1:07

This is episode 241

1:09

of the I Love Kelowna podcast , and

1:12

today I am here with Laura

1:14

Drake Gott . She is a

1:16

former chiropractor , a retired

1:18

optician . Here in Kelowna , she's

1:21

a community volunteer and she's done various

1:23

fundraisers , including Powderhounds

1:26

Adaptive Ski Program . She

1:29

was born in Hamilton , raised in

1:31

Calgary , and in her youth she

1:33

was a competitive gymnast , a dancer

1:36

, a model and a

1:38

CFL cheerleader . And today we're

1:40

going to talk all about 2023

1:43

, miss Senior World Canada

1:46

, a pageant that Laura is

1:48

involved in .

1:51

Kelowna , one of the most beautiful

1:53

places in the world to live , surrounded

1:55

by provincial parks , pine forests

1:58

, vineyards , orchards and

2:00

mountains . Wouldn't it be great

2:02

if there was a podcast about

2:05

our love of Kelowna ? Oh

2:08

no , it's real . This

2:11

is I Love Kelowna an interview

2:14

style podcast about the fabulous

2:16

and fascinating people that make up our

2:18

great city and the Okanagan . Intimate

2:21

conversations with entrepreneurs , executives

2:23

, thought leaders , creatives and

2:26

anyone who has an interesting story

2:28

to tell about how they're contributing

2:30

to our wonderful home . This

2:32

is I Love Kelowna . And here's

2:34

your host , luke J Minkus

2:37

.

2:39

Laura , it's great to see you . It's

2:42

been a little over five

2:44

years since you were on the show . It was 2018

2:47

, july 2018 , and that was

2:49

episode 14 .

2:51

Wow , and this is episode 241

2:54

. Oh , almost 214

2:56

, almost 200 . Right , yeah .

2:58

Crazy . Well have

3:00

you been . I've seen you a couple of times since

3:03

then .

3:04

Life is really good , I

3:07

think . Back then I was

3:09

. I had a business , an

3:11

eyeglasses store , and was

3:13

working there . I've since sold

3:15

that and retired and

3:17

now I'm on a new adventure .

3:20

Nice , so I know you

3:22

were born in Hamilton

3:24

, grew up in Calgary . When

3:27

did you move to Kelowna ?

3:29

We moved here just over 12 years ago

3:31

, and

3:34

so brand new city , didn't know anyone

3:36

. Brand new start of

3:39

life and reeducated

3:41

myself to become an optician . I

3:44

worked at a few stores as

3:46

an optician and then decided to

3:48

open my own store and

3:50

that was the next 10 years of my life

3:52

, and now I

3:55

got another 10 years that I'm kind of planning

3:58

and adventuring into .

4:00

Right , so

4:04

you are part

4:06

of the Miss Senior World

4:08

Pageant . Tell us about that . Tell

4:10

us what got you into that

4:12

and what made you decide

4:15

to apply .

4:16

So I was . I was searching

4:19

for something that

4:22

after after I retired I was , I was

4:24

really busy during the ski season . I had

4:26

lots to occupy my time then , but I have

4:28

trouble sitting still . So I

4:31

was just online searching for what I might

4:33

be good at , what I would love to do

4:35

, and I was thinking about the

4:37

days when I was , you know , early twenties

4:39

and in my teens , and I was modeling and I really

4:42

loved doing that , and

4:44

there was really nothing out there , for

4:46

now I'm 59 . So I'm basically

4:48

a senior in the consermia , a senior

4:50

woman , and there

4:53

was really nothing out there . And I I had some

4:55

negative um ageism

4:57

type comments saying , well , you're

4:59

, you're dreaming at 59 , you know what , 59

5:02

year washed up , you're done , just be an old person

5:05

. And I'm like , well , I'm not ready

5:07

to do that . I think I still

5:09

can maybe make a difference and

5:12

be an inspiration

5:14

in some way . So I found this pageant online . It was

5:16

the only one that was open to women

5:18

um 50 to 79

5:21

. And I applied

5:24

and I I'm in the 50

5:26

to 59 category

5:28

. So there's three divisions 50 to 59

5:30

, 60 to 69 and 70 to 79

5:33

. And so I

5:35

am Miss Senior World

5:37

Canada in the 50 . Uh

5:39

, your old division and

5:42

I will be competing in Biloxi , mississippi

5:44

, in two months .

5:45

Incredible Up the Miss .

5:46

Senior World pageant .

5:47

Incredible . Did you get a letter

5:49

in the mail ? I got

5:51

more than a letter .

5:52

I got a crown that sparkles

5:55

and it's heavy and it's and

5:57

I've got I got a sash with

5:59

actual like sewn satin

6:02

with rhinestones , so it's it's

6:04

pretty impressive . They take their pageants pretty

6:06

seriously down in the US and I

6:08

love it . I want to be a part of this and

6:11

I'd love to bring it up to Canada . I love . I

6:13

love that it celebrates senior women and

6:16

it doesn't . It isn't revolved around

6:18

the uh , the beauty

6:20

of youth , because there is beauty in age

6:23

as well .

6:24

And I want to be part of that . That's incredible

6:26

. So you didn't know you were

6:28

selected until you got this box . No

6:31

, I knew I was selected before that I see

6:33

, so they notify you and you got all this stuff

6:35

. Is it um how

6:37

long ? What can you tell us about the pageant ? Is

6:40

it something that's been going on for a long

6:42

time ? Are most countries represented

6:45

?

6:46

It's um , so I don't know . They

6:48

aren't announcing all of the delegates until

6:51

I think , about a week from now , that all of the

6:53

selected um , ladies

6:56

and queens from different states and different

6:58

countries will be up on

7:00

their website , but I know

7:02

that it's only this is their fourth year , so

7:04

it's fairly new , I think . Uh , I

7:07

feel like I'm kind of getting in on the ground level

7:09

which I love , because that's

7:12

kind of what I love to do is build

7:14

. Uh , I love to build my business . I

7:16

love to be creative , but I love to get

7:18

into new things and watch them grow

7:20

and and be a part of developing , um

7:23

, the kind of a unique pageantry

7:27

kind of a thing I'm like I'm excited to be a part

7:29

of it , yeah .

7:31

Have you been to Biloxi before , or Mississippi

7:33

? No , I don't know much

7:36

about it , but I think it's a city

7:38

roughly the size of Kelowna Okay

7:40

, like a mid-sized city .

7:42

Okay .

7:43

And if it's a world pageant , maybe you could talk to them and

7:45

have it in Kelowna in the future

7:47

.

7:48

Well , I'm thinking too as

7:50

it grows . I can see 20 years from now will

7:52

be like a Miss World

7:54

or Miss Universe , where it's huge

7:57

and all countries are represented and

8:00

we'll have to have a , uh

8:02

, a preliminary provincial

8:04

in Canada and then inter-provincial , so

8:06

we actually have contests

8:08

in each province and then

8:10

in Canada globally that are

8:12

maybe even televised and and

8:15

uh , who knows where it could go . Is this ?

8:18

is it going to be televised ?

8:21

It's going to be live streamed and I'm not sure

8:23

we uh . I haven't been

8:25

notified of how or when

8:27

or where . I just know that it's uh

8:29

, we all compete . It's on November

8:32

3rd and if you make the top

8:34

, I think it's 10 , then

8:36

you go on and you re-compete again on November

8:38

4th .

8:39

Right Interesting

8:41

. So , uh , is it a two day

8:43

event or three days ?

8:45

It's it's more like five . So

8:47

we get there . There's events , uh

8:49

, there's dinners , there's appearances , Um

8:53

, it'll be a really interesting

8:55

, fun adventure .

8:56

Right , well , it sounds super exciting

8:59

. Um , are there any platform

9:01

issues that you're

9:03

passionate about that you want to share

9:05

at the pageant ? So I guess you're going

9:07

to have to get up on stage . They're going to interview

9:09

you . There's different

9:12

parts of this event .

9:13

Yeah . So the interview with the

9:15

panel of judges counts for 30%

9:18

of your mark . Your evening gown

9:20

is 30% of your mark , your fitness

9:23

runway outfit is

9:25

a 20%

9:28

of your mark and your own personal

9:30

fashion New York style

9:32

runway outfit is another 20%

9:34

of your mark . So , as far as the um

9:36

30% interview goes , you sit down

9:38

, not on stage but off stage , with a

9:40

panel of judges and they um

9:43

ask you questions . My platform

9:45

it for this Miss Senior

9:47

World pageant and is basically my how

9:50

I got to where I am in life and the way I live

9:52

my life is the power of saying yes . So

9:54

I just say

9:57

yes to everything that

9:59

I can and usually

10:01

it turns out wonderfully and you get

10:04

new experiences and you learn about

10:06

yourself and you meet new people and your

10:08

life just grows from there . And I think

10:10

it's really important to keep saying yes to new

10:12

opportunities and new experiences . Especially

10:15

, we found out during COVID how there was nothing

10:17

to say yes to and we were all just

10:19

saying there wasn't just a big prison

10:22

of no and you just sat there and there was nothing

10:24

to do and um , people have

10:27

found out that that's

10:30

not super healthy . So I think as

10:32

we age , it's very easy to kind of slip into

10:34

saying no , I can't do that , I won't do

10:36

that , but I think you need to just keep pushing

10:38

, keep saying yes , keep experiencing new

10:41

things and you know what . If you don't like it , then

10:43

you learn something about yourself , you learn . You

10:45

learn what you're not as well as what

10:47

you are .

10:48

So yeah , Um

10:50

, so you mentioned there's different outfits

10:52

, so it really is a beauty

10:54

pageant . And you mentioned there's

10:56

a fitness outfit that you

10:58

have to display . How have

11:01

you picked all your outfits yet ? Yeah

11:04

, 100% .

11:05

I don't , I don't have 100% my gown

11:07

yet .

11:08

I see .

11:08

I'm struggling with that one , right

11:10

, but I have definitely

11:13

been working on my

11:15

fashion outfit I've created

11:18

it myself , um

11:21

and my fitness outfit they

11:24

instead of doing like

11:26

a bikini . There is no bathing suit , but you could

11:28

if that's what , if you were a swimmer , and that's how you stayed

11:30

fit and you wanted to wear a bathing

11:33

suit on stage and model that you

11:35

know what good on . Yet go for it . I

11:38

don't , but I can't swim , so that's

11:40

not my thing . Right , I've

11:42

created a very

11:44

Canadian outfit

11:47

.

11:47

What .

11:48

I'm picking ski . Yes

11:50

, the ski . I'm a big skier .

11:53

So I have a .

11:54

Of course it's not going to be like

11:56

my skis and my boots , because those won't fit

11:59

in the overhead bin , but I have

12:01

created an

12:03

outfit that's kind of an inspired

12:06

ski look .

12:07

I see We'll call it that . It's really cool

12:09

because it's in the Southern us

12:11

and I think people that'll be eye

12:14

catching for sure . And I

12:16

noticed on your Instagram you're doing all

12:18

kinds of fitness stuff . Was

12:20

this something you were ? I know you

12:22

were a gymnast when you were younger and

12:25

a cheerleader for the CFL , but

12:28

is this something you know since you've

12:30

been 40 , 50 , then you've

12:33

kept up with , because I didn't notice

12:35

all the fitness videos on your Instagram

12:37

before .

12:38

Yeah . So you

12:40

know , my Instagram before was all about

12:42

the store . That was my life . I lived

12:45

it , I breathed it . I had to sell glasses

12:47

. That was the

12:49

inspiration behind my

12:51

previous social media . So

12:54

when I retired , I kind of

12:56

had to start my own Instagram and

12:58

it was pretty lame , I

13:00

wasn't really posting a lot . And then I entered

13:03

this pageant and actually

13:05

while I was skiing , a friend of mine she's

13:07

an online trainer , she is amazing

13:09

she's . She has this whole program developed

13:12

. You just need like bands and

13:14

a couple of free weights and maybe a bench

13:16

and you do it all at home . And

13:18

she said Laura , I would like to sponsor

13:20

you , I want to give you my fitness

13:22

program and I want you to do it so that you

13:24

look your best for the pageant . And

13:27

so part of me is going yeah , I really should

13:29

, because I you know , when you work

13:32

that much and you own your

13:34

own business , it's really hard to keep

13:37

up with fitness , I mean .

13:38

I go for a walk every day .

13:39

But you know , you know I was fit ish . So

13:41

I started this strength training program

13:43

with her and I've been doing

13:45

it for about four or five months now and

13:48

it's been amazing the changes

13:50

and I realize

13:53

how much I needed it

13:55

and how good it's been for

13:57

me and I feel great . So I'm

13:59

really thankful to

14:01

her . She's been a great sponsor

14:04

and a good like mentor to me .

14:06

That's really good to hear , because it

14:08

looks like you've obviously

14:10

got a professional trainer and some

14:13

of the things that you're doing . I'd

14:15

like to ask you a little bit about

14:17

that , because I go for regular

14:19

walks and I don't shy

14:21

away from physical activity , but most of my

14:24

day I'm stuck in the car , stuck

14:26

at my desk , stuck at a keyboard . What

14:28

do you , what do you recommend for people in their fifties

14:31

like to get

14:33

more in shape ? One of my biggest

14:35

fears is I'm going to take on a program and it's

14:37

going to be one more thing that

14:39

I got to try to fit into my schedule . It's

14:42

going to be really difficult , time consuming

14:44

. Is it worth it

14:46

or is it ? You know , can you do things in incremental

14:49

ways ?

14:50

You know that that is something

14:53

that I used to be really

14:55

passionate about and then I , over my

14:57

business , and now since , become more passionate about

14:59

and , yes , I believe that I could take this program

15:01

that she's developed . Grab my

15:03

elastic bands , pack them in my suitcase

15:05

like you can take them anywhere . They're just bands

15:08

and work with

15:10

the resistance of those and whatever

15:12

. If you take a 10 minute break in

15:14

between editing your

15:16

podcast and grabbing a coffee , you know

15:18

, just do a few , just work a body part

15:20

, and then I think you

15:22

can . I think you can keep it up . I think

15:24

there's a way to incorporate that into your day

15:27

. You don't have to spend your , your hour

15:29

, your solid hour , working out . I mean right

15:31

, and you don't have to do it every day either . Yeah

15:33

, To do it . Her program is three days a week . I

15:36

do every workout just because I

15:38

have a goal . I want to look my

15:40

best , but you don't have to . But she does give

15:42

me a workout every day .

15:44

Is she filming the videos that

15:46

you're doing ?

15:47

No , no no , I just . I

15:49

have a chair and an iPhone .

15:51

Oh , you see , well , that's really

15:53

well done , that's really , that's

15:56

really great Inspirational . So , besides

15:59

the fitness training , what

16:01

are some of the other highlights of

16:03

your journey towards this pageant ? I guess

16:05

clothes shopping , yeah

16:08

.

16:08

Clothing is fun , a little

16:10

bit challenging . Just for the gown , I haven't

16:12

found one that I just fell in

16:14

love with , yet I have . You know , I have

16:17

okay gowns , but I don't want to . Just

16:19

they'll do . Yeah

16:22

, but a couple of highlights

16:24

would be learning to walk

16:26

in heels again after more than

16:28

probably 15 years of not

16:30

wearing high heels . Yes , that's been challenging

16:32

. I broke my foot in July

16:35

so that set me back a little bit , so I've

16:37

been just starting to heal now and putting my heels

16:39

on clocking around the house .

16:40

Was it because of heels

16:42

that you broke your foot ?

16:44

No , it's because of patio furniture

16:46

and being uncoordinated and clumsy

16:48

.

16:52

And so it's healed , because we

16:54

saw you at the concert and you were

16:56

wearing heels and you did fine .

16:58

I was , I've been , I've been slugging

17:00

it out .

17:01

It's .

17:01

I mean it's feeling a lot better now and

17:04

then . The one of the highlights of the whole pageant

17:06

for me so far , just from

17:09

my personal point

17:11

of view , is the Westside Days Parade . When

17:14

I had a , I was in it and sat on the

17:16

back of a car and the

17:18

reception I got from gosh

17:20

everybody was remarkable

17:23

. I couldn't even stop smiling , my cheeks hurt

17:26

, waving at everyone , smiling

17:28

and sharing , sharing moments with total

17:30

strangers that were excited

17:33

and happy , and it was very heartwarming , it was

17:35

very encouraging .

17:36

Did tell us a little bit about Westside

17:39

Days . For people

17:41

who don't know what is that . What is that ?

17:43

It's sort of a mini like or

17:47

or , or fair , and it's

17:49

like or stampede . You know that kind

17:51

of thing . It's a West Cologne is version

17:53

of uh , you get the parade

17:56

and you've got the grants , a little bit

17:58

of grandstand music in the park and

18:00

the Ferris wheel and

18:02

the spinning vomit comet

18:04

and whatever else they have .

18:06

Yeah , Mini

18:08

donuts , all that kind of stuff Cool

18:10

. So this was a parade and you're in

18:12

the back of the convertible . Yeah , it

18:15

was it was great .

18:16

And then I got to meet them as Miss

18:19

Kelowna , lady of the lake , the

19:05

float in in front of me and

19:07

it was uh , yeah , half my

19:10

, half my float ended up falling

19:12

off the car and onto the pavement , but I didn't

19:14

care . I'm like yeah , this is so

19:16

great .

19:17

Has anybody , um , including Miss

19:20

Kelowna , uh , given you advice

19:22

about this , patch into or been

19:24

a mentor to you besides

19:27

the fitness training ? Um , just

19:29

tell you you know how to mentally prepare

19:31

and what to expect .

19:33

I think the current Queens

19:35

, um , they are . So I'm

19:37

online and I there's a special

19:39

, uh , social media area

19:42

just for the people that are competing

19:44

and they try

19:46

and encourage you , give you tips um

19:49

what they've experienced and

19:51

and and things to do . But there is a lot

19:53

of online information that

19:55

I found . You know , pageant coaches

19:58

, and it's it's free . I

20:00

mean , you can sign up , but you can just YouTube

20:02

it or there's quite a bit

20:04

out there . So I've I've been doing , I've been taking

20:07

bits and pieces from that .

20:10

Yeah , hmm , so is

20:12

um , what

20:14

would you say ?

20:15

your biggest fear of this pageant

20:18

is like the high heels you

20:20

mentioned and oh , absolutely

20:22

High heels and a gown , yeah

20:24

, yeah , falling on my face

20:26

Right .

20:29

Like you , you looked fantastic at the concert . What was that two

20:32

months ago , month ago

20:34

?

20:34

Is that Chantocraviozic ? Yeah , I

20:36

don't think I was wearing heels that day . I think I had sandals

20:38

on .

20:40

Yeah , oh , that's great yeah .

20:43

I think I probably just had some flip flops .

20:44

I thought you had like raised sandals

20:47

, like heel sandals , but no

20:50

, I don't know . But you said you know your

20:52

ankle was broken .

20:53

I was like really yeah , no , what is

20:55

my foot ? Yeah , it's out of my foot .

20:58

Anyway , did you wear heels a lot when you were younger . Like is

21:00

this something that ?

21:01

when I was younger . Yeah , yeah . Like 40 years

21:03

ago . Right , I see , I wore

21:05

them all day served waitress .

21:08

Do you wear them every day now , and

21:10

did you get strength training exercises

21:12

for that ?

21:14

I try to wear them on the treadmill for 10 minutes

21:16

a day . That's fun .

21:17

Oh , neat . Yeah . So

21:21

your personal and professional

21:24

background . What are

21:26

some of the qualities that you've

21:29

developed over the years that you feel prepare

21:31

you for this pageant ?

21:34

I think , being in the business

21:36

that I was in , most

21:39

of my clientele , or a lot

21:41

of the clients that came in were

21:43

women over 50

21:45

, that was the base of my

21:48

eyewear sales and

21:51

when they came in I saw

21:53

that they

21:56

were . Many of them were

21:58

upset . They were going through

22:00

menopause . They didn't like

22:02

the way they looked . They didn't like that

22:05

. They couldn't see very well anymore . They

22:07

didn't like that . They

22:09

were becoming invisible . They were becoming

22:12

old and they were very . I had

22:14

women that had meltdowns

22:16

and we just started with something

22:18

small , like finding a pair of glasses that made

22:20

them feel good , out of their comfort

22:22

zone a little bit . I'm trying to

22:24

push them towards not having not

22:27

just kind of piling on with the granny glasses

22:29

, but try something

22:31

fun , try something a little bit bold . And

22:34

it was very

22:36

eye-opening because it happened every day . I'd have these conversations

22:39

every single day with these women for a

22:41

decade and

22:43

it sure enough most of them would come back

22:46

two weeks , sometimes the

22:48

next day , sometimes two years later to get

22:50

a new pair of glasses and they had changed

22:52

. They were people were

22:54

complimenting them , started with their glasses

22:56

, so they had a new haircut and then they have new wardrobe

22:58

and then they just started to say , like

23:01

my platform , they just started to say yes to

23:03

doing more things and

23:05

embracing their age

23:07

because it is beautiful . These were beautiful women

23:09

. They just felt they weren't . They

23:12

were just different from when they were

23:14

young . So that that

23:16

beauty of youth , it changes

23:19

. It changes for everybody and I think we all need

23:21

to embrace that , because we're all

23:23

going to get old and nobody

23:25

is immune to that . If you're lucky , you'll get old

23:27

and don't hate yourself

23:30

for it . Love yourself for it . You

23:32

are , you have the experiences

23:34

you have . You have so

23:36

much more wisdom . Life

23:38

is so good . My life since I've

23:40

turned 45 till now I'm 59 . Best

23:43

years of my life .

23:44

Right , yeah , that's awesome . Do

23:47

you think your demographic was that age group

23:49

, because our vision deteriorates

23:51

so rapidly ? Right , you know , in our fifties

23:54

?

23:54

Is that yeah ?

23:54

Yeah , so that's really

23:57

interesting . I know our culture puts such a

23:59

huge emphasis on beauty

24:01

and youth , especially towards females

24:04

, and so you saw a lot

24:06

of women go through this and start to feel

24:08

better about themselves over

24:10

time . No-transcript

24:14

, being a participant in the

24:16

pageant changed your perspective on

24:18

aging , or

24:20

is it just continued evolution

24:23

of the same thought process

24:25

about you know , respecting yourself

24:27

and appreciating your beauty

24:29

? Even though we're older , it's

24:32

still beautiful .

24:34

Yeah , yeah , those wrinkles , you've earned those

24:36

. Yeah that you don't . Things

24:38

change . Things aren't as tight , they aren't as high

24:40

. I mean , that's just the way it goes . But

24:43

I think for me I mean I

24:45

can only comment up to age 59

24:47

and I want to tell people younger than

24:49

me they're like , oh man , she's so old . You

24:52

know what I'm not ? Well , I am

24:54

, but it's been completely

24:56

enjoyable . And what is

24:58

what I really love about the pageant

25:00

is now I can have

25:03

the 69 and 79

25:05

year olds that are in this pageant and I can look at them and go

25:07

, oh man , you're an inspiration for

25:09

me . I want to be you in 10

25:11

, in 20 years . So I

25:13

love that it's women who

25:15

are helping supporting other women

25:18

grow into their the

25:20

aging process .

25:21

Yeah , that's really great . Yeah , I've

25:23

noticed this . I get older . There's

25:26

fewer people that I can look up

25:28

to as like an older person , you

25:30

know so , and we've

25:33

got to help the younger people too , right

25:35

.

25:36

Right .

25:37

So there's an interview process

25:40

. Do you know what the questions are going to be , or

25:42

are you allowed to talk

25:45

about whatever you want , like ? How does that ?

25:46

go . No , they don't tell you what the questions

25:49

are . You are interviewed

25:51

and you just need to be prepared

25:53

for anything . I believe is

25:55

the best motto Right

25:57

Be prepared for anything . Any question

26:00

?

26:00

Now you do have a bit of a platform

26:03

, like you're able to talk

26:05

about things that are important to you .

26:06

I assume Absolutely my platform for

26:08

the pageant is just say yes , power

26:10

of saying yes . Right , yeah , and keeping

26:13

yes to yes to working out , yes

26:16

to whatever you can do

26:18

, whatever your body is physically able to do , whatever

26:20

your mind is capable of , whatever your experiences

26:22

are , just kind of keep saying yes , don't

26:25

, don't stop that into your

26:28

you know kind of fourth

26:30

act of life . Don't don't just

26:32

listen to the social

26:34

norms about what old people are supposed

26:36

to do and just sit in rocking chairs and knit

26:38

. But no , is there any wrong with knitting ? You

26:40

love that ? That's great yeah .

26:44

Right ? Is that how you felt

26:46

when you found the website or whatever you found online

26:48

about this pageant ? Like was

26:51

it instant ? This is something I need

26:53

to do .

26:54

Yeah , I had that feeling that I this

26:56

looks really cool . I had no

26:58

idea the depth of

27:00

what I was getting into Right . But

27:02

now that I'm in it , you know what I'm committed

27:05

and I'm I'm going to try my

27:07

best . I want to be an inspiration

27:09

, I want to be inspired and

27:12

if I can help anybody , you know , I

27:14

mean , I'm built

27:16

a business in my 50s . So I

27:19

look back and that was when I was young . But a lot

27:21

of people are going , wow , that was old . She was old

27:23

. She , you know , designed

27:25

, dreamed up and built a business

27:27

in her 50s and sold it . So it can be done

27:29

. And I just think that's

27:32

an inspiration for those that are younger

27:34

than me and those that are

27:36

my age , those

27:38

that are older than me . Well , they're , they're going to inspire

27:40

me for sure .

27:41

Right ? Are you required

27:43

to attend any events or do anything

27:46

, or just get ready

27:48

and show up ?

27:49

No , we're um because

27:51

I I have a title right . I have

27:53

to be actively out there . Um

27:56

, and it's not required

27:58

events Like they don't tell us what

28:00

to do . We have to be

28:03

involved in the community and I've always been

28:05

involved in the community , so this is super fun and

28:07

easy for me . I'm out there anyways . Yeah

28:10

, I love talking to other people promoting

28:13

other businesses , especially just with

28:15

the fires . Like I , I have so

28:17

much in my head right now about

28:19

how many people have helped our

28:21

community with food and

28:24

volunteering . There's so much

28:26

that I would like to shout out to the world about

28:28

what a great community spirit

28:31

and and just being involved

28:33

with the salvation army and working through

28:35

the disaster . It's just

28:38

incredible .

28:39

So today is August 27th

28:41

. For those listening today , there's

28:44

still quite a few people in need of help . Um

28:47

, I think it was 150

28:49

homes were destroyed . I'm not sure

28:52

exactly that . There's probably quite

28:54

a quite a lot more that were badly damaged

28:56

, like we . This is totally

28:59

unrelated , but there was a car accident

29:01

just a few blocks away and a truck went into

29:03

someone's townhouse and they couldn't get inside

29:05

for a couple of months . So

29:08

, and having lived through the hurricane in

29:10

2004 in the Cayman Islands

29:12

like there were areas where you

29:14

just couldn't go , even if it was your stuff , your home

29:17

, um , they just wouldn't let you

29:19

in for a long , long time . So

29:21

is there anything listeners

29:23

could do to help out ? Is it salvation

29:26

army or is

29:28

there a need that people

29:30

could ?

29:31

take care of . I mean , find a

29:33

charity If you have a little bit extra money and donate

29:36

some some money to the relief fund might know , mamas

29:38

for mamas was huge . The

29:40

salvation army disaster relief is

29:43

what I was volunteering for . We were cooking meals

29:46

not cooking but serving meals

29:48

to firefighters and evacuees and

29:51

local commercial

29:54

oven and chefs were

29:56

making hundreds of , not thousands

29:58

of meals . It was incredible the participation

30:01

. But just if you have time , donate

30:03

your time . If you have clothes

30:05

that you don't need to donate

30:08

, if you like , whatever you can do , there's

30:10

a lot of the Red Cross .

30:12

Um , you know , I don't know there's

30:15

so much out there , there's just help , right

30:17

? Yeah , I really liked that

30:20

idea of donating time

30:22

. I did it , uh

30:24

, years ago when I

30:26

didn't have any money , but it feels so

30:28

, it really feels good to

30:31

be able to help and everybody can donate

30:33

a little bit of time 100% and

30:35

same .

30:36

when I was starting up my business , I didn't

30:38

have any money . Everything was invested in

30:40

the business Every penny I had . But

30:42

I had a little bit of time and

30:44

that felt great . I

30:47

donated time to just certain charities

30:49

that I felt passionate about and

30:51

and you help them . They

30:53

need people .

30:55

Yeah , absolutely . So

30:57

what does your schedule look like between

30:59

now , august 27th , and

31:01

November , when you're

31:03

flying to Biloxi ?

31:05

Oh , you know , I just um getting

31:08

into kind of a different mindset , reviewing

31:12

different questions in my head

31:14

, um , I don't

31:16

know . Practicing heels walking

31:18

in heels , trying not to

31:20

be clumsy and hurt myself again

31:23

.

31:24

Right and

31:26

uh , do you have any events that you have

31:28

to take care of between now and then

31:30

?

31:31

I have , Um , I have one fun

31:33

one coming up . Um , you know , I'm going to do

31:35

a lot of local shouting out to some

31:37

people that have helped through the fires

31:40

, but I have a fun football game

31:42

that I'm attending . Um , uh

31:45

, coming up here and I can't remember the date .

31:48

Okay , We'll . We'll post

31:50

it in the show notes .

31:51

Yeah , that would be great .

31:53

So what's happening at the game ?

31:55

I'll just be there and it's . The firefighters will be

31:57

there and I'll be just a fun football game . I'll

31:59

be probably helping out with 50 , 50 here

32:01

, right , and I'll be able to get

32:03

tickets or something like that yeah , cool , super

32:06

cool .

32:08

So um , is there anybody would like to nominate

32:11

to come on the show ?

32:13

Uh , if I um thinking probably

32:15

my trainer , tish Duffy . She's

32:18

so incredible , Um

32:20

, she would be great , uh , or wealth

32:22

management um financial

32:24

team . They have been just

32:27

so financially supportive because pageants

32:30

are not cheap , right

32:32

Um and um

32:35

, you know . The other sponsor

32:37

that has helped me is Jenny McKinney

32:39

. She's a local makeup artist and she's giving

32:42

me some lessons on how

32:44

to prepare my face for the

32:46

stage .

32:46

That's awesome .

32:48

So I think if I had to pick three people , those

32:50

would be the top three .

32:51

Is uh ? Is the makeup very different

32:54

for a pageant than what you would

32:56

normally do if you were having ?

32:58

a night out , oh yeah , yeah .

33:01

So it's a very fancy dinner where you're fully dressed

33:03

up like it's different , totally different .

33:05

because you have your , you have to be

33:07

seen from far away . So

33:09

if you just do something beautiful and subtle

33:12

, nobody's going to see you . So you have to have

33:14

quite the

33:17

face on quite a bit of makeup , bagel

33:20

, ashes , the whole thing .

33:21

That's a real science to that to be seen from

33:23

a distance right .

33:24

But still look good and not clownish .

33:26

Yeah Right , jay

33:28

Leno saying they went to

33:31

high definition television I think it was

33:33

like 30 years ago and he said they had to redo

33:35

all the makeup because when the those

33:37

TVs came out it looked like total

33:40

cake and

33:43

they had to reconceive

33:45

all the different things that they

33:47

applied . So you still have to , you

33:49

know , stand out , but

33:52

a little less thick . So

33:55

, yeah , those are some great nominations

33:57

, so we'll get . We'll get in touch with them and see

33:59

if they're interested in coming on the show . We

34:03

want to wish you all the best for

34:05

the pageant . We're going to be following you , so

34:07

Instagram is the best place to .

34:09

Instagram is my my go to . Yeah , I

34:12

play around with Tik Tok and everything that

34:14

I post on Instagram on my mat , so

34:16

just all goes to Facebook as well , but

34:18

Instagram's a place for me .

34:20

Okay , so we will follow you there and

34:22

all the best of luck for

34:24

for the pageant .

34:25

Thank you , luke , thank you very much .

34:27

Great to see you , thank you .