CASEBOOK: Pageant Power

THE LAST OF OUR BONUS EPISODES

Pageant Queen – currently Ms Glamour, Sussex Carolina Reinhardt speaks about how Pageants brought back her confidence, and gave her a platform to promote her passion for education and supporting people at grassroots level.

Our CASEBOOK podcasts are previous recordings on a theme or topic – This month, our final month of bonus episodes is about living our best life

About the Show

Each Thursday at 4pm, we broadcast on LinkedIn and YouTube, with the podcast released on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. 

Then every Friday at 8am (until the end of August), you’ll also receive a bonus podcast episode (like this one) - a carefully selected recent conversation offering practical insight and timeless support.  THIS IS THE LAST OF OUR BONUS EPISODES – Catch the weekly show every Thursday!

Wherever you listen, you’re invited to pause, reflect, and reconnect: 

PODCAST: https://mentalhealthmatters.buzzsprout.com

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5dbYRwciNQ3c2hZwpsfxnNIvpijH4S2b 

Today's show is hosted by

Dr Audrey Tang www.draudreyt.com  @draudreyt

Judith Crosier https://www.facebook.com/p/Judith-Crosier-Presenter-61556005102240/

Guest Expert

Carolina Reinhardt

https://www.instagram.com/carolatinaqueen/  

Transcript

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SPEAKER_03 0:04

Good evening and welcome to Mental Health Matters After Hours with me, Dr. Audrey Tang. This is the evening show where we talk about all things mental health and well-being. My co-host is Judith Crozier, and we have a very special guest on the show today. We have Carolina Reinhardt. Now, she has reinvented her life. She has gone from the depths of despair and changed it into something absolutely wonderful, joyful, and beautiful. And she is going to share her story with us. But we're also going to talk about one of the platforms that she used in order to do that, and that is modern pageantry. For those of you immediately thinking, oh, pageantry is just about the easy contest. No, no, it's really not. Modern pageantry is an opportunity for empowerment, for growth, for building confidence. So let's hear all about it from Carolina. It's lovely to have you here. Now we wanted to talk about pageants, and pageants is something that you have been doing for a number of years. You are Miss Kent and East Sussex, which is which is very exciting. You also hold the um Miss Swimsuit title. But pageants are not any longer a beauty contest. Modern pageantry is so much about female empowerment. And that is really important to you, Carolina. So because of your own experiences, do you mind sharing a little bit of your own personal journey?

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Yes, sure. Thank you so much for having me and for the opportunity to be here representing the Latin American woman. And actually, that's how I started my journey. As a Bolivian born and the first Latin American woman entering into UK pageant is just an honor to be quite honest. And that is sort of my journey into the pageantry. I never did pageantry before. So at 45, just entering to this pageantry world, and all started because of all the struggles that I've been through with my mental health, with with my health, physical health, having children and spectrum, with autism, ADHD, uh BPD, and also um struggling from young from young age as well, being a carer. I don't know if many of you will know, but in South America, when we're children, it's it's quite hard back then. We have to have a lot of responsibilities, and unfortunately, I grew up in a dysfunctional dysfunctional family where I was a carer for my mom at a young age because she had cancer. I was raised in a very abusive domestic violent abuse house or where I saw my father, how he was mistreating my mom, being unfaithful. And so pageantry was not in my journey, because I apparently in Bolivia I don't fit uh the features, the stereotype to be in pageantry. I was told that I was masculine, I'm uh like you know, um I'm I don't know what you call it, but it's like you know, your bones are too thick, you choose too muscle muscles, and and it was horrible. So I had a big mouth and anything, you know, that you can imagine that can really put you down. They said it all to me. Oh my gosh. So it has been a journey of really painful, you know, stories, which left scars in me. But I didn't know that until I went through so many healt health issues with my back, with um postnatal depression, uh, with struggling to raise my kids. I'm all by myself here in the UK with my husband and then um having the children and the spectrum. All these battles, you know, they we we're all going through something, but it's just to see how we obviously see it. And because I went through something right from the beginning of young age, I was always holding in God. He's my strength. So no matter how bad things go, I'll go to God and I say, God, I'm here, give me the strength, let me move forward. And so basically, through all that journey, my faith was in God, and every struggle from finances, mental health, you know, growing a dysfunctional family, the kids, being broke, um, having 23,000 pounds in debt, being evicted from a house, homelessness. It led to so many doors until two years ago it led me to the pageantry. Which I declined. When I entered for the Miss Swim Inso UK in 2024, I said, no, no, no, pageantry is not for me. I'm here to educate people, to share my culture, to empower with you know, from struggles to power, because that's what I stand for. Turn your struggles into power, into strength. Don't become a victim. Until a friend kept telling me, no, you need to, you need to enter because you know, all the things that you've been through, your story must be shared. And that's how I started my journey into pageantry.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

I mean, that's beautiful, and that really shows that pageantry, modern pageantry, offers an opportunity to create a platform to share something so positive, and and I think that's something to hold on to. So, just as a, I guess, in a way, a very personal question, you've been through life where you've been told you you don't fit, you don't like, but then you're almost told to go go and do that thing, go and do that wound fear thing. How did you do take that first step? I mean, that to me that's just incredible. Yeah, it's very brave.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

I think you know, I got to an age where for the past three, I mean, I will say four years, I have working on myself. When I say working on myself, I mean having lots of therapy. Uh coming from Bolivia, from Latin America, that's a big taboo. You know, you cannot be depressed. You you you cannot have therapy, you cannot go to a psychologist or have coaching because you're crazy. And I'm I want to be really honest here because I really love what you do. And I think we need more people like you sharing stories because we all come from different backgrounds, different culture, and culture sometimes um really make you feel low, make you feel unseen. And I say make us feel because that's how powerful culture is. It's not that nobody sees us, it's just that we feel it, that we are alone and we basically nobody.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Nobody. That's so painful to hear that. That's very, very raw there. Um so, with that, taking all of that raw emotion and then jumping in and doing the thing that scares you the most. How did that pageant system help you start to, I guess, feel seen and heal and rebuild? And I know your journey's still ongoing, but how did that help make that start?

SPEAKER_01 8:24

It did help me a lot because I was afraid that I wanted just to be me. Show my journey, show these cars that I'm wearing, like the stretch marks that I have on my stomach. I have carry four kids. I'm not perfect. My body is not perfect, nowhere near perfect. But after so much therapy, I have finally accepted that I love my body. This is the body that I have to experience life. This is the mouth that I have to smile and help me to taste beautiful, delicious food. These muscle, you know, chunky legs that I have, these are the legs that I have. I don't have any another legs. And finally, I go to those terms that I don't need to look like a Barbie to say I am beautiful. I am beautiful now because I accept myself. And whoever finds that I'm not beautiful, or if I'm you know manly or or you don't like my you know loudness, I'm sorry. I'm not your type of person, and it's okay now. Oh I don't want to please anybody, and that's what pageantry really helped me to. I went there to share my journey, to share who I am now as a person, as a Latina woman who has struggled all her life by still standing saying this is me, and if you don't like it, it's okay. I love myself now, I accept myself, and I forgive myself as well.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

That's amazing, it's very powerful, isn't it? That's really great, and it's great that the the pageant has helped you to come around and feel like this. So it's been a really healthy experience for you. But what would you say to people who might say that pageantry is outdated?

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Um I would say that you know, before we we say something, I think we need to really have full information and not be closed-minded. Sometimes we do jump into saying things without having the whole content or the whole information. So from my experience, I will say just go open-minded and investigate, you know, gather all the information, and if it's for you, good, and if it isn't for you, good too.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 11:11

Not for everybody, but I believe that judging is not a healthy way if we don't have all the information, and sometimes most people make a decision and say things based on other people's experiences, yes, which they haven't even done it, so it's invalid, and that really just brings it back to your own experience, how the culture wore you down, the culture, without any form of their own investigation or curiosity, made those judgments, put that thought into your head, and you've had to work through that and go and experience for yourself. And I think that's that's such a powerful message, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

And you know, thank goodness you found it because it's just made it's just made such a difference to you. Um, and how does your family feel about your patent work?

SPEAKER_01 12:07

I think it's a mix of feelings, okay, because obviously I'm not a young girl, I'm a mature lady who is really experiences life in a different manner, and I think being brave at this age probably can be scary to my young adult kids.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

And I think that is where it becomes a little bit challenging for them to understand where I'm coming from. However, you know, youngsters from 20s to 30s, they're still developing their brain and they're still, you know, focusing about what are they gonna say, what are my friends gonna say, what are they gonna think, and I think it can be a bit challenging in that respect. While my youngsters, they love it, they're like, Mommy, I'm so proud of you, and they help me to pick my dresses and what are you gonna say, and to be quite honest, I think the pageantry has such wonderful skills for life that you can really take on board, like public speaking. Before I used to be so afraid to just you know come into the cameras and talk, and standing in front of people is like well, nothing bad is gonna happen. But those skills now are so important. The way you walk, the way you talk about it doesn't matter if you have a star, but if you're not standing tall, if you're not walking tall, if you cannot communicate with other human beings, there are not gonna be many opportunities out there. And so pageantry really has many, many skills that every human being could benefit for the future.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

I think nothing more exemplifies that than when you just said, yes, okay, my young ones help me pick my dresses, but they say, Mummy, what are you going to say? That's that shows that's what those children are picking up, that it is a platform, that it is about raising your voice. Uh Carolina, you're staying with us, we'll be back just after this. Now she holds the Miss Wimsuit tonight. She is Miss Kenny Sussex, and I see you're wearing the Miss Great Britain sash as well, which is very, very exciting. We've been talking about the power of modern pageantry. Not it. It is seeing it's a beauty contest, it's so outdated. It is about the skills of communication, the skills of self-presentation, and confidence. It's all about standing up and finding your voice. And based on that, Carolina, promoting education is one of your key messages for your platform. And I know this will be rooted in your in your cultural upbringing. Why is education so important for all of us?

SPEAKER_01 15:30

I think um we need to def we need to clarify about education into two sectors now. Before I was always focusing, you know, you need to go to university, you need to have A stars, you need to go to school, otherwise, that's it, you know, you fail. Because that is what my culture really is all about. And that's how I raise my older ones. And now my focusing in regards to education, it has completely changed. And I'm saying education in a way is more holistic, no? About educating ourselves. Yes, we all need to learn to write, to read, you know. However, education is about educating ourselves and the financial services, educating ourselves about who we are at a young age, educating ourselves about how our brain works, how we communicate with others. And I think for me, the most important thing now is educating the children to learn about how they behave, emotional intelligence, regulations, learning about themselves or how they can speak to others and communicate their needs, their wants, find out what they like at a young age so they don't waste time and adulthood like myself burning out, trying to please other people, and also working hard on the skills that you're not good at, and they're only gonna make you feel bad. So for me, education is about educating ourselves in areas that are really gonna bring good positive assets into our life, like financial literacy, yeah, public speaking, emotional intelligence, learning how to regulate ourselves, because sometimes as adults, we don't know how to regulate ourselves, and then we end up in big arguments because we haven't learned that, and that's why I believe our society is the way it is, because not everybody takes the time to heal their trauma, past trauma, which I've been working on it. So for me, education is key, but that type of education, not just send your kids to school to learn algebra.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

I haven't used algebra to always say, but budgeting, very delicate. You're absolutely right, and I love that you can reflect and say, Well, I used to think this and now I think that, and that is again showing that growth and that change. Now, another lovely bit that you do, because I've seen your Instagram and I really like this, is once I know our culture can bring some strange beliefs, it can invent some behaviours that maybe we don't want. There is a lot of beauty in culture as well, and one thing that you do a lot of is dancing, and that is a great way you're introducing those aspects of your culture into into the whole sort of global sphere. So tell me a little bit about how you blend the heritage and the the joyful aspects of your culture into your work.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Well, I love dancing, I think that's the way it has helped me to cope with life. My music, my Latino music, salsa merengue, my folklore from Bolivia, is just such a boost into my nerve system. That nowadays I go and dance around everywhere. My children even know, mommy, you are crazy. I will hear the song, a Latina song, or I will play it, and honestly, I will stop and I'll start dancing. And now my children are here she goes. I'm teaching them that they have to be free, they need to do what they like. So now I go around and dancing folklore music, introducing to our kids about Bolivia because not many people know about Bolivia and South America, and so the children get so excited and the movements are so different. So I love bringing the awareness. I organized the first ever family fiesta in Ashford Kent, where I where I lived, and it was a fantastic experience for the kids, for the parents, uh, with the games, the bright colors, and I go to schools to share as well some of the Bolivian um traditions that we have. And I think one of my my keys and and really joy that I carry in my heart is really share the awareness of Latin America around United Kingdom as we are quite small communities still here.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

Oh, but you are very, you know, you you're so you're very welcome into any culture, I think, because you just bring such joy with it.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

I can feel that like coming from you. I can just imagine, you know, you bringing this to the different communities, it just sounds lovely, very, very nice. So you've obviously made a lot of changes, and you know, you feel a lot more positive. So, in terms of making changes, how do we do that? Do we have to hit rock button before you you can change, or you know, what would your advice be on that?

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Do you know what all the changes I have made is because I hit rock button. Okay, you know, and I think that is a mistake that we do.

unknown 21:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

If I will go back and I will tell my young Carolina, which I will know would like to go back to be 20.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

You're still young though.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Is you know what? Let let's stop learning with struggles. Let we need to start really focusing about okay, what areas I need to work on. And keep learning. And the reason why we keep learning and going back to old habits is because we have a connection with education being negative, going to school. I hate reading. I remember hate hating reading. I never liked the reading. But when I went, you know, into big debt I read this book and I was like, oh my god, and I could not stop reading because I wanted to change my finances. So nowadays it's all about okay, I have kids neuro neurodiverse kids and the autism spectrum. I'm gonna learn about parenting. I'm gonna learn about breathing techniques that can help me. So now I use all the things that I'm going through to really bring me co curiosity to learn more about it.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

That's really great.

unknown 23:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

So I decided to learn now. I'm a student of life now.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

I love that. So you've something you really used to not enjoy at all. Now you use it to find out, you know, and learn and do some research.

SPEAKER_03 23:16

Just one thing, again, something else that you said that just really hit me there was you said my children are on the spectrum, so I used the time to learn about parenting. You didn't say I use the time to learn about autism and you talked about what I can do that I can help. That it's just so refreshing and beautiful. That really is. It's just lovely.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Yeah, I I picked up on that as well. It was it was really it's unusual because yeah, most people would have said I need to find out about autism, but actually you've taken it to be your responsibility to help your children by yes. That's really lovely.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Um sorry, it's very um, you know, parenting I find it nowadays is very difficult. And coming from you know a culture where you raise your children the way your parents great great parents raise you, we need to break that chain. And and that chain of habits and strong beliefs in my experience, which obviously we need to relearn things, at you know, at 45 I'm doing a lot of parenting courses just because I didn't know how to raise my kids well. And I forgive myself for that. Yes and I add forgiveness to my older kids because I didn't know better.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

I know it's beautiful, yeah. Um so you talked about reading and research and music and dancing and things. Is there anything or anybody else that have helped you through your personal development?

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Yes, uh, as I as I mentioned it, I've been becoming really a student of life or learning from so many people. I had many coaches, I had a coach in finances, I have a coach on emotional healing as well, healing my inner child, uh, which are things that some people will laugh.

SPEAKER_03 25:30

No, it's actually really important. Yeah, it's really important.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

People say, Oh, I don't believe in that. It's okay. Yeah, yeah, agreed. But gravity is exists. Yeah, it's true. So the inner child and the trauma exists. Yeah, one thing is that you don't want to see it. Yeah, so yes, I have invested in, you know, in really painful therapies for coaches and the finances, parenting courses, and something that now I'm really keen is about investing in yourself. And I know we hear it a lot, but it's about where we put our prior priorities. I remembered making the wrong mistakes of buying, you know, product bags, Gucci, you know, shoes, but never ever spent a penny on buying a book. And now I go in from workshop to workshop, coaching, psych therapies because I know that that is really helping me, and the only legacy that I'm living is my kids. So I am a reflection of the kind of human beings that I want to live in this planet.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

Oh god.

SPEAKER_03 26:54

Yeah, that's that is really we'll hold that thought. We're keeping Carolina and we'll be back just after this. A world without the arts is one without confidence, creativity, and community, and yet funding has been reduced every year. Arts programs have been shown to benefit social inclusion and well-being, particularly for marginalized groups, with projects fostering a sense of belonging, cultivating mutual understanding, and breaking down social barriers and isolation. Participation in arts programs can help boost confidence and open doors to opportunities that may otherwise be inaccessible. ClickArts Foundation offers grants up to £2,000 for grassroots arts projects twice a year, with our community arts experience trustees meticulously scoring each project on impact and sustainability. To date, we have supported craft and visual arts projects, dance, drumming for well-being, and preservation of heritage and culture. If you share our passion not just for maintaining the arts themselves, but contributing to the many benefits it can bring, please consider making a donation to Click Arts Foundation registered charity. But moreover, we are talking about the platform that you have created through pageantry, which is all about education as a holistic whole, empowerment, finding our voice, and actually being the human that you want to see in other people. And that's just so powerful and so authentic, really. And also, you've been talking to us about your own growth and personal development and the amount that you've invested in yourself. I wish other people would also invest in themselves rather than buying that next handbag or whatever. Now, let's talk about reinvention. So that demonstrates resilience. Um, and I know this is something that you have started doing with your children and your platform. I know we'd all love to live in a world where we don't need to reinvent ourselves because we made the right choices early. So, in your opinion, what do you think really helps young people to find their voice, their voice, and be able to grow as themselves, not as what society or culture places upon them? What for you do you think um will help that?

SPEAKER_01 29:31

I think uh from my experience having you know young adult kids can be focusing on you need to have A stars, you need to go to grammar schools now to relearn parenting and now as we see the world is changing. I'm focusing with my young children, I can only speak from my experience and this is working for me, is about I believe that the children need the opportunity to discover who they are by asking them questions, by giving them the permission to tell us that they are upset with us, by giving them the permission to go and tell the teacher, I don't like the way you're talking to me, because they are human beings, they're little human beings with brain, with wants, with needs, but they don't know it. So I I believe that nowadays our society are just closing them down and they need more that freedom. And when I say freedom, they all need discipline, you know, because without discipline we cannot achieve anything. But there is a way to do it, and I think it's creating those safe environments and adding into the education system emotional intelligence. Yes, yes, and space, yes, personal development. Read a book about the areas that you like so they can discover who they are, because if they don't know who they are, what they like, and what they don't like, what kind of human beings are we raising? Absolutely. And so that's why I believe that education is really selling us.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

It really is. It's such a good point, and you're so insightful about all of that. So important.

SPEAKER_03 31:35

And so for ourselves as adults, um, again, your personal experience and your your opinion, um, how do you stop falling back into old habits? Because when if we've grown and we've developed that, that's wonderful. That's us. But if, like the rest of us as adults, we then try and change and we want to tweak this and do that. How do you deal with setbacks? How do you stop going back into some old behaviors which may have at one point served you well?

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Yes, absolutely. We're not perfect and we're not robots. Yes, and I think that's something that we need to get really um to get it. And when I say get it, we say it, but that doesn't mean that it has register in inside our conscious or subconscious. And nowadays, I forgive myself because sometimes I will have a chocolate cake, and I know that that's not healthy for me, but however, I can say it's okay, I can treat myself tomorrow. I will not have it. So I forgive myself for not doing things. If I forget to do my affirmations for five days before I was, oh I'm rubbish, I can't do this, I'm like, oh my gosh, the the battle that will go in my mind was crazy. However, now I'm kind to myself, okay, I know now that one day I might sleep out, I might not go to the gym for a week, but that doesn't mean that I cannot go back. That doesn't mean that I broke my habits, that just means that I'm a human being as long as I can retake it again. Yeah, it's okay to sleep, that is not okay to not come back.

SPEAKER_00 33:39

I love that. Oh, and we use that as a little mantra.

SPEAKER_03 33:42

That is absolutely we need to clip that, but will be and playing it on my phone.

SPEAKER_00 33:48

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

So that's how I deal with it. A little bit of climate is okay, Carolina.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

You need to go back, go back. Yeah, just get back on the on the track again. Yeah, oh I love that. So um, what would your top tips be then for your own well-being?

SPEAKER_01 34:08

Well, uh, my top tips first is God. I pray, I go to church, I worship. He is my strength, he is my hope. And after that I do my exercise, I go and do my meditations, my breathing. So I have learned to really focus on on on the well-being, but not having sort of a routine. I need to do this to make sure everything is okay. Just slowly getting into my gut, my activity, physical activity, at least 10,000 sets per day I need to do, and that's it. That's the minimum. If I don't go to the gym, I need to walk every day. That is the bare minimum. And then I do my meditations, my breathing, and I invest into listening to positive things because many people don't believe on the power of whatever you feed your brain is what you're gonna have inside that bottle. So I hear only positive videos and motivationals, and that is the bare minimum that I do every day.

unknown 35:37

Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

Just help me with my well-being. And sometimes I slip and I miss one, but I will do the other ones, and it's okay as long as I come back.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Yes, I'm gonna hear your words in my mind every time I don't go to the gym.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

Um, thank you. Um, so what's next for you?

SPEAKER_01 35:56

Well, at this present moment, I am working on um would like to write a book. Oh so I think that's a project I really want to get on. That's exciting. And I am also working on creating some Latino fiesta locally so people can come and do some dancing, some workshop, empowerment workshop where we can talk about more about you know, walking tall. Even if we're not tall, just walking tall, smile. I know that some people don't smile, but you know, it's teaching us to just bring the best of us. So I'm trying to work on getting those workshops in place and work with um children as well. Because I think that there are a lot of struggles uh around children. There's a lot of pressure, a lot of information for kids that I believe is too much.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

So those are my plans for these coming.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Exciting plans, really exciting. And where can we find out more about you?

SPEAKER_01 37:09

Well, you can find me on Instagram, my name Carolina Reinhardt, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, they're all with my name Carolina Reinhardt, and then you can go and watch me dancing on the streets.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

Brilliant!

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 37:27

Oh, it's been such a joyful conversation. Thank you, and really insightful as well. And if you're just tuning in, do rewind because you want to listen to not just what you say, just that how you say it. The passion and the insight and the experience that you bring is really important. And you know, we wish you continued success, not just with your growth, but with how your how you grow your platform as well. And we'll head over to Test the Trend. Test the Trend this week is a reminder of one of our previous guests. We had Judy Lindsay on the show, and she is a chartered coaching psychologist. And she said something really important. Okay. She said, every time we choose to do something, ask yourself who am I becoming. And is that action taking me towards that person, or is the action taking me towards a person I don't want to become? And the reason I say you need to think about this is because we constantly change. Our life goes through different phases, our transitions through work, uh life new things that happen within our lives, new chapters, all of that will uh impact us. And to take a bit of advice from another guest we've had on our mental health matters office hours, uh Polly Jarman OBE, she's the founder of Mental Health First Aid England, she said that sometimes invitations will stop coming. So it's a little bit of a warning here. Even if we're really happy with where we are, things can change without our knowledge. Invitations can stop coming. But similarly, if we get into certain habits, we can change without our conscious awareness because we need to think about look who I'm becoming. But if we know I know my life's in this direction, I want it to go in that direction, make the conscious choice and follow up this week by thinking, who am I becoming? Last part of the show, and again, such a chance to reflect on what a great conversation that was.

SPEAKER_00 39:48

So uplifting. I mean, uh Caroline is just she's so insightful and she's so um instinctive about what children need and how they need to what they need to flourish and grow into balanced human beings.

SPEAKER_03 40:05

Yeah, and I think that comes from her, all the work she's done on herself, yeah to recognise what she needs. Yes, exactly. And that's that's the same thing. Exactly like she said, children are little humans. Yes. We are just big humans. Yeah. We're all just humans. Yeah. And we all have a need to find our voices, to get away from the white noise of whatever that is, whether it's society, whether it's culture, whether it's parents, whether it's expectations, whether it's social media. We need that opportunity to be able to say, hang on, I like this and I don't care if you don't.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Well, exactly right. And it it's so it's so simple, but it's it doesn't happen. You know, we need to be taught how to disagree with our, you know, uh the authority figures, whoever that might be, parents or school or whoever, um, it in a good way, in you know, in a positive way, because children should be seen and not heard. That's not quite how it is at the moment, but you know, children like you say, they're small human beings and they need to be allowed to develop um healthily. And express. Yes, and that's exactly what came through from what from what she was saying. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_03 41:15

Yeah, and and the other thing which I because I've been involved in the pageant industry for a while. I went with an open mind, weren't very curious, found it a really uplifting, positive experience, very empowering, and I can see how it does teach exactly the skills that Carolina talks about confidence, how to walk into a room and own the space, how to speak, how to have something to say. But one thing that I took away from pageants is the winner, is it's not the most beautiful person because what is beauty? We don't know, we don't know what that is. But for me, it's the woman that I would be happy to be represented by. She is. Yeah, she absolutely is. Yes. If she was speaking for me, I would be happy to have that.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

That's such a good point, isn't it? And it kind of makes you look at what pageantry is in a completely different way.

SPEAKER_03 42:11

Because that woman who wears the crown goes out there and speaks not just for herself, but for all women.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:19

And I think that's really important, and she's definitely someone I would say, yeah, I'm behind her, I'm gonna be feathering, you know.

SPEAKER_00 42:27

100%. I was just when she was talking about the the dancing and the music, I was thinking, I wish Ashford was a bit closer. Exactly. Two miles away.

SPEAKER_03 42:35

Go onto her Instagram page and it's it's so joyful, but it's real as well. She'll post when she's having a bad day, but we'll be able to explain it. It's not a wallowing in anything, but she will say, you know, this is where I am, it's okay, this is what I'm doing to deal with it, and and it's it's very um authentic, but really very positive.

SPEAKER_00 42:58

Sounds very refreshing as well.

SPEAKER_03 43:00

Yes, yes. So on that note, try and be authentic, try and find your voice and express it, and uh yeah, think about how you're growing and flourishing. And from all of us here, have a good night.