I don't know this lightness toit that you know every time that
you hit send and the worlddidn't end you grew a little bit
(26:03):
more comfortable in doing it.
Bridget O'Brien (26:04):
Yeah, and I've seen it even translate to my
personal life as well Applyingfor jobs, looking for those next
steps, post Miss Maryland, andI've received a lot of
rejections and a lot of no's anda lot of just never got a reply
, never even got an interview,and in my mind I'm like gosh.
I mean, I know I can do thesejobs because I'm doing literally
(26:26):
everything right now, but it'stheir loss that they didn't want
to take a chance on me, and sothat when that clicks and
someone you know goes out oftheir way and it's like, yeah,
like let's give her an interview.
I know that I'm able to, youknow, show up and show them who
I am and what I bring to thetable.
Raeanna Johnson (26:48):
Yeah, no doesn't necessarily mean never
it sometimes just means not now,not right now.
Yeah, yeah, oh, good stuff.
Really, this is one of the mostanxiety-inducing things.
Is the fundraising, is theasking for sponsors, is the
putting yourself out there,because rejection is hard, it's
(27:10):
so hard and it's so scary, butit's not the end of the world.
What were some of your mostmeaningful projects?
I mean, you mentioned in thebeginning that, like all the
things that you set out to dothis year as Miss Maryland, you
felt like you have accomplishedand you feel really satisfied
with everything that you put in.
So what were some of the mostmeaningful projects or
(27:31):
appearances, or even thepartnerships that you developed
throughout the year?
Bridget O'Brien (27:35):
So I think, first and foremost, the most
meaningful thing that I've donethis year is my school tour with
my Boomerang workshop.
I've been able to speak withover 4,000 students ranging in
age from 7 to 24.
And being able to see mymessage implemented across grade
(27:56):
level, across age level, hasbeen so special.
And what Boomerang is all aboutis realizing that failure isn't
final.
That, like you said, no doesn'tmean never.
It just might mean not rightnow, and so you have to learn
from those experiences and growfrom that and figure out how you
(28:17):
can utilize those as a catalystfor success.
And so I always talk about itlike it's a road trip.
Our lives are like a road trip,and when there's a road closure
or a roadblock, our GPS isnever gonna tell us to turn
around and go home.
They're gonna give us a newroute to get there, and so
that's really what ourexperiences and our lives are
(28:39):
all about.
When you face a failure or youface a setback, that's not
something telling you to turnaround, quit, go home, stop.
It's just saying, hey, you needto find a detour, you need to
learn from this and you need tofind a way around it, and that's
what I've done with my entirelife, both competing with the
Miss America opportunity andthen also through my personal
(28:59):
life as well, and I get to sharethose stories with students and
being able to see it kind ofclick with them and their
mindset change whether that be afirst grader or a senior in
high school or even a collegestudent has been so, so special
to me and I've had a lot ofreally great interactions with
(29:20):
students that have will holdspecial, a special place in my
heart forever.
So that's the first thing thathas been super special to me.
And then I think another morefun thing was that I wanted to
travel across the state and Iwanted to go in those little
nooks and crannies of Marylandthat you know, you might not
really even know exist.
(29:40):
And I've been able to travelover 30,000 miles across the
state, all the way from the mostnorthern western point in
Garrett County to the mostsouthern eastern point in
Crisfield, maryland, and beingable to connect with those
different people and then goback there and see familiar
faces and then recognize me andlook at me as a friend.
(30:01):
I went to Crisfield, maryland,which is on the eastern shore.
It's the most southern easternshore in the most southern
county in Maryland and I wasable to go there about a month
after I was crowned MissMaryland and stayed there for a
week, did a ton of differentreally cool appearances.
And then I got to go back inChristmas time and I was in a
(30:23):
parade and there were so manypeople lining the streets who
knew who I was because of backin the summer when I visited,
and they just saw me as a friend.
So I got to go to a localrestaurant after and hang out
with some of the people that Ihad met and those little moments
were so, so special to mebecause I wanted to make the
most of my year as Miss Marilynand touch as many people's lives
(30:45):
as I could.
Raeanna Johnson (30:46):
You, oh man, you're so brilliant at, I wanna
say, storytelling.
It's not, it's you just likesharing your experiences that
you had.
But you're so brilliant at it.
And I say that because, like,you're just sparking like all of
these like visions in my head,my memories of like when I was
traveling and the experiencesthat I had on, like my school
(31:07):
tour and all that like and howspecial that was.
And the experiences that I hadon, like my school tour and all
that like and how special thatwas.
In the way that you talk,you're just so genuinely
passionate about it.
Did you have bad days where youstruggled to be as present as
on, as passionate as you areright now, in this moment with
me?
Bridget O'Brien (31:26):
Yes, a%, like there were definitely really
hard days where I felt like theworld was crumbling and around
me and I didn't know what to do.
And, honestly, the things thatgot me through those were A my
support system, my family, mymom, my dad, my twin sister and
(31:47):
my friends and be the fact thatI knew that I could change
someone's life with aninteraction.
And if I would let those baddays get to me then I wouldn't
have the opportunity to do that.
And so there were days where Iknew I had to go to an
appearance but I wasn't reallyfeeling it and I knew that if I
(32:11):
didn't give 110% then maybe Iwouldn't be inspiring somebody
as much as I could have.
And so I always not that I likebrushed it off or I put it to
the side, I let myself feelthose feelings.
But when I got to thatappearance I knew, you know, I
could touch someone's life thatday and I kind of let all of
those things go away andmajority of the times I would
(32:32):
come out of those appearancesfeeling so fulfilled, feeling so
joyful.
I went to the Ronald McDonaldhouse here in Bolts for and I
did a craft hour with them andwe made our own crowns.
And I remember, earlier in theday I was, I was feeling a
little bit, you know, down onmyself.
Comparison is the thief of joy,but that doesn't mean that we
don't feel it all the time.
(32:52):
You know, we tell ourselves,you know we can't compare
ourselves to each other orwhatever.
And so, you know, leading up toMiss America, I'm sure you felt
this way.
It's a constant like, oh mygosh, like she's prettier than
me, or what if I'm not doing asmuch as her, or she has this and
that and I don't.
And so sometimes, like I'd wakeup in the morning and be like,
(33:14):
oh, like I'm never, like it'snever going to be it for me,
like I'm not, I'm not, I'm notgood enough.
And so it was just one of thosedays and I was like, okay, like
I have this appearance at theRonald McDonald house, me and my
mom.
We got in the car, we went tothe appearance and, oh my gosh,
we left that appearance likecrying tears of joy because we
had so much fun.
(33:34):
And that was something else.
That was really special is Igot to share these experiences
with my mom, who's been therewith me since day one, and so
she's kind of felt all thefeelings that I've felt, and so
I walked into that appearanceand I knew, okay, I'm going to
let everything go and I'm justgoing to be present in the
moment and, oh my goodness, itwas one of the best days of my
life.
So, yes, I definitely feltthose times where I, like, was
(33:58):
having a bad day and it justwasn't going my way, but a lot
of the times I'd come out ofthose things feeling better than
I went into them.
Raeanna Johnson (34:06):
Sometimes, distraction can be the best
medicine.
Bridget O'Brien (34:13):
And also it those doubts from myself, you
know, not feeling pretty enoughor good enough or doing whatever
.
You'd go to those appearancesand you'll have kids and they
are like you are the best thingsince sliced bread, like you are
a real princess to them.
And in those moments you'relike wow, like why am I
(34:36):
comparing myself to somebodyelse when I am just being myself
?
And these little girls theywant to, they want to be like me
when they grow up.
Like wow, and that just reallyputs it into perspective and
that just really puts it intoperspective.
Raeanna Johnson (34:53):
Yeah, it really does.
Appearances like that can besome of the most fulfilling and
refueling when you're in those,yeah, and those moments where
you just feel so depleted andbroken, like it's appearances
like that that actually fuel youand I think, like, isn't that
like some of the addiction ofpageantry and being a title
holder?
Bridget O'Brien (35:11):
Yeah, you're 100% correct.
It's like how many times areyou going to go out in public or
whatever, and someone's goingto just come up to you and be
like, oh my gosh, you are sobeautiful.
Or oh my gosh, miss Marilyn,like you are so cool, like I
think about it all the time,like I'm walking on the street
(35:31):
by myself and like I don't havethe crown and sash on and
everyone's just kind of goingabout their day.
But like you put the crown onand then everyone's like, oh my
goodness, like you're awesomeand wow, I just feel so good
about myself.
Raeanna Johnson (35:45):
It's powerful and that's I mean, that's that's
what you want other people toexperience too, right Like.
That's why we want everyone toto join the Miss America
opportunity, to do a pageant, tolike to put themselves out
there so that they can feel thattoo.
We just want to like spread thejoy because it can be so
wonderful.
And then there's haters.
Let's flip to the other side ofthings.
(36:06):
Did you ever experience anyhate throughout your year?
Bridget O'Brien (36:10):
I did.
I did so.
I was very, it was veryinteresting because when I was
crowned Miss Maryland, it was, Iwant to say, maybe a week or
two weeks after the MissMaryland USA competition, and
the woman who won Miss MarylandUSA this year was the first ever
transgender women to win thetitle of Miss Maryland USA.
(36:33):
And you know, people onlinedon't?
They don't know there's adifference between Miss America
and Miss USA, and so she wasreceiving a lot of backlash and
my heart, my heart, was breakingfor her because I was watching
that on social media before theMiss Maryland competition and it
(36:53):
just it broke my heart becauseobviously this woman worked so
hard to get there and then to befeeling all of those emotions
and that hate was very, verydevastating and heartbreaking
for me.
And then I won Miss Marylandand that hate translated onto my
(37:13):
social media because peopledidn't know who I was and they
didn't know the difference andthey were just ignorant to that
and they're already beinghorrible people for hating on
someone and then they're justkind of like spreading that hate
to whoever kind of pops up ontheir feed, which was crazy to
me.
And so I had to kind ofnavigate that and I was like
(37:38):
asked about it on a radiointerview about like all the
controversy, and I just kind ofwas like well, that's kind of
not, yeah, like we don't.
We don't hate here, obviously,like there's no butting heads
between organizations, like atleast not for me.
Like I'm kind of likeeveryone's yes, miss Maryland,
(38:00):
sister, okay.
But yeah, like I just thoughtit was very interesting that
people just kind of felt likethey could say whatever they
wanted, and that's clearlypeople love to hide behind their
screens, um.
And then on the flip side ofthat um, after I won, I I felt
some hate from like within notwithin myself, but like within
(38:28):
the group of people that Icompeted with.
Um, there were some people thatdid not obviously want me to be
the next Miss Maryland, andthat was really sad, because I
am one of those people who'slike happy for everyone.
I've watched so many girls getcrowned Miss Maryland before I
(38:48):
did and I always knew and I saythis every time I go to a school
appearance or anywhere I'm likesuccess is found when you
celebrate others, because oneday you're going to be the one
that wants to be celebrated andso you need to celebrate others
in order to receive that back.
Treat others the way you wantto be treated.
So it was really dishearteningto see these girls that I stood
(39:09):
on stage with.
I mean, it wasn't everybody.
I don't want to like generalizethat, you know there's always
just like maybe one or twopeople who just weren't very
happy and that was really sad tosee.
But I knew it gave memotivation to prove them wrong
that they were saying you know Iwasn't going to be a good Miss
Marilyn, while I was going toprove to them that I was.
And in that respect, you know,I'm feeling fulfilled that I was
(39:32):
able to please myself and makesure that I fulfilled my goals.
But also I feel like I was ableto prove the haters wrong with
that one too, I love that,because what I love most about
what you just said was Ifulfilled my goals.
Raeanna Johnson (39:49):
Like number one priority, it should never be
about proving someone else wrong.
Uh, I think that that can bereally powerful motivation, but
I don't think it's thehealthiest, I don't think it's
the most powerful.
The most powerful motivationtruly comes from your own.
Why, yeah, how did?
(40:11):
Okay, well, let's talk aboutnationals.
I want to talk about MissAmerica.
Yeah, what was your prep likefor Miss America versus for Miss
Maryland?
Bridget O'Brien (40:21):
It was definitely a lot more intense
because, right, you have alittle bit more of a condensed
period of time to figure it outand, honestly, though, the main
thing that I wanted to do wasthe job, and so I packed my
schedule with things speaking,engagement, school appearances,
(40:41):
performances, emceeing events,just like anything to prepare
myself for what it would be likeif I were to be crowned the
next Miss America, and alsoprepare myself if I wasn't to be
crowned the next Miss America,because it doesn't serve you to
sit in a little hole of justprepping for Miss America,
(41:03):
practicing your walks,practicing your interview,
practicing your talent and notgetting out in your community
and being your state titleholder, being a state title
holder and doing your job as thestate title holder.
I feel like that was the mostpreparation that I could do,
because I was talking todifferent people all the time.
(41:24):
Like I just said, like I gotthat kind of weird question in a
radio interview and, gosh, Ihad to figure out how to answer
it because I was on live radio.
So I knew that if I got aquestion in the Miss America
interview that I wasn't preparedfor or was kind of out of left
field, well, I knew I could doit because I've already done it.
So all of those thingspreparing for everything by
(41:47):
doing it actually in real lifewas the most helpful thing for
me.
Raeanna Johnson (41:53):
What were some of the biggest lessons that you
learned, or maybe even likeunexpected challenges that you
had competing at Miss America?
Bridget O'Brien (42:03):
The first one, through actually competing at
Miss America, is that theexperience is so much more than
what you do on stage.
Yes, I gosh, I walked off stageat Miss America and I felt like
a million bucks and that's howyou should feel, right, you're
at Miss America, so you shouldwalk off stage and feel so proud
(42:25):
of yourself.
And but it's the moments thathappen kind of behind the scenes
.
Those are kind of the ones thatcreate the most memorable
things and that's through thefriendships that you make.
If you go to Miss America andyour only goal is like tunnel
vision, crown, evening gownaward, preliminary talent award,
(42:47):
stage competition, stagecompetition, stage competition
you are missing the experience.
That is sitting right in frontof you on a silver platter and I
made so many great memories.
I made so many great friendsthat will be my friends for the
rest of my life.
That's the real prize for me isthat I left a having had a
(43:08):
great experience, like beingproud of myself and what I put
on the stage, but be having camehome with friends and memories
that I will literally be friendswith for the rest of my life.
So that's like the first thingthat I tell everybody is like
you can't have that tunnelvision of just the competition,
because you're going to miss thereally really cool once in a
(43:30):
lifetime experience that youhave really cool, once in a
lifetime experience that youhave.
What was the emotional build-upto miss america?
Like, oh my gosh, crazy.
I feel like as somebody whogrew up watching miss america,
um, wanting to be on that stage.
It's a lot of like amped upenergy, like I'm so excited to
(43:52):
be here but oh my gosh, I'm sonervous because like this is it
as somebody who competed for sixyears in the state competition
and then it's like you got onechance at Miss America.
There's no re-competing there.
That's a little bit scary,actually, it's really scary.
And so it's feeling all of thefeeling at once.
(44:14):
But then it's so important haveyour people there, bring you
back down to earth, be like, hey, girl, you know, it's okay if
you don't win, it's okay if youdon't make top 10.
We are so proud of you, you'redoing such a great job.
And then also having thosefriends that you make there
standing backstage with you,being like, girl, you just
killed that and who cares whathappens at the end of the day,
(44:36):
like you're on the Miss Americastage and I always say like I'm
friends with Miss America.
I think that that's pretty coolin and of itself.
So all of those amped upemotions.
But then having those peoplearound you to, kind of like,
bring you back down to earth isso important.
Raeanna Johnson (44:53):
Ground you and to anchor you.
Bring you back down to earth isso important.
Ground you and to anchor you.
Bridget O'Brien (45:01):
What was the aftermath like for you?
What was the letdown after?
Nationals like, yeah, soobviously like I worked my butt
off to go to Miss America and todo my best and hopefully make
the finals and win, andobviously that's not the outcome
that happened for me.
But at the end of the day Irealized that if it was
different judges on a differentday or whatever that might be,
(45:26):
you know, it could have been adifferent outcome.
And going back to somethingthat we said earlier, it's like
I was proud of myself.
Going back to something that wesaid earlier, I was proud of
myself.
I got off stage from performingmy talent and I sat in the
dressing room and I just sobbedbecause I was so proud of myself
.
A little backstory to my talentI performed Don't Rain on my
(45:47):
Parade as my talent vocalselection and I've been in
musical theater my whole life.
When I went to the Universityof Alabama, I wanted to pursue
that as my career and my majorand I auditioned for the program
at the University of Alabamawith the song Don't Rain on my
Parade and I got rejected and Ididn't get in.
(46:09):
And I and I re auditioned theyear after and I didn't get in
again and I was told that myvoice was too raspy and I wasn't
good enough and that there werejust people that were better
than me.
And that crushed me Because itwas something that I love to do.
And so when I went to MissAmerica, I knew I wanted to take
(46:31):
the power back from thatfailure and that rejection and I
sang Don't Rain on my Paradeand I also sang that at my state
competition as well and I justI walked off stage from singing
and I had never done it, that.
I'd never done it like thatbefore.
I'd never had the feeling ofwalking off stage and being like
, oh my gosh.
I nailed that I felt so proudof myself and I just sat in the
(46:55):
dressing room and I just criedbecause I was so proud of myself
and so feeling that sense ofpride and accomplishment within
myself helped me in the face ofdefeat and rejection.
When it came to that finalnight of competition and I
didn't hear my name called intothe top 10 and then coming home
(47:18):
and kind of sitting with like ohgosh, now I'm not preparing for
anything anymore, I'm justbeing Miss Maryland.
But I knew that I was.
I was proud of what I put onthe stage, and so I was able to,
you know, give a full effort tothe job now.
Raeanna Johnson (47:35):
Yeah, it's really nice to come back without
any real regrets.
Bridget O'Brien (47:41):
Right, like I didn't regret anything that I
did or anything that I well,during competition I was just
like all right, like it wasn'tmy day and that's okay.
God had a different plan for me.
Raeanna Johnson (47:56):
Yeah, there's cause I came back with regrets
and I had like a huge letdownand there's like powerlessness
in that.
And it's such a yucky feelingand it takes away then from the
experience of what you haveright in front of you.
So yeah, that I'd love thatperspective of taking in
everything, going in without thetunnel vision and just kind of
(48:16):
taking everything in stride.
Bridget O'Brien (48:21):
Right, and I'm not saying that I didn't come
home disappointed.
I went back to the hotel thatmy parents and my family were
staying at the night of finalsand I literally cried all night
Like I was.
It was obviously a feeling ofpent up emotions and like lack
(48:41):
of sleep and just like being inthe competition atmosphere for
an entire week, with the factthat the dream that I had
dreamed my entire life was overand now I have to find a new
dream, right?
So you're mourning the loss ofthat dream and I was
disappointed because obviously Iwas so proud of myself and I
was like I couldn't have doneanything better.
(49:01):
What do you mean?
I wasn't good enough.
So, like, it's totally okay totake that time and be upset and
mourn that loss of you know,that dream, but always look
forward.
Don't spend all of the timelooking at what could have been.
Like, oh gosh, what if I?
What if I would have won?
Or what if I would have madethe top 10?
(49:22):
Like, if I spent my wholeentire life thinking about that,
gosh, I wouldn't have done halfthe things that I've done in
the last six months of beingMiss Marilyn.
So how?
Raeanna Johnson (49:31):
how did this entire experience doing the job
going to Miss America, thegrowth that you've experienced,
how have you been stretchedemotionally, mentally and
spiritually this year?
Bridget O'Brien (49:46):
Very candidly, I feel like I've been stretched
very thin because it's a lotright, you're in this
once-in-a-lifetime job for oneyear and you want to give it
your all, and so for me, I'mlike gosh, I need to do
everything and I wanted to dothat and I've loved doing that.
But there are days where I'mlike I am so tired I need to
(50:08):
sleep for multiple hours, likefor all day, or days where I
just cry because it's just Ihaven't slept or I am tired and
have so much to do.
I went to the beach overMemorial Day weekend with six of
(50:28):
the other girls who compete atMiss America with me so six
other state title holders and Igot into the car after a really
long day of traveling back homein Maryland and I sobbed all the
way home because I was justlike I can't believe this
experience is kind of coming toan end and I'm like on the home
(50:51):
stretch and I've done so muchand I'm so proud of that and
there's just been so much goingon.
So some days it feels like Iknow everything and some days it
feels like I know nothing atall, and some days I feel like
I'm giving 110% and some days Ifeel like I can give more and I
don't regret anything that I'vedone, though I am like so proud
(51:12):
of everything and I would do itagain.
That's the thing is like nomatter what, like I would do it
all over to have had thisexperience.
So in my mind, I'm like it'sonly a year so I can do it and
I'm going.
Raeanna Johnson (51:29):
Yeah, but now it is coming to an end, right?
What are you feeling?
Bridget O'Brien (51:33):
Right, and I feel like so many people ask me,
like they'll come up to me.
Either it was at orientation orat an event.
Well, how do you feel?
How do you feel?
I don't even know how I feel.
It's definitely bittersweetbecause it's like I have done so
much and like I am, you know,tired and ready to you know, be
(51:56):
Bridget, but I'm also notbecause it's again something
that I've wanted for so long.
And going back to somethingthat we said at the beginning is
like when every local titleholder, like you need to want
this job so bad, you need towant to be your state title so,
so bad and give it your 110%effort so that by the end of the
(52:18):
year, you're like gosh, I wantto hold on forever.
But also like I've literallydone so much, like my, like I
don't know if I can take muchmore.
Do you know what I mean?
It's like one of those likeit's kind of like a hard
dichotomy between the two,because I've wanted it so bad
for so long and I've done thejob and I've had a blast doing
(52:41):
it.
But I'm also like I'm ready tosee what the next phase of my
life looks like and I'm soexcited for that too.
Raeanna Johnson (52:48):
Do you know what the next phase of your life
looks like?
And this is the dreadedquestion.
I feel like everyone gets thiswhen you're getting to the end.
Everyone's asking you what'snext, what's next, what's next,
and it's like ugh, like enough.
Do you, do you know?
Bridget O'Brien (53:00):
Yeah.
So, um, right after MissAmerica, I started applying to
different jobs because I waslike, all right, might as well
just get a kickstart on this now.
Um, nothing was really clickingfor me.
I'm going to school for sportsmanagement, so I'm finishing up
my master's.
I should be on track tograduate by next May, which is
(53:20):
really exciting for me, so atleast I know that I'll be
getting my master's degree.
I'll be getting my graduatedegree, um, either by next May
or by the fall.
And I, so I was applying for allthese jobs and nothing was
really clicking.
I'd get interviews here andthere, but nothing was really,
you know, working for me.
And I was kind of feeling alittle bit lost because and I'm
(53:40):
sure you can relate to this asthe state title holder you gain
so many skills Like you're, likeI can literally do any job,
because I am basically doingevery single job all at once.
I'm being a public figure, I ambooking appearances, I'm being
a salesperson, a marketingperson, pr, social media,
content creator.
Like I literally feel like Iwear a thousand hats and I feel
(54:04):
like that makes me so uniquelyqualified for literally every
single position I've applied for.
But it's like people don't getthat, and then they don't give
you an interview that gives youthe opportunity to share, like
hey, listen, I've been aroundthe block this year, like I know
what it's like, so that was alittle bit frustrating.
But then it only takes oneperson to take a chance on you.
(54:29):
And so I had someone reach outto me about a position that
opened up at a public affairsfirm in DC, on Capitol Hill, and
they were like hey, like I'mgoing to send your, your resume
to this company.
In my mind I'm like OK, whatever, like nothing's going to come
of it, because nothing's come ofanything else.
Recently, and I hop on thisinterview with some executives
(54:54):
from this company and they werejust so excited to meet me, they
were so excited to hear aboutmy experience as Miss Maryland
and they were so excited to kindof figure out how my experience
and my skill set lends to thejob and to the company that I
would be working for if I wereto get the position.
And so I'm so excited now thatI finally have an answer for the
(55:16):
people who say what are youdoing next?
I'll be working on Capitol Hillwith a public affairs firm as
an associate to the seniorexecutives for the company.
So I'm really excited to kindof dive into that part of my
life while still pursuing mymaster's degree and seeing where
everything leads.
So super excited about that.
Raeanna Johnson (55:36):
Congratulations .
That is really exciting and ithelps with some of the angst of
what's next.
I mean, that was the thing islike I need.
Bridget O'Brien (55:49):
I was like I need.
I need something, cause I'm Iwould.
I would be sad, I'd bedepressed, I'd be in my bed, not
wanting to get out.
Raeanna Johnson (55:57):
Yes, yeah, it's very, very scary, but also
you'd be okay.
You'd be okay if you didn'thave something lined up because
all in good time and yeah, but Iremember that that was, that
was a really scary transition,because I also won right after I
graduated from my undergrad, soI hadn't been in the
professional world yet to buildup my resume in that way.
(56:18):
And you're totally right.
Like, how do I, how do Iarticulate all the things that
I've done in a year and how do Itranslate that into what
they're looking for in this jobposition?
It's, it's tricky, but it'sjust another one of those
opportunities to kind of buildyour confidence in a space where
you're uncertain and uncertainand have never been before.
(56:38):
Yeah for sure, all right.
So, as we're wrapping up ourconversation, what advice would
you give to the next MissMaryland, or to anybody that's
listening, that is vying fortheir state title and are really
serious about taking this onand doing the best job they can
do for a whole year?
Bridget O'Brien (56:58):
So the first thing is what I've been saying
about you know wanting to do thejob and like wanting to be your
state title holder so bad,because then that gives you the
passion, the drive to go and dolike everything that you want to
, to go and do like everythingthat you want to and promote the
(57:19):
organization and keep yourstate title and your state
organization relevant and in theface of different people, which
I think is really important.
The second thing is to enjoythe sisterhood and that's
something that I've found andheld so deeply with me this year
from competing at Miss Americaand making those friends and
(57:41):
it's so cliche because peoplesay it all the time, but it's
literally so true Like I havemade friends with girls who will
be in my wedding, who I willtalk to every single day for the
rest of my life, and it's justcrazy how life works because you
never know who you're going tomeet or who your best friend
(58:07):
might be standing right next toyou in the lineup at Miss
America and if you don't turnand talk to her, you'll never
know that.
And I literally experiencedthat where my roommate Kirsten
she's Miss Massachusetts, wehave become so, so close.
Miss New York, abby Quammen.
We literally went to collegetogether, had a class together.
She was two years older than me.
(58:28):
We never talked, we weren'tfriends.
It wasn't because we didn'tlike each other, we just didn't
know each other.
We get to Miss America.
I text this girl every singleday.
She knows everything that I'mdoing, at every single hour of
the day.
She will be in my wedding as abridesmaid.
Like, literally, she is my bestfriend.
Lauren Frost, miss Oklahoma.
(58:49):
Janae, miss Michigan.
Annette, miss Texas.
Like we literally text everysingle day, I'm going to Miss
Oklahoma this weekend.
So it's like one of thosethings where it's like, even at
the local level, I have girlswho I will be friends with for
the rest of my.
My all-time best friend was MissMaryland's teen in 2018.
I was her second runner-up.
She has now.
(59:12):
I was in her wedding as abridesmaid.
We were in the same sorority incollege.
She, her and her now husbandintroduced me to my now
boyfriend.
Like, literally, our familiesare best friends.
And like you would never.
If you don't just take thatmoment, if you're not blinders
into the competition the wholetime and you make those friends
(59:35):
like, wow, your life will willchange, which is so special.
Um.
And then the last thing is forthose girls who know they want
this job, who know that theywould be the best x state title
holder.
If that is not what the outcomeis this year, that does not
(59:57):
mean that it will never be theoutcome.
I stood on that stage at MissMaryland and watched five other
girls win the crown that Iwanted so bad and I celebrated
them and I was so joyful forthem and so excited for their
year because I knew that if oneday I was lucky enough to be in
(01:00:20):
their shoes, I want the girlsbehind me to be clapping and be
cheerful and be joyful for metoo.
And above anything else, you canlearn so much from the
experience, and it was honestlybecause I lost and I failed or
didn't achieve that goal thoseyears.
That's why I was the MissMaryland that I was or that I am
(01:00:44):
.
That's why I feel like that Itruly was able to win the title,
because I knew what I was goingto bring to the table and how I
was going to spread my message.
And it's literally my wholebrand of bouncing back from that
failure to your catalyst andusing it as a catalyst for
(01:01:04):
success, because that thing thatyou didn't get could be the
best thing that you never had,and you just don't realize it
until you take a moment toreflect and learn from that
experience and become betterfrom it.
So all of those things, I knowI kind of just word vomited, but
it's so, so important toremember.
Raeanna Johnson (01:01:23):
Oh, my gosh, bridget, thank you.
Thank you for your time, Thankyou for your heart, thank you
for your stories and for pouring, like your passion into this
conversation.
Um, I really appreciate you andI'm excited to see where you go
next in your career.
And, um, you've definitely lefta legacy for for future Miss
(01:01:44):
Maryland to look up to and tofind inspiration from.
So, congratulations to you on areally incredible year, on a
dream come true, andcongratulations on all the
awesome stuff that you are goingto do in the future, cause it's
kind of inevitable, you know.
Thank you so much.
That means a lot.
(01:02:04):
You're welcome.
All right, thanks again forjoining you.
Guys.
I will be back again soon withanother episode of Sash and Soul
in our Crowned and Candidseries, as we're kind of
wrapping up this series here aswe come to kind of the middle to
end of the state season, andthen we'll kind of be back to
regularly scheduled programmingas well.
So stick around, reach out Ifyou have any requests for who
(01:02:29):
you want to hear from or topicsthat you'd love to hear
discussed on Sash and Soul.
And until we talk again, bewell, take care of yourselves
and we'll see you soon.
Bye.
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