Erica Franz-Fey

Right.

So the pageant world to me is something that it was an interesting season of life.

It was nothing that I was ever groomed for.

It was nothing that was ever on my radar.

I...

I just, yeah, I wanted to play professional basketball.

That was my thing ever since I was five.

Like that was my, I wanted to play and that's, um, that was all I wanted to do.

I was a gym rat for lack of better term.

And, um, I remember getting something in the mail when I had come home from, um, school one summer and it was like, Hey, you should compete at Miss Arizona USA.

Someone nominated you.

And I was like, I don't know who would nominate me for that, but okay.

Yeah.

So I shared it with my mom and I was reviewing all the different things that you have to go through.

And I thought to myself, if I were to ever win this,

The most important thing out of it would be to be able to make a difference with the title.

I don't care about the photo shoots.

I just want to be able to overbook myself, being able to get involved with the local communities, with the local organizations that are actually making a difference.

So the pageant world for me was something that was not a form of narcissism.

It was more along the terms of being a steward for my state, especially as it hit our 100th year celebration.