Southeast assistant professor crowned Mrs. Cape Girardeau

Southeast Missouri State University assistant professor Erin Fluegge Woolf recently applied for a local pageant and was crowned Mrs. Cape Girardeau. Earning this title makes her eligible to compete in the Mrs. Missouri pageant Saturday which is being held in Kansas City, Mo.

Q: Have you done pageants before Mrs. Cape Girardeau?

No, I haven't. I'd always wanted to because my stepmom in high school was like, 'Erin, you should do this,' and I was always like 'I don't know,' and so I just never did. I was looking for, any of my students would tell you this that I'm always looking for, like, leadership things, especially for women. I do a lot of women's events, and so I was looking up leadership programs for women and this Mrs. Missouri thing popped up. So I talked to my husband about it, and I was thinking you know, I think I'd really like to do this.

Q: How did you get started with this pageant?

The state pageant is the actual pageant. This local title, "Mrs. Cape Girardeau" is an application process. So to get started, you send in your application and they give you a title. So I found out a little more about it, and I sent in my application, and then found out I was selected, found out I was Mrs. Cape Girardeau and I went for it. The pageant actually happens at the state level, so there is no Mrs. Cape Girardeau pageant. This is different in several ways.

Q: What does the title Mrs. Cape Girardeau entail, other than just advancing to Mrs. Missouri?

The application process gives you your title, but not only do you just get a title. To apply you have to have a platform, which is one of the reasons that this pageant is different. My pageant platform is the Vintage Now Fashion Show, and so that's a fundraiser that Pastimes Antiques does and it's for the Safe House [for Women]. So we get to raise awareness for our platform. Once I had my title I went to a workshop in Kansas City and they told us what to expect about the pageant, and what we need to be doing. When I came back from that it was like full-force press, like what can I do, how can I raise more awareness and stuff like that.

Q: How did you choose your platform?

All of those things, are things that I love: fashion, business, entrepreneurship, a good cause, women's empowerment, education, so it was a very good match for me.

Q: What is the process at the Mrs. Missouri Pageant and how does the platform fit into that?

At the pageant there are three things we get judged on. The interview is the biggest part, it's 50 percent of the score. Then you have your evening gown competition, and that's 25 percent and then you have your swimsuit and that's 25 percent of your score. What happens is on Thursday all of the contestants go on sort of a night on the town in Kansas City, so that should be a lot of fun.

Then we rehearse on Friday morning and then Friday afternoon is when we have our interviews. Everybody says that's what makes or breaks you, so I'm really excited about it. Then the next day we practice a little bit, and then have the pageant. We have our opening number, then come out in our interview outfit, and they ask us one question about our platform. Then we get changed and come out in our swimsuits, get changed again, come out in our evening gown. Then the final top few get asked the big-ticket question on stage.

Q: If you win Mrs. Missouri, what happens after that?

The exciting thing for me is if you win you actually get to compete for Mrs. America and then if you win that you go on to Mrs. World. It keeps going. But what I'm really most excited about is, yes, I'm going to have a giant party if I win, but then I've also got some ideas in the works for something of a charitable organization that I want to start. It's a fashion-based charity that I'm going to start, to help women who are down on their luck obtain professional work clothing because that can be very expensive. People have asked, what do you do if you don't win? And I say, have a giant party and start my organization, like I'm doing it either way. There is something in the works because it's all of the things I believe in with helping people out.

How are you feeling about the pageant?

I'm so excited. I'm just so excited. It's been really such a neat learning process for me because, like I said, I've never done this before. So when you try something new, there's all this stuff. I mean, I thought I was a pretty girly girl and there's stuff that I had no idea. It's been fun for me, on multiple levels.

Some of it is I love fashion, so it's been fun shopping for dresses and doing all of this. Other things it has been good for me because I teach business classes. I teach management, leadership negotiation, things like that. I've been putting all of that into practice -- asking for sponsors, asking for opportunities to meet with people, just really pushing myself to try new things. It's been exciting. Finally, it's just fun. People will tell you, I'm always looking for something and the main thing is I get to give back to Vintage Now and give back to the safe house.

Q: Has getting prepared been a challenge with working?

Yes. I'll say a qualified yes. There's been so many things going on, but as anybody who knows me would tell you, I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm very competitive. I love stuff like this, but I will also say I've really laid myself out here. I've tried all kinds of different things. I'm practicing, I'm researching, I'm reaching out to groups, I'm learning so much. Everything I've done has been absolutely worth it, like Abraham Lincoln said, 'I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come.' I feel like that's what I'm doing right now. Yeah, it's been tough. Yeah, there's been lots of hours that I've spent on it, but I'm excited.

Q: Is there anything else about this process that you would like to say?

I'll just say it's been fun, it's been exciting. Getting the exposure will eventually help my cause. I think for me, it's just exciting getting to meet so many people. A day that I get to make a new connection is a good day for me, of any sort -- if it's me just helping someone or sharing my cause or anything like that. I'm always thinking about paying stuff forward.