Connecticut native Erin Brady, who was the first Miss USA from the state, told Rotarians how she has ‘tried to break the stereotype’ of pageant winners.

By Ronni Newton

Miss USA 2013 Erin Brady speaks to the West Hartford Rotary. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

West Hartford Rotary Club lunch meetings are always well-attended, but last week’s meeting at the Pond House Cafe had more visitors than usual, all anxious for a chance to hear from and meet the first woman from Connecticut ever to win the Miss USA contest.

Erin Brady, 26, who reigned as Miss USA from June 2013 through June 2014, was every bit as beautiful and poised as one would expect a beauty pageant winner to be. But she’s otherwise very different from what one might consider a stereotypical pageant winner, and that’s what she spoke about and set out to prove during her year in the spotlight.

Before she began her presentation, Brady asked guests at the luncheon to describe the Miss USA pageant in a word or two. “Swimsuit,” “beauty,” “talent,” and “scholarship” were some of the answers from the audience. Although Brady did wear a swimsuit during a phase of the competition, that’s not what being selected as Miss USA was all about.

Brady grew up in East Hampton and graduated from Central Connecticut State University, majoring in finance and minoring in criminal justice. Shw was working as a financial accountant at Prudential when friends convinced her to enter her first-ever pageant. “I bought a $250 prom dress and a $25 swimsuit,” Brady said, and she was shocked to be selected as first runner-up.

She decided to enter the Miss USA competition again the following year, and was crowned Miss Connecticut. She hadn’t even told her co-workers at Prudential she was competing.”I told them I went skiing, but then I won so I had to confess.”

Brady never thought she would win it all at the Miss USA competition – held over a 2 1/2 week period of time in a hotel in Las Vegas. She was sure she would be back at work at Prudential after a whirlwind of crazy days and nights, but she won it all on June 13, 2013.

“Instantly you’re not going back to work … you’ll be living in an apartment with other people, probably crazy women,” she said. Many of the women spend years preparing for pageant success, and Brady acknowledged that she really didn’t fit that mold. What she wanted to do was empower women, and encourage leadership.

“I really tried very hard to break the stereotype this year,” Brady said. She used her position to be an ambassador for breast and ovarian health and worked on behalf of the Wounded Warriors project. She is also very outspoken about her own difficult childhood, growing up the oldest of three girls in a household where both parents suffered from addictive behaviors, and she used her role to work on behalf of children in similar situations. She’s also happy to report that both of her parents are healthy now.

Brady barely qualified as “Miss” because she was already engaged when she won the title, and was told that she was the first engaged Miss USA. She did have to postpone her wedding, not only because Miss USA is not supposed to be married, but also because it was planned for Nov. 9, 2013, the exact day she competed in Russia in the Miss Universe contest where she finished in sixth place. Brady will marry her patient fiance in the next few months.

“Being Miss USA is a 365-day job, and they’ve got you scheduled every day,” Brady said. Stylists even chose what she wore. It wasn’t always easy to put on a public face every day, but Brady said overall, “It was a wonderful experience for me.”

“Being able to say to myself that others have dreamt of this day, and you’re getting to do it” is amazing, Brady said.

Brady answered a variety of questions from the audience, ranging from what she enjoyed most about being Miss USA (“talking to young kids”) to whether or not she met pageant-sponsor Donald Trump and what his hair is like (“real, so weird, it’s like cotton candy”).

Once she turned over her crown in June 2014 she abruptly returned to reality, and currently she’s working on projects to encourage girls throughout Connecticut to take a greater interest in science and math. At one point she considered becoming a newscaster, but said she’s more interested in a business career in the future.

Would Brady encourage others to enter a pageant? “It depends,” she said. She thinks it should be for the right reasons, and it shouldn’t be all-encompassing.

Would she do it all over again? The answer was “yes,” but she would prepare for her “exit” much sooner.

Brady had been asked in advance to designate a charity of her choice, and the West Hartford Rotary Club collected funds on her behalf. They presented her with a check that will be donated to the Helen and Harry Gray Cancer Center at Hartford Hospital.

Miss USA 2013 Erin Brady (center) with West Hartford Rotary President Cynthia Lang and member David Lemkuil. Photo credit: Ronni Newton