EP 80: United States of America's Miss Texas 2026 and the Truth About Addiction

We good? Everything set to roll? Yep. Man, look at us go. And we're back to another episode of Two Addicts and a Moron. What is up, everybody? Look, I'm just going to say, we're kind of a big deal in the pageant world. Yeah. It just is what it is. And to prove it, ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Catherine Colegg, everybody. Thank you. Thank you all for having me. No, thank you for coming and getting dressed up. That is always the coolest thing about our pageant people. That's what I do. That come through here. How is this happening? How did our dirtbag asses get involved into the pageant world? One of y'all's pageant questions ends up being, so what's your opinion on about Two Addicts and More on podcast? Oh, I'll be ready for it. Yeah, and you go. Yeah, I can't. You can say, well, I personally know both of them. I was on it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I'm just going to, before we get into anything, how did you find us? Well, our USOA Mrs. Texas, Elaine Mingus, she was on the podcast a little bit ago. And I was just so inspired by her story. There she is right there about just her journey with addiction. I just, I love that she felt comfortable to even come on a podcast and talk about it. And so I was asking her about it when I won my title. and she goes, I just think that would be such a good opportunity with your platform. Like, why wouldn't you do it? So then I sent you all a DM. And then here we are. And here we are. Now you're in the brick wall, like kind of messy looking sort of dome of, I don't know, chaos. I think it's iconic. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming. You've come from Dallas to do this. You are here for a fitting. That tells you how big this lady is. She's getting in a plane to get fitted for stuff, bro. I mean, it's pretty wild. So tell us, what was, or how long you been sober? Start with that. Well, I personally didn't struggle with addiction myself, but my mom was an addict for a very long time. She struggled for 20 years, and this year she's going to be 15 years sober. Nice. So I was impacted by someone that struggled. I say it all the time. You either love an addict or you're going to be one. but either way you're going to be affected one way or the other. That's awesome. Not awesome. But it's awesome that you're here and we're getting a whole other side of the tale. I don't think we have enough people. We don't get many. From the other side of this. So I think it's great. Thank you so much for sharing this. So 15 years sober, mom. Yes. All right. And what did she struggle with? Alcoholism primarily. and then it had painkillers thrown in the mix it was from people that she knew she was having back pain and things like that so she was getting prescriptions legally but abusing them mixing it with alcohol it's never a good combo so she struggled with that for a very very long time yeah and so how old are you now i'm 26 okay and how and how long ago did your mom get sober She went to her last treatment center when I was 12 years old. Okay. And man, that's a pretty important age, I think, when you're starting to really pay attention to stuff. When did you pick up on it? What age were you? I was 12 because I had truly no idea. So when my mom was struggling, she and my dad were separated. And so that was an adjustment just on its own. and my mom would go on these trips to Paris. It's kind of a joke in our family, but my grandparents would go to Paris when my mom was younger because they were in the antique business. And so they use going to Paris as a way to say, oh, your mom's going to another treatment center. So we had no idea. We just thought, oh, she's going to France. Good for her. But we're so young, you don't know anything. But we'll never forget, I was 12 years old. and one night I found my mom laying on the bathroom floor and she had her eyes closed and I got on my knees and I looked at her. I was like, mommy, mommy. And she goes, call 9-1-1. And so my sister and I got 9-1-1 and I thought just something's not right, but I'm 12. So like, what do you know at the age of 12? So that's when I started to pick up on it for sure. man what an a what a crazy scene to go into especially when you don't think there's a problem at all you have no idea at that age you really don't what are your thoughts about telling your kid or teaching kids about addiction what i'm no right answer i don't want to put you into a weird place but given what you've gone through what are your thoughts on that what Oh my gosh, I just think there's so much to it. I think there's it was good at the age I was to learn from my family that there was an issue. And I think it really starts with just being open about your struggles, no matter what age you are. Maybe at the age of 10, you're not going to say like, here's what addiction is. This is what someone struggling with alcohol, drugs, whatever it is. but just that acknowledgement that if you have a struggle to talk about it, I think a lot of people, my mom included that struggle with addiction, struggle silently. And that's really hard because it was my mom, my sister, and myself when my parents separated. And in my eyes, she couldn't get help. And after that point to now, or I mean, I'm sure that doesn't leave you, but what kind of impact does that have on you to this day? Oh, my gosh. It's so many emotions, really, but I'm in awe of my mom because she took something that she struggled with for 20 years, and she turned that tragedy into triumph. I don't think a lot of people do that, and now she is in a very healthy marriage. She runs her own business. They're incredibly successful and just flipped her life, 180. And that's just, I feel like a lot of people that come on the other side of addiction have, I don't want to say success, but they change their life in that way. And it's so admirable. Right. Yeah, I think, I think we talk about a lot on here is whenever people are able to get past that, you know, some of the resources and thoughtfulness that they have and like trying to always like get around things or trying to hide and trying to do this or that, once they're able to get out in the open and they can turn those that resource onto something different they can be they can do some really amazing things in their life like start a business and you know all that stuff now i don't know we didn't really get to talk before based on what you went through you've started a couple of profits some non-profits and you uh some things what what do you what exactly do because you have is it Above the Influence? What is it? Above the Influence is my pageant platform, yes. Okay. And what do you do on that? So I serve as a national ambassador for a nonprofit called Shatterproof. And their goal is to basically reverse the addiction crisis, to break stigma around addiction, which I think is a huge reason why people don't seek out help because they're ashamed of their addiction. And so I try to help with fundraising for them and just awareness that they even exist, you know, and that there are resources for people that are struggling because you feel like you have to struggle by yourself. So I post about resources on my Instagram and just do what I can as someone that knows from the outside how difficult it can be to even reach out and get help for something so difficult. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's one of the biggest things. Whenever you're struggling, I never knew other people would know that I was struggling. like I thought like I thought I kept it hidden really well right because I went to work and I still showed up for things and I still was I wasn't an absent dad but I was a late dad I just showed up late for everything but I always showed up and I think a lot of people I've talked to so many people now that once they get sober they always say the same thing man I didn't know anybody else knew so your was your mom kind of the same way did she did she try to hide it and try to keep it to where nobody else really knew? And did she think that nobody else really knew? People knew she was struggling and she was struggling big time. But to me and my sister, my mom was just like the apple of my eye. Like she's best mom ever, like did everything for us. And she raised us. My dad would go to work. And so I only knew life with my mom really in it. So then when we had the intervention, my mom had already been sent to treatment for, it was her last time at that point. But I just, I couldn't wrap my head around it as a 12 year old. Like, what do you mean mom is sick? What does that, she's sick with what is she like cancer? God forbid. Like you don't know what addiction is at that age. And so it was really challenging at that age to even understand what that meant and like where's mom when she coming back like what is it that like all those things when she would go away how long would she go how many treatments did she go to oh my gosh more than i could probably count on my fingers but when i was growing up trying to think it was multiple but the last one was the one i remember the most yeah did you have did you go visit her yes she actually went to treatment in the austin area so i'm familiar to in that sense. How was that for you being so young going into a treatment center? Cause I, I hear that's pretty intense for family members that go in. Yeah. It's, it's interesting because the way that the treatment center looked, they had men and women separate obviously, but I remember we would drive up to this big house and at that age, you're like, wow, like, look how magical it is here. But then there's all these moms too. And all the kids came at the same time so it was all the moms like just so emotional seeing their kids that they'd been away with like my mom was in treatment for several months and so getting to see my mom the once a month that I did just was like everything yeah I just won't ever forget the feeling I would get getting to see her I bet the I bet the feeling I so when I went to treatment we didn't have inpatient visits oh wow we didn't phone so i would get to talk to my daughter for 30 minutes on a sunday yep and uh remember those and some days like my daughter was six so some days she can't talk for 30 minutes she's like all right dad well i love you like she thought i had covid that's what we told her so she knows now what what what it was but back then we just told her i had to go away for a month because i had covid and um but i remember when i would get off those phone calls like it would just like i would it would just be a tear fest the entire time and i would want to leave every single time i want to go to my daughter i want to go to my daughter and we'll go but you couldn't you have to sit in there and you just have to sit in it and you have to feel that and i used to the the people that used to work there used to always tell me just remember that feeling remember that feeling remember that feeling so whenever you get back out there and you think like, man, I'm good. I've got this beat. Just remember how quickly you can get back here and how quickly you can be doing those phone calls again with your daughter. And that, that for a first, for sure, the first year of my sobriety on the days that were really hard, I would remember those phone calls and not being able to get to see her. And then on Tuesdays, they let me do a FaceTime for 10 minutes with her. I was the only person in there that got a FaceTime. oh wow i begged them for it and that was even worse like that was so i can only imagine when you're when y'all went to see mom and then she leaves all the all the moms there when when their kids leave how fucking terrible that was it's got to be rough man like i i mean i i maintain it but mother's love is so much different than a father's right so much more necessary not necessary but like you're carrying the kid for nine months the dad just like i mean he 30 seconds he was done with his job you know like yeah yeah you know what i mean like just call it what it is like it's like all you gotta do as a dad is just like show up yeah there you go that's it that's all i gotta do but a mom it's just so much more i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry welcome to two addicts and a moron love it love it here but but that's like the deal right and so having all those mothers in that situation man it's got to be tough that had to have such a huge impact on you yeah like I like I said like my mom raised my sister and I my dad was you know in the corporate world and was busy all the time so I only knew growing up with my mom and then your mom leaves for treatment at the age of 12 and my gosh she's struggling a lot and has to go to treatment a long time those are very pivotal age I think for a young girl especially so that made it I think very very difficult at 12 years old so I want to fast forward to what you're doing now with your non-profit yeah you know I can just imagine doing what you're doing with that I mean we've been doing this close to two years now and some of the stories that we've heard some of the people that stop us and tell us their stories what's that like for you now you know helping these people out I can't stop smiling about it because it's just, it's so cool to hear when someone's inspired by you. So last month I was able to do an event. I don't know if y'all are familiar with Kendra Scott. They're a jewelry store. Of course. Yes. Yes. Very familiar. Spent a lot of money there. A lot of money A lot of money in old KD KS KS Moron Yeah sorry I stupid And so I did a fundraising event with Kendra Scott and Shatterproof I was able to organize it for them, and it was so cool having so many people come and support Shatterproof and addiction because I just think that's the issue with it is that it's still so sensitive to talk about, but we're in 2026. Yeah. Like, why is it still such a sensitive topic? Because if we don't discuss it, it's never going to get better. So if I can even just have one conversation, even just having this opportunity with y'all, like, I feel like one person could be impacted and that's enough for me to keep doing it. I think it makes a lot of sense why it's been, why a lid's been kept on it though. I mean, I don't defend it, but I understand it. There's a lot of shame that goes on with it for a family, right? Like, even if you're a family who, you're a family member, you don't want to go around and tell that your mom was addicted to drugs and alcoholic and had to go to treatment, you know. And then as, that goes for everybody. It's kind of like a bubble. I mean, I have a family member that I just, only because I'm doing this thing, I figured out that he got sober. Like, he's nine years sober. He was like, I've been sober. and I was like talking to my aunt about it. And she was just like, we just didn't, you know, want to get it out there. I'm like, man, you have a village or, you know, resources and a village around you to help out. But people just don't want to talk about that. It's crazy because my mom is so open with her sobriety and has sponsored just so many women in their recovery journeys that are moms and are going through the very same thing she did. so I am that's kind of why I surrounded my platform and pageantry around addiction because my mom is doing so well with just being open about it like yes I struggled with this for 20 years and it was terrible made a lot of bad decisions but look how I changed my life by being sober and with God's grace it's really cool I think that's really important I think you know I say it on here all the time I feel like when God pulls you out of the fire he didn't pull you out so you can run off. He pulled you out so you can go back in and help other people. I think that's one of the things that make, especially people in recovery, most of the people that I've met, most of them, I would say probably 80% of them are very open about their sobriety and very open about their past and their addiction. They don't hide from it or shame from it because they know that I went through it so I can share it with you. So if you're struggling too, then you can come along with us, you can fix yourself too. You can find a way. And I think that's so important. Now, some people, they get sober and they move on with their life and they don't want to look back at it. That's okay too. I guess everybody has their own way to do it. But yeah, I'm very open about mine too. I have no problem talking to the strangest person in the world about my addiction. And I think that's great that your mom does. And I think it's great that she's, but she still sponsors people now? She does. And my uncle actually just went to treatment a week and a half ago. He's been struggling with alcoholism for several years now. And she's, I think, been a really great influence on him going to treatment and getting help. So I'm really elated that he's getting the help that he needs to. So she's making impact like that all the time. Yeah. Well, again, family member, right? Sometimes it's a lot closer than you think. and that's what I've learned the most about about being here I love this guy it took me a minute to figure out that he was struggling but you how how did you get into pageantry and how did you make the decision that this was going to be your platform surrounding it because it's pretty brave. It's a pretty brash. That's a pretty brash decision to just to be a pageant woman is incredibly brave. But to build that platform around an addiction problem, how what came about to make that happen? So I started pageantry in 22. I signed up for my first pageant. So I've only been in the pageant world, not even four years. I'm being honest. Did you do it? Did you do it growing up like in high school? Never. You never did. I thought pageants were was like toddlers and tiaras. And I said, I will never do that. Yeah, never do that. I had a friend when I was a fitness instructor in college. She had competed for Miss Dallas, USA in the Miss USA system. Yeah. And I was so in awe of headshots and the glamour and all the things. And I asked her about it. She's like, it has been one of the best things of my life that I've done. You should do it. And I thought she was absolutely out of her mind because I said, I will never get in a dress and go on stage. You couldn't pay me to do it. And then two months later, I was going through a breakup. I really was seeking just change in my life, ways to grow and to be the best version of myself coming out of college. And I had signed up for the pageant, little did I know. And so that's how pageantry started and I've never looked back at it. So then when you start pageants, you naturally start coaching. And so the first coach I worked with, she said, well, in pageants, you have a cause that you stand for, which is your platform. What's something that you would want to talk about? And I looked at her and said, I really want to talk about addiction, but I feel like that's not going to go very well because it's so sensitive. And she goes, well, that's why you should do it. Yeah. And so I just, I've never looked back from doing that or changing it or second guessing it Because it's personal to me. Anything else really wouldn't be. If I was to talk about it, these are things I have connections with, and I want to share that because it can impact someone's life. Yeah. Yeah, I think you have to be passionate about it. Agreed. Right? It's like you can fake it. Yeah. But most people are going to know, oh, she's faking that shit. She's not really passionate about that. Well, the standard, the one you think of is like world peace. Yes. It's the one that you always – you hear pageant, You're like, you just see a girl up there going, I wish world peace. Like, shut up, dude. Shut up. Like, come on. But like, this is stuff, Elaine, you, like, that's stuff that we can get behind. You know, that's. It's something people can relate to. Yeah. Right. Like, world peace is like, okay, cool. Like, fine. Who gives a fuck? That's never going to happen. That's never going to happen. But somebody talking about like, you know, when I was a kid, my mother struggled. and this is what I went through. And so these are the places and the different organizations that I support now and get behind because this, this. Like other people can listen to that and say, oh shit, like she's just not faking it. That's something she's passionate about and that's something that affected her too. The way that maybe it affected me, I can get with that. Let me vote for her. Let me send my little vote in. They still send the vote in with the phones? No. No. Yeah, wait. How does that work? Voting. Yeah, for Miss Texas. So if we're watching on TV, how do we vote? They don't vote anymore on TV? No. Remember? Shit, this is what? I'm learning so much right now. There's people's choice voting for things. When I was younger, you could call in and vote for whoever it was that you were voting for. Oh, my gosh. Now I'm 45. So when I was younger, that's how they voted. You could vote from home. My mom was always a pageant person. She loved watching that. She loved it. I heard my sister was in the mother and daughter pageant. I don't know if they still do that. I'm sure there's some around. Yeah, they went on the mother and daughter pageant when I was like eight or nine. Oh, my God. But yeah, back then, you would have to pick up your cell phone because they didn't have them. You literally got your home phone and typed in the number, and that's how you voted. Oh, wow. So y'all just have judges that vote now? Yes. There's people's choice, and so that's like a people's choice. It's family and whoever vote for you. So the money typically from that will go to a cause of your choice, which is pretty cool. But no, other than that, it's all up to the judges. Nice. So do you do anything for work outside of being a pageant? I have to. I have to make money to do the pageant. I don't know. You can be that big of a deal. Let's remember who you're talking to. Yeah. There's a reason he's a boy. Yeah, you were thinking it too. Yeah, I was. No, no, no. Well, I was thinking maybe you were still a fitness instructor or something. Oh, I wish. I'd love to get back into it. I did it in college, but I'm a CPA. So that's my full-time job. Oh, nice. I just filed taxes after 10 years. Oh, love that. Yeah. Yeah, literally. Calling the IRS, maybe. It was the last thing for my drug addiction that I still hadn't saddled up with. Oh, gotcha. So I literally, during the Christmas break, I found a lady that could do my taxes and that could do them for that because I knew how much money I was going to owe. and yeah, I made a little account on the IRS. She got on there and she's like, wow, you're fucked. But she did a really good job for me and I paid her pretty good money. But now I'm clear. Now I don't have to worry about them coming to get my shit. Oh, love it. Yeah. Love it. Yes. So where'd you go to college? SMU in Dallas. Okay. Yes. All right. Mustangs. Yes. Pony F. Yeah. Pony F. Did you go for? What did you go to school for? I went for accounting. I ended up getting a bachelor's in psychology. I was struggling a lot with depression and body image growing up after my mom had went to treatment. So I just, I saw that as an opportunity to really learn more about my struggles myself. And then I did bachelor's in accounting and got my master's in accounting all from SMU. Wow. Nice. I was going to ask if from what you went through with your mom, if that affected you in that type of way. and I didn't want to pry, but this is what we kind of do here. If you had ever went to any therapy or anything behind it. Oh, yes. You did? Yes. So when... That's not too invasive, right? I will talk about... That's the whole point of why I talk about this. Because I was about to say, get the fucking time. Where's my lift? Yeah, go ahead and leave. No, I... Because this was all new to my family too. So I think they were trying to just do their best with what they knew how to do and what people told them. So when my mom went to the final treatment center in Austin, they put us in this therapy session. I will never forget this therapist. I went to the session and she looked me dead in the eyes and said, if you ever drink alcohol, you will be an alcoholic one day. I was 12. And that just my mind around alcohol and all those things was just that was it. I so I like avoided it at all costs because I'm so mortified by that. But how would you not at that age? Yeah, hardly thing to say. It is pretty good. I thought so, too. Yeah. Looking back on it, because it's just your whole perception of things like that. It's you don't even know what to think because you don't even know what addiction is to start with. And then you have someone being so blunt about a statement like that. We did treatment with another facility. They were in Las Colinas in Dallas at the time. They're primarily based in California. And it was a three-day program for children with parents struggling with alcoholism, drug addiction, all the things. So my family definitely tried lots of ways to kind of help my sister and I understand what was going on. But it was so just confusing in general, all of it. so you said that you struggled body image issues i did you know but you mind if you talk about i mean that's a big deal for women for sure women for sure so how how did that come about or what what did that look like for you oh my gosh i was so young i i think at the time that really had developed. So we were living in San Antonio. I was going to ask, how old were you? I was 12 when my mom went to treatment. And so then when she went to treatment, the intervention, all the things, my dad was in Dallas for work. And so they picked my sister and I up. We moved to Dallas and they started a new school. And you're in like the middle school, high school, no mom, just dad. And I just remember just not loving the way I looked in the mirror. And I'm so young too, Like even thinking back on it, I just would cry all the time about it. Just I was like, why can't I be like thin? Why can't I be pretty? Like I'm just so chunky monkey or like all these thoughts I had to myself. And I started having to go to therapy because a doctor noticed that I just wasn't doing well to get help for that. It was really, really difficult not having my mom at the time. Because I think that, like you said, like a mom's love kind of thing. I felt like I needed that at the time when I was struggling with something like that. But it feels very full circle now being in pageants. And I feel just so confident in myself. And it's something I hope I show other girls that maybe struggle like that too. Well, getting on the other side of it. I mean, how long did you struggle with that? I struggled probably from eighth grade. So I was 13 about up until maybe my junior, senior year of high school, I'd say. Very long time. That's a long, long time to not really like what you look like. I struggled with that from the age of five to right now. I do not like what I look like. I never have. I've always looked in the mirror. I was like, I wish I had a different face. Why couldn't I have a better face than I do? Yeah. It's a daily battle. But I. But all joking aside, it's that is such a struggle for primarily young women. Yeah. Like in I don know that I ever talked to one that was ever just like just okay with what they look like during those awkward teenage sort of years man I think especially now, like with social media, especially. Oh, yes. Like, it's got to be like, I was asking my daughter today, which is my daughter's 10. And I called her and I said, hey, what are you doing? she said i'm watching i don't she was watching something where they dress up and uh people dress up and then you can vote from your phone or you can vote how they look on a one to ten scale and i was like you're 10 like what why is that like but yeah it's such a big deal especially with women i think more so with women for sure like i always wanted a six-pack but i'm like i'll just keep a shirt on and just look big and uh yeah i'll just have a big chest but i know like what you were saying with having your mother's love i think for like i'm a i'm a dad right and before i got married before i had destiny and haven here i had huge fears about when my daughter starts a period and when she starts getting these emotions and all this and this and then when they got here i'm like thank god y'all are fucking here because like she's getting to that age where she's getting close and whenever those questions come up, I'm just like, right over there, go talk to them. I don't know what the hell you're talking about. So I'm sure your dad probably struggled with that too. We're dads, we're guys. It's like what you said. I don't have the 30 second part, but it wasn't 30 seconds. But there's a lot of things that I don't know about a woman and that a woman can help so much more than what I can. And so I can see like where your dad probably had some struggles there having two daughters, right? You and your sister. And like questions come up like, fuck, I don't know. Like, you know, so yeah, I could see where not having your mom around that time. That was a big deal. It was difficult because I really didn't have a good relationship with my dad at all. Yeah. And so you throw that into the mix. And so a lot of the time I was struggling with body image and depression. I just felt like, who can I go to? Yeah. Like, what do I do? So I struggled silently all the time. How much? Are you older than your sister? By 10 and a half months. Irish twins. Irish twins, yes. I'm wasting no time. Yeah. That's a solid minute right there between two kids. Why not? According to my math. Let's not waste this hospital bed. Just had one. Let's go ahead and get another one out. That's crazy. Yes. My sisters are 10 and a half months old. Oh, my God. One is like April 16th and the other one's like February 14th, something like that. Oh, wow. They're literally like, my mom didn't even leave the hospital room before. She's like, well, let's go out and fuck again. Burn one more out. So you're older than your sister? Yes. So did she struggle with the same kind of stuff? I don't think so because I think the nature of my relationship with my sister is I'm kind of the protective one. Okay. And so if there was ever like family conflict with dad or anything like that, I was always the one to put up the front because I didn't want her. Like it was difficult for both of us. You protected her. Yes, very much so. So I tried to avoid her having issues, I guess. Probably doesn't sound like a good way to put it, but I just didn't want her to struggle. So you took it. Yes. Yes. Did she see your mom in that state when you were 12? She did because she was the one that she grabbed the phone so that we could call 911. We both were there. Well, you couldn't protect her from that one. No, no. I meant that with all sincerity. You really dropped the ball there. You failed that day, didn't you? Stop protecting her, you are. that's not that sounded horrible oh man i am fucking you're on it today brother i'm on one today dude i am on one so hey drop the ball finish finish so what what are your goals moving forward with pageantry what are you what is it that you're trying to aspire to is there like a limit to this or are we we trying to go miss america miss universe like what are we what are we doing here oh gosh i don't because i'm only 26 and when i think about that i think like i don't have a lot of time in pageants left but it's so not true like elena's usoa mrs texas 25 and just like was doing all the things so I'm trying to live out my MISS days while I'm young and just speaking about addiction, doing what I can and that. I don't know what life is going to do for me. I don't know where God's going to take me, but whatever it is in pageantry, I'm open to it, but we'll see how long I'll be doing it. All right. What's your, uh, what's your views on Venezuela? I wanted to, I wanted to take you off because you were talking beforehand, how the questions we're getting nutty. And I just want to see your reaction to that. No comment. Atta girl. Atta girl. No, I just wanted to throw a curveball in there. It made me laugh earlier when you were talking about being up there and you get this question and you're like. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, what's the craziest one that you heard? Yeah, what is the craziest question? What's the craziest question that you had to answer on stage? Oh, wow. I think probably the one I got asked when I won this title, oddly enough, because it was just a question I'd never been prepared for in interview coaching ever. And the question was, I can't remember it exactly because my brain just froze when I was up there. But it was something along the lines of if you face criticism for competing, how did you deal with it kind of thing? And my family was in the audience and they said they heard the first girl before me answer the question. And they go, we are saying a prayer for Catherine right now. And I actually had experienced a little bit of bullying the first time I competed in pageants. And so it just felt like God led me to answer that question. It was something that I just was holding on to for so long. And it, I think, always bothered me a little bit, no matter how many titles I've won. But that felt like I let it off my chest. And it was the coolest feeling like this happened to me, but I'm using it to my benefit to grow and to learn from it. And win this title, son. Yes. You know what's funny is like growing up, I'm from a small town, like 10,000. And they used to always do a talent show every year and they still do. And then in the middle of the talent show, they have the freshmen and the sophomores and juniors and seniors, their little whatever it is that they compete for. And so they do it in the middle, but they don't announce the winner until the end. So if the talent show sucks, you have to sit through the whole talent show. So my niece just competed. She's Paisley a junior. She's a junior. She's a junior. And what, my father? I don't know. She doesn't know either, dude. You're asking for a bunch of people that don't know. You should know this. So she's a junior, and we went and watched her, and she's gorgeous. And she did the walk. I didn't get to hear the interview part because they didn't do that. I guess they do the interview before. Yep. So we didn't hear the interview. So maybe she bombed the interview. I don't know. But as far as her walk, the way she looked, how pretty, there was no question in my mind who was going to win. and then she didn't even place. And then I know that from the whole time that I lived there, it's always very political and very, you know, if your family is somebody big in the town, then you have a much better shot of getting there. Does that happen in, you don't have to answer this because maybe it will fuck you on the next pageant, but is it very clicky? Can it be clicky and can it be political? I think it depends on the pageant. I have found great pageants that I don't feel that way at all. Like USOA is great about just sisterhood and authenticity. And that's what really drew me to it. I felt like what I had to say mattered and how a judge was going to perceive me. And if a judge likes what I have to say, then great. If they don't, then I still like who I am. So that's never going to change me. I'm sure there are pageants where that happens. And it's really unfortunate because that's not what pageantry is about. At least in my opinion, it's not. Well, the bullying has got to, girls are catty, man. Girls are super catty. And whenever there's crowns and like I'm better than you is involved and it's in the eyes of somebody else. Yeah. Holy. Oh, my God, I voted for you. That fucking bitch. That fucking bitch. I watch girls come in the gym that are in great shape. And I watch other girls look at them like, you fucking bitch. Yeah. Like, why are you on a fucking treadmill? I'll get the fuck off the table. I watch it. Yeah. And I do the same thing about guys, too, so I shouldn't say shit. Yeah, imagine your enemies. Guys that are bigger than me, I'm like, fuck you. Yeah. But, so what would you tell if there's a, hopefully there's not any kids watching our program, right? But, well, I mean, I hope not. But if there are kids that are watching this, or even teenagers, teenagers can watch it, that have a parent that's struggling, and what would you tell them like from your experience what would you say hey you know what would you say like if a if a teenager came to you and said hey i noticed that you support this and that your your mom used to struggle like how did you handle it and what do you my dad's struggles or my mom's struggles what would you tell them that it's okay to share how you feel about it because it's such a confusing topic and you might not fully understand what's happening why your parent is in that position to begin with, that there's other people you can talk to, there's resources, but if you're struggling to speak up about it. And I wish I had did that more myself. And so it saves you a lot of pain. I think not the pain of your parents struggling by any means or whoever in your life is, but just being open about it and seeing what can be done to make it a little easier yeah the resources are pretty vast for people on both sides of the ledger agreed which isn't common knowledge no it's not and um you know i know he he was in he was in that boat i don't know where to go to get help right excuse me but people that do that on the other side of it too or that experience it from the other side there's a lot of resources out there there's Al-Anon that's a good one have you ever heard of Al-Anon? Al-Anon's a really good one Al-Anon is for families who have someone that they love you okay? no I'm dying you need mouth to mouth I got you but Al-Anon's great so I accidentally went to an Al-Anon meeting before and I thought it was a Cocaine's Anonymous meeting so I'm just sitting there and everything starts and then they're like I know I'm in the wrong room there's no doubt about it and I'm like is this a Cocaine's Anonymous room and they're like no that's next door they were kind of dickish because they were like we're fucking here because the people like you is what I felt like so I was like they're like no that's in the other room that's where the other people are all right thanks but alan on is a really good they have other ones too they have families anonymous yes that's a good one in uh is it nar anon i don't know if they have so many here in texas i don't think so but there's a lot of good resources and i know that i know people that who are younger that have went to those programs and it definitely helps and then even families like wives or husbands that don't understand why their wife or husband is struggling like it's it's so crazy because if you've never been an addict you it's so hard to understand like i remember when people used to tell me well just stop and i'm like if it was that fucking easy i would like you could have put my daughter's life in front of me and said there's something gonna happen to her unless you stop using drugs right now and there's a 50 50 chance that something would have happened to her because I didn't know how to stop. Like, that's just what I was for such a long time. So there's definitely a lot of resources out there. And I think the resources are getting bigger for people. Like, people are starting to really talk about them because it affects everybody. Like, I don't care if you are an addict or not. It's like what he always says. Either you know someone who is or you love someone that, you know, you're affected by it in some kind of way. So I think when people like yourself with a platform get out there and start speaking about it, it makes it okay for other people to talk about it. It's crazy because I read a statistic, and I think it was as of 2024, that 49 million people in this country struggle with addiction. 49 million people. I bet you it's more. It might be more than that. Yeah, now. But then you think about how many family members is that? How many friends is impacted by that? The wake. I always call it like the wake, right? Like, you know, you have the person with the addiction behind the ski boat and then it's the waves that are affecting the rest of the water all the way through, you know. I know my addiction affected all of my family. Yeah. Like my mom, my sisters, my brother, my nieces, my nephews. It affected, especially like when I didn't show up for Thanksgiving and they're like waiting on me, waiting on me. And I'm like, hey, I got another flat tire when I don't have a flat tire. Like I'm driving in or making excuses. or when I don't show up for Christmas, or when I show up 12 hours late for an event Like they were all affected by it and they all knew that I was struggling they just didn know how to bring it to my attention and say hey look we know uh we were talking about your intervention and how you just showed up and it was already done yep basically so you didn't really experience it it was overwhelming having my whole family there not knowing they were going to be there, that felt like an intervention within itself. So I wasn't there for the actual mom, you have an issue kind of thing. Yeah. But the feeling of just seeing my whole family there, but my mom was, it's an indescribable feeling. You're just like, well, where'd she go? Yeah. So mom was already gone when y'all got there. They had already, okay. The treatment center came and got her and she was gone to Austin. Yep. Yeah. What are your thoughts on intervention? Oh my gosh. I have a lot of thoughts on it. That's a great question. Really, but I think my mom specifically with how long she was struggling needed it. And just for people that loved her to say like, hey, we love and care about you. You have two daughters that you care about so much. Like you need to go do this for yourself and for them. I don't know how the conversation went, obviously, because I wasn't there and I was so young. But I feel like that was my mom's motivation other than within herself. she needed to i feel like when you're struggling with addiction no one can make you go get help well you think about it from her perspective on what you saw right i'm putting it on the other foot now her 12 year old daughter she just had a lean on her 12 year old daughter to call 9-1-1 and through her eyes save her life yeah 12 and 11 year old daughter right and the two daughters yeah and that is probably a pretty traumatic thing in and of itself probably enough to make someone i i know you said kids are in the cards and you'll understand this probably when you have them but it that had to be really hard on her and probably pushed her to the point of like i have to get better yeah like this is an actual issue and something i used to think about after i got sober is i knew that like looking back whenever i got sober i used to always think about like thank god that god protected my daughter from walking in and dead being dead right or being out like because she was such a young she was so young and i would get her from friday to monday right and let's say she would have came in on me on a friday and and i'd od'd like she wasn't old enough to use a phone or to know what to do she would have literally just laid beside me for you know who knows almost got me there she would have literally laid there with me for friday saturday Sunday and no one would have found out until Monday and well her mom calls during the during the weekend but if she wouldn't have got a hold of us who knows if she would have came and checked but like she literally would have just laid beside her dead dad trying to wake me up the entire time so like I never thought about it in my addiction I didn't think about any shit like that like I only thought about myself I was very selfish and just about me me me but whenever I got sober I used to think about that all the time and like man like i know so many people that have od'd and died and especially in recovery you meet more and more people that are going to and it's something i never thought about until i got sober and i'm just so grateful to god that he kept me from doing that to my daughter but i will say this if my daughter would have had to help me through maybe that would have been enough for me to say, man, I do have a problem and I can't do this to her ever again. So maybe that was a blessing too for your mom. I know. I think so too. Because even that was more of the pivotal point where I knew something was wrong at that age. I do remember other times when after my parents had separated, it was just me, mom, and sister living in the house. I even can visualize it. My mom laying on the couch at night, I would come downstairs for water, whatever. My mom would have a cigarette in her hand, but she was, I guess now knowing what it was, she's probably drunk and passed out. And the cigarette was, I remember like burning the couch and I like shook her awake and she like wouldn't wake up. And then she was like, Oh my gosh. And like, you just don't forget things like that. So I guess everyone needs that, that wake up call to get help. And that's what probably instills it with them. But like you said, and my mom says like addiction is a very selfish thing and that's all you think about is you you yourself and i yep and she she says that a lot and she says kind of same things like your uncles like that as well but that's just what addiction is and everyone hits that rock bottom before they they go back up i think yeah yeah so i asked you the intervention question because i do i have a a family friend that's his brother's dealing with an issue and they're they're struggling getting through and um my viewpoint on it is um i don't think that you're ever going to approach someone and be like hey it's time for you to get better and x y and z is going to start happening or we're going to start taking things away from you if the person's not all in correct themselves like they have to actually recognize it right yes so if they don't then it's just one big bitch fest you know i it's kind of like my my view on it like for your instance mom had this issue you saw it sister saw it traumatic for her i need to get better family heard about it probably and we're like what the actual it was probably more like planning to get her there at that point than it was anything else right like you got to find your bottom or your bottom finds you 100 and she found it and so i'd be curious to know like i'd love to have your mom on oh my gosh i think that'd be super cool my mom is an open book and she's a talker. She's a talker like me. She'll talk all day long. Yeah, yeah. Her story's pretty, I just think at the age with daughters and things like that, it's pretty cool to hear just how she hit rock bottom and she just turned her life around. And it's like the biggest like admiration to me is just like her daughter to see her do that. Well, it's gotta make, there's gotta be a crazy amount of pride that you've picked up this ball and done what you're doing and running with it the way that you are behind something that she also is picking up the baton and running with, right? Like you guys are kind of running in lockstep with each other, you know? That's a pretty unique position. She's got to be real proud. And I would, where does she live? Dallas. So she's only about 30 minutes from me. We got to get her here, dude. Got to get her here. Yeah, that's something that she's got to be really proud of about you. Is like, you know, in her too, like y'all both took like a negative and turned it around and made it a positive. And you're able to go and show it, go and share it. And I'm sure like anytime you go, I mean, winning pageants and shit is great, right? Over the moon, I'm sure. but to see you take something that affected you in such a negative way and said you know what I'm not only going to go do pageants I'm going to talk about this and because you have so much admiration for your mom too because she was able to flip it around like that that's got to be something like y'all are just both so proud of each other about she's just as she's my biggest inspiration I can't say it enough like she was she's always been my biggest cheerleader like even coming out of like treatment and stuff like that she she did the sober living she started from like the ground up like she did not have a job really went or like a career I should say not a job um but then you go into sober living and all those things she's working at the grocery store making not much money and just hoping she makes enough money to come to Dallas to see her kids like yeah And now I get to see her all the time. So it's really cool now with what I'm doing in my life and speaking about it and pageants and CPA and all the things that, like, by God's grace and her sobriety, she can see me achieve all that. It's really cool. That's awesome. Well, you get to see her achieve, too. Yeah. like man the the climb up you did you didn't know her any other way but addicted up until that 12 year old little girl came around right so seeing the tale of two halves there has got to be pretty cool i mean that was half of your life yeah i mean that and you just kind of got used to it you know yeah you you think about stuff like that i mean i just thought about kaylin like that was over half her life that she was a huge part of her life her upbringing was what she had to witness and probably goes back and goes back into the tank and thinks about and she's great i mean she's a great little girl well even kaylin like she she knows now because i'm very honest with her about it an open book with her yeah and but she knows now like kind of like what you were just saying now looking back like finding your mom passed out and stuff like you didn't know you just thought she was sleeping at the time but now you know oh shit she was probably drunk or whatever now kaylin knows like well my dad she used to just think i'd be in the bathroom for three hours taking a shit she didn't know that i was in there you know doing drugs or whatever so but now she does and now she's like dad you remember whenever i used to have to like make you food because you couldn't get up to go yeah and i'm like i don't even remember that stuff but she does and now she's like you were probably really high then right dad i'm like can i was high the entire time like the the whole time so yeah but you know well i couldn't be any more proud to have you on uh because you may be the it's maybe the first time that we've ever had somebody that wasn't the addict on here definitely someone that grew up like it um right cesar caesar i say cesar cesar wasn't an addict but he works in treatment he worked in treatment so i think it's crazy how we remember everybody's story right don't really do yeah it's not it's insane how we like can pinpoint to one person but Cesar wasn't an addict he worked in treatment his uh fiancee right was an addict and isn't or was an act and we had them on back to back we had them on back to back yeah we figured out just through talking to her that he worked in treatment wow and then we were like well he actually came with her to watch yeah and then we were like hey let's do it next week yeah yeah Um, but we had, uh, Raven's dad, but he was here with Raven. So I'm, you're the first like child, the first child that got to come on and talk, that got to come on and talk about this, which is a, I mean, it's a big honor to have you on. And how do people find you? You can find me on Instagram at Catherine dot Victoria underscore, or my USOAMistXas Instagram page as well, which is just at USOAMistXas. All right, so we got to give you all the fan votes. You got to. You got nationals in March. Look, so you're going to nationals. Where is that? Las Vegas. Okay. I will say after Emily came on, she went and won her next pageant right after that. Her first time to win a pageant, wasn't it? Wasn't that her first time? That was her first time winning. Good for her. She came on and went and won her next pageant. Yeah. so look we're good luck charm and look I'll tell you what if you win nationals you better drop two addicts and a moron on stage I will how cool would that be like I like to thank my mom and my dad and God and Stu and Joey two addicts and a moron baby what's up like doing the Gatorade math boyfriend's like yeah like you know that'd be super cool. That'd be so cool. Thank you so much for coming. I know you have causes that you're working with. We could ever do anything for them. Thank you. Please let us know. We're all about it. Our door is always open to you as a guest now of ours. You're in the family. You're going on the wall. So excited. Here in a minute. Yeah, we're legit now. We have LLCs now so we can sponsor. We don't have to worry about the IRS anymore. Yeah, so we're good to go. So I really do want you to have your mom reach out to us. Okay. We need to get her on the books and schedule that. I think that would be super cool. You can even come on with her. I'm ready. We can hear your mom's story. And then at the end, we can bring you on so y'all both can sit there and talk. All right. And kind of bounce off of each other too. Yeah. But that would be super cool. Love it. So thank you so much for coming. Thank you. And good luck with all of the nationals and everything that you've got going on. Thank you. We'll look forward to sitting down with you again soon. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Yeah. So two addicts and a moron. Not two addicts today. One addict, one moron, and a beauty queen. Yeah. Let's go. We're out, everybody. Thanks.