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PNB interview, take 2:

Candi Brown 
talks to Patrick Nathaniel Bartholomew III

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Brown: They've been great. I've had a great experience with Hawaiian Tropic. I know that they have recently received some bad press, but I had a wonderful experience participating in the pageant. I've never had any problems with the staff or the judges. I was able to travel the world with
the Miss Hawaiian Tropic promotional models. I've had no problems, and I really had a great time.

PNB: What countries did you get to see with Hawaiian Tropic?

Brown: We did two photo shoots in Hawaii, and I went to Australia, Mexico and France.

PNB: Do you think that success in a major swimsuit contest can be a steppingstone to a career in the entertainment field?

Brown: Yes, it definitely can be. Many girls from Hawaiian Tropic have successfully gone to L.A. and have made huge careers for themselves. Scarlett Chorvat from Czechoslovakia, who won in 1991, has a great modeling career. I've seen Scarlett in many commercials. Jennifer Gareis, who is also a former Miss New York USA, is now in a soap opera. You meet so many people in the entertainment field through Hawaiian Tropic that it can definitely lead to work as an actress or a model.

PNB: Who are some of the celebrities that you have met through Hawaiian Tropic?

Brown: I've got a whole photo album full of celebrities. Oliver Stone, Whoopi Goldberg, Sharon Stone, and Ian Ziering from "90210." There are so many. I could name 25 people easily. I've met most of these people through the charity events that Hawaiian Tropic sponsors.

PNB: As a result of your participation in the Miss Hawaiian Tropic Pageant, did you get a chance to be a part of any movies or television shows?

Brown: I was an extra in the movie "Weekend at Bernie's Part 2," which was filmed in the Caribbean, but I was edited out.

PNB: Were there any modeling opportunities that you received through Hawaiian Tropic?

Brown: I did a layout in Seventeen magazine for Hawaiian Tropic. Hawaiian Tropic has its own calendar as well as ads that it puts in magazines. I know I've been in Cosmopolitan and Vogue in Hawaiian Tropic ads.

PNB: Here's a serious question. Did you have to compromise your integrity or your morality in any way to be successful in these swimsuit pageants? Brown: Not at all. Never. I've enjoyed the pagant experiences and the people that I've met through Hawaiian Tropic. And the girls are the sweetest and most Christian girls that I have modeled with. PNB: Let's go back to the beginning of your pageant experiences. Do you remember the first pageant that you entered? How old were you? Were you successful?

Brown: The first time that I was ever in a pageant I think was in the ninth grade. It was a really small pageant held in Rome, Ga. It was called Sunburst, which most people know of now because of JonBenet Ramsey. It was a really small preliminary, and I won. [Editor's note: The Sunburst system is fairly extensive, and has numerous age groups.]

PNB: And what did you win as prizes?

Brown: A trophy and a chance to go to the state pageant. But as anyone knows who participates in pageants, once it's in your blood, it's always in your blood. All you want to do is enter more pageants, and I've entered lots and lots of pageants.

PNB: Tell me about your pageant experiences as a teenager and then as you tried to win a Miss USA state title. What was your state of mind before the more important contests?

Brown: I probably did about 20 to 25 pageants before I entered the Miss Georgia Teen USA Pageant, which Jim Whitehead runs. I was 16 years old the first time that I tried the Miss Georgia Teen USA Pageant, and I didn't make the top 15. I was devastated. I cried. Then I asked myself, "Why am I crying?" But I did cry. You get so built up, and you want to do great. Then I did the other big teen pageant in Atlanta, the Miss Georgia Teen-Ager Pageant. In that one, I was third runner-up. I felt like had been redeemed.That's actually when I met Hope Allen, who became a good friend. You can meet so many great, wonderful, quality people through pageants. And then from there, when I turned 18, I wanted to do the Miss pageants. I entered the 1988 Miss Georgia USA Pageant and made the top 15. Then, two years later, I decided to come back full force. I was really excited and I almost won. I was first runner-up to Brenda Leithleiter. Then, the next year I thought it was going to be my year, but instead I actually went down to second runner-up. That was discouraging. That was very, very discouraging. But timing is everything, and now, looking back, I'm glad that I didn't win because I might not have been mature enough to handle the Miss USA Pageant. Then, the next year I couldn't decide if I wanted to do Miss Georgia USA. I knew that I was ready for the nationals. I wanted to go the Miss USA Pageant. I didn't care how I got there, I just wanted to go. Then I decided at the last minute to do the Miss Alabama USA Pageant because I felt like I'd have a better chance of winning.

PNB: How were you able to enter the Miss Alabama USA Pageant?

Brown: I attended school at Auburn University, and I had to set up residency in the state in order to get in-state tuition. That's how I became a resident of Alabama.

PNB: So you entered the Miss Alabama USA Pageant with very little planning or preparation.

Brown: I just decided to do it a couple of weeks before the deadline. I had all of the wardrobe that I needed from past competitions. I didn't have enough time to get really nervous and get all worked up about it. I just did it. I was myself. It was like,"If I don't get it, that's fine. I'll just come back again next year." Because I was determined to get to Miss USA sooner or later.

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