Interviewing a "real princess"

About a month ago, we were asked to conduct a Q & A interview with someone we found interesting. Fortunatley enough, I have a friend in my class, Jen Smestad who was Miss Arizona and is close friends with last years Miss America. She gave me her number and we sat down over skype to chat. Here's what I got:

Sitting with her 2-month-old puppy in her lap, 25-year-old Mallory sits on her basic couch in her New York City apartment clad in a LA baseball cap and t-shirt. With no makeup on, she confidentially introduces me to her ‘baby’ Brooklyn and sweetly asks how I am. She proceeds to inform me that she is “an open book” and to feel free to ask even the most personal of questions.

Q:        What is the first thing you can recall that sparked your interest in pageants?

A:        Well my mom was a volunteer for the Miss America organization as was my grandmother and many of our family friends. It’s something I kind of grew up around. My mom did choreography for a local pageant and the first year it was around it was known as Miss Teen Alabama and I went to it the very first year and I placed third runner up. Obviously I was interested in performing since I grew up dancing and then this sparked my interest in pageants and I thought it was something I’d be good at.  

Q:        Was there one specific moment when you knew your goal was to be Miss America?

A:        No, it’s kind of funny because I grew up saying I wanted to be runner up to Miss America and then after I won Miss New York, I was like, “Ok I’m in it to win it!” But it’s just funny because I spent my time always saying I didn’t really want to win I just wanted to be first runner up.

Q:        Was it overwhelming at times?

A:        I am a pretty chill person, a lot of things don’t fluster me necessarily but sometimes it would get very overwhelming like something as simple as walking into an event and there’s 5,000 people and of course there is no system in place as far as taking pictures goes so people are pulling and grabbing at you. But no, I was never overwhelmed with the job. I was more overwhelmed that there are a lot of silly rules in place for Miss America.

It is hard to go from living on your own for six years and paying your own bills and no one telling you what to do and then being almost 25-years-old and being told you can’t do this or that and you have to wear this or that. This was hard for me because there really is no way to really fully understand it until you’re in it.

Q:        How has your platform of taking a stance against sexual abuse played a role in your life along with sharing the personal stories about the women in your life?

A:        It has been really interesting this whole process and spending my days talking about the women in my family. It has actually affected me quite a bit because it has made me come to terms with the fact that I was sexually abused as well which is not something that I have made super public but I am starting to talk about now. First of all it forced my family members into more of a healing space. I was constantly reassuring them that by sharing their stories they were helping other people realize how important and necessary this stuff is to talk about but also it helped me understand that it is something that happened to me too which can be something to be ashamed of but it certainly helped. I continue to help with organizations that deal with child sexual abuse. I think it is something that will always be important to me and it is preventable.

Q:        What was the number one thing that you wanted to emphasize for younger girls during your term?

A:        My biggest thing was I have refused to change who I am in the role of Miss America. I am Mallory and then I just happen to be Miss America and so one of the things that I was very adamant about was trying to show girls that, “I am not perfect and this idea that Miss America has to be a perfect human being is not realistic. And that’s not a real role model in my opinion you know if they wanted a real role model I would suggest that they look up to Taylor Swift but I don’t. You don’t have to be put together all the time and that’s ok. So this was one of the things that I really tried to convey consistently throughout my rein and I still do! I am no different today than I was when I was Miss America. I want the girls who look up to be to see that I am a normal human being.

Q:        I heard that you were the first Miss America to travel on an airplane with no makeup on and it became such a bid deal…Isn’t that crazy?

A:        Yeah! Isn’t that Stupid? Even the people who run the pageant were like “Oh she’s not wearing makeup!” I’m like, “Yes because what would I wear makeup for?  I’m going on an airplane and no one will know who I am.” There’s this weird attitude where everyone thinks people are going to recognize you. Like, No! I am your average white girl from Alabama. I prefer to travel like this. So, yes that was a big deal. I mean Miss America is not supposed to wear jeans and obviously I did but those things are just stupid and don’t make any sense.

Q:        How did you handle the media when they gave you a lot of negative comments right after the pageant with weight gain because you didn’t look exactly how you did during the pageant?

A:        I think publicly I handled it very well but privately I did not handle it well. I think instead of that being encouraging or making me want to straighten up it made me think, “I am going to eat this cheeseburger because I’m not fat, you’re stupid I am not fat.” So I would find myself binge eating. It was a hard balance because I tried so hard to remain active and eat well but I can go on a diet for six weeks and loose half a pound. So I found myself eating good all week long and then I would be discouraged so I would say screw it I am going to eat all these chicken fingers you know what I mean? It was difficult but it was along the lines of being a Miss America who girls can relate to. I am not perfect and just because I am Miss America does not mean I don’t want to do normal things.

Q:        Do you think that living in New York played a big influence on your career and getting where you are as far as exposure?

A:        Yeah it gives you a different gusto. There has to be a hunger and drive and an independence and ambition. A lot of girls who compete have no idea that they don’t get to go home and see their family or that after you win you don’t get to go pack up your apartment or move your things. They don’t hear the stories how Kira’s family had to pay thousands of dollars to break her lease in New York City because she is no longer going to be living there. I think just being Miss New York or living in New York gives you a sense of the real world things that are going to happen when you win and not like, “Ok I get to go around wearing my pretty crown.” It’s not about that at all and that sort of separates the people who do well and those who maybe don’t.

Q:        Were there certain things during your term that you didn’t accomplish that you wished you had?

A:        I had the shortest rein in the history of Miss America so there were a few things that other Miss Americas got to do that made me very sad to miss out on like riding in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I know that sounds like such a trivial thing to do especially because parades are horrible but that is an iconic thing and would have been a pretty iconic memory to have.

I do wish I could have done more with my platform but we have no control over the things that we do on a daily basis besides picking out the clothes that you wear or the things that come out of your mouth but we did do some pretty cool things regardless. I was pretty stoked to give it all up at eight months but then I was like, “Wait, that’s four months of things I’ll never get to do.”