Sunday, July 30. 6:34 AM Car packed. Gigi and Pearl kissed. Mom and dad also hugged and kissed. In the car ready to head to Princess of America in Branson, MO. I pull out of the driveway at my parent's home. Sun is coming up. It's going to be a great travel day! I'm feeling confident about my girls. I'm feeling .... awesome. (Que motivational background music). I put on my sunglasses. Turn up my iPad. Drive. THEN .... (Phone rings) - it's my dad. Good grief I'm only five houses down! "Hello" "Erin, do you need your purse?" (Silence on my end) "OH BANANAS! YES, I'm turning around" Go. Return. Kiss. Hug. Reverse. Try again. (NOW que motivational background music!) Now, I'm OFF! It wi

JULY 15 - Today was finals at USA National Miss. This week felt like it went on forever and when Friday hit - everything was on fast forward. Until I woke up this morning, time creeped at an agonizing pace. Oh for heaven's sake! Finally, it was time to move into the dressing rooms for Hayden's finals. As you may or may not know, I hate finals. I just hate the waiting to get to the end. I hate not hearing some of my TCM girls' names not called. I hate seeing their hearts broken. I had a feeling about Hayden. I had a feeling she would break top 15. I didn't want to count my chickens before they hatched, but I had a feeling. And I was right. Hayden did indeed break top 15. She was the second to

Prelims started today for USA National Miss in Boca Raton. TCM girls Hayden, McKenzie, Desi, and Kate will strut their stuff on the runway. After prelims, there is nothing left for us to do that could change the outcome of Top 15. Will their interviews and stage work be enough to push them through to the next round? Well considering it hasn't happened yet at the time I'm writing this - I have NO IDEA! But they have been spot on all week and I'm beaming with pride. Jump ahead. Hayden's prelims begin. Everyone is coming down to the dressing room to claim space for competition. Yes, this is important because we need outlets for curling irons or steamers. We need table space and chairs, and a pl

Interviews went great yesterday for Hayden Johnson, UNM Miss LA Princess. She's so stinking cute! She's actually the cousin of TCM girl, Desi Templet, so it's been like a family reunion! Hayden is full of personality. She models, she acts, and she sings. She's a triple threat. Sounds like most girls on the TCM team. She fits right in! Thursday is another full day of interviews. TCM girls, McKenzie, Desi, and Kate. Desi is first up in the early morning hours. She's calm, cool, and excited. I've actually never seen her quite so excited before for an interview. All week long she's been nailing all of her practice questions. She has never hesitated to practice and no hesitation in her answers. G

USA National has begun in Boca Raton! The resort here is breath-taking, simply gorgeous! I would live here in a heart beat! Second year we are here so I already know all the good spots to practice, shortcuts, etc. Let's face it - I was exhausted when I arrived here, but my TCM girls here needed me so work began! After downing a couple of bottles of Neuro Sonic, I felt right as rain. Orientation was great and Monday, group and private sessions began. I would like for you to first meet TCM girl, Desi Templet. Desi came to me not even one year ago. (She will celebrate 1 year in August.) I remember meeting this shy little 12 year old who sat quietly and observing the situation she had been put i

First off - intros (again). I am Erin Husbands, owner and founder of The Crowning Moment. If you are just joining in, I am on a 19 day straight pageant adventure and these are snapshots of my life as a pageant coach. I just left International Jr Miss in Nashville, and now I am in Boca Raton at USA National Miss with a different group of TCM girls. I promise I'll bring you the second part to the conclusion of IJM for the older girls, but since today is travel day, I really want to share a few funny things from last week to lighten the mood. I've had a lot of calls & texts that I'm making too many people cry SO since I am a kind Supreme Leader, I shall make you laugh. Ever see that Disney/Pixa

Finals. It says it in the word - final. It's the final event. It's the final day. Its .... final. I sit in the back a nervous wreck. Waiting for all the opening hoopla to finish to get to the good stuff. I can't breathe. I want to push fast forward to get to the moment that counts. Top 15. I hate this moment actually. I hate the suspense. I love hearing their names but what I hate is the "not hearing." One by one they call out Jr princesses. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Then .... Gulf Shores, Kailah Fresina. Little miss Kai got her top 15 - finally. Two years ago she made her first IJM appearance and didn't break top 10 but was the 11th spot by one point. She didn't attend last year, but this year, she fi

Let's just move to Friday, July 7. Preliminary competition day for IJM. Today is a particularly stressful day for me. I always have a vision of how this particular day should go, though I know better because it NEVER goes that way. See, I haven't seen sleepy time since Wednesday night at this point. After starting my Thursday at 5:45am, I helped my TCM girls through the final portion of interview and casual wear. Then I pulled an all-nighter with 8.5 hours of steaming, ironing, sewing, and stoning 15 different outfits for my TCM girls for competition. I was lucky, actually, because I could have had 7 more outfits to prep! But I stayed up all night long make sure each outfit was absolutely pe

"Hello, My name is Erin Husbands, a LSU Tiger Fan from Baton Rouge, LA. But that's not as interesting as knowing I survived an earthquake, have four legal names, and made medical history at age 1." Interview day is probably the most stressful day for any pageant girl. If they tell you it isn't, they are lying. I was a pro at interview but I always got nervous and anxious before each one. Always. Up until my very last one, ever. This is the single most important phase of competition because it is your first impression. (Now there are a few pageant systems that hold interview after stage work and I don't particularly care for that order but it is what it is.) Pageants can be lost or won in int

I know I'm a little behind - things are super busy at IJM. Let's catch up, shall we? Monday evening brought the ever-exciting IJM orientation. Now if you have never been to this event, there is more energy in this one ballroom than in the entire coliseum when at Miss USA. (And those words are from Lu Sierra herself!). The energy is blowing the roof off and the excitement is overwhelming. It's just plain awesome! Did you catch the famous name I grew out there? Lu Sierra. The world famous LU SIERRA. One day I totally want to grow up and be just like her. She's fabulous! She's the modeling coach for the entire Miss Universe Organization world-wide as well as the modeling coach for IJM. Yea, I k

Monday at IJM begins with the second half of registration and photo shoots. Everything is exciting. Everything is new. Everything is just dandy in the world of pageants. The girls have a long afternoon of rehearsals as we continue to get settled. We start to practice in clothing and shoes to get the final picture that will debut on stage on Friday. Well we all know that life is never that easy as the sun staying bright and blue skies all day. Meet one of my preteens: Ailynn Fresina. Ailynn is the older sister of Jr Princess, Kailah. The Fresina's have been with me for nearly 3 years now and I'm super blessed to have them on my team. When I say they are my saving grace, I mean it. Ailynn is

The alarm clock rang too early for a Sunday morning. After remembering which state I was in (and which pageant!), I realized today was travel day to International Jr MIss in Nashville, TN. Deep breaths. Take a moment. Open your eyes. Now, get vertical. After packing up and finally getting on the road, Brayden Zeagler and I make our way toward Nashville, while the rest of the Z-pack clan drive to see Elvis (I have news for you - he left the building already!). Though this road trip wasn't as entertaining as Mawsie's, it was a lovely day with lovely company. I made Spirograph art, we sang out loud and danced in the car, and came up with interesting ways to say new city names. (Hence the title,

Well things didn't work out for TCM at Miss High School America but I'm still over the moon proud of Christy. She really did a fabulous job on stage. She sparkled. She was - in my eyes - perfect. Perhaps the judges wanted a different fashion style. Perhaps they wanted a different evening wear. Perhaps they didn't connect in interview. I could sit here for days and name all the "what-ifs" or "could haves" but I would only drive myself bananas! So as the spotlight fades then goes dim, all I can say is - "Today wasn't our day, but tomorrow will be brighter." Staring down the face of defeat is hard no matter how long you compete. It is always hard to not hear your name called. It is always hard

So Miss High School America prelims were last night and WOW! Tons of great competition, lots of fabulous clothes, and lots of fun! TCM girl, Christian Louque had been in great spirits all day long. It's amazing to see the girls grow into such wonderful young ladies. Christy had her game face on yesterday but always treated everyone with such kindness .... elements of a true queen. All of the girls and moms have been very welcoming all week long and TCM definitely had a lovely week at this pageant. Getting someone ready for competition starts way back from the day they decide they want to compete. I remember getting the Louque's a couple of years ago (wow time flies!) just a handful of weeks