Welcome to Mindshift Power podcast, a show for teenagers and the adults who work with them, where we have raw and honest conversations. I'm your host, Fatima Bey, the mind shifter. And welcome everyone. Today, we have with us Lucille Esler. She is from Gloversville, New York.

She has won miss Finger Lakes teen twenty twenty four, miss Niagara's Teen Twenty Twenty Five. She is 14 and she's more than just a pretty face. She is pretty with a cause. I met her as a client. I altered a few of her pageant gowns, actually, including the one you see on the cover.

她有很多精彩的話題要說，所以我今天邀請她來。露西爾，你今天好嗎？我很好。你呢？我很好。

I I'm looking forward to this this episode. So I like to dive right in. Why did you start competing in pageants? I started competing in pageants for several reasons, but the most important reason was because my brother Teddy has autism. And through the Miss America organization, you have something called a community service initiative.

And I knew before I even started competing that I needed my community service initiative to be supporting autistic individuals and their families because I know the challenges that my family and I face on an everyday basis. So my goal as miss Niagara's team twenty twenty five is to be able to connect to more families that experience the same things that I do every single day. That's awesome. So that's what I mean, audience, when I say she's pretty with a cause. Tell us a little bit more about your your brother, Teddy, because autism is a very general term nowadays.

他會說話嗎？他現在什麼水平？我弟弟泰迪現在九歲了，上四年級，還不能溝通。為了交流，他很多時候會用手或用iPad按按鈕，然後iPad會重複他聽到的內容來幫助他交流。

But he really is only using his body language. And sometimes because he can't express his emotions with his words, he gets aggressive. And it is very hard on our family, but I'm so lucky that I've been able to use my year last year as miss Finger Lakes team to go into schools and educate kids about this. So tell us a little bit more about that. So my next question I was gonna ask you is what do you do as miss teen?

So as miss Finger Lakes twenty twenty four, what have you done in the schools? What kind of talks have you given? So I went into four schools throughout my reign as miss Finger Lakes Teen. I think even more because I visited Teddy School, which is called BOCES, and it's through a special education program. I was able to talk to so many kids.

It was amazing. But when I go into these classrooms, I read a slideshow called life with the adorable. And the name is life with the adorable because when my brother Teddy, his full name is Theodore, when he was out of the womb, the nurses said, oh my gosh. He is the adorable. So I knew that had to be my name for when I visit the schools.

And so I go in, and I share my experiences with living with an autistic brother and some quirks and qualities that he has every single day that can relate to young children if they have autism or if they don't have disabilities. And I show that you have some similarities as well as some things that are not similar to Teddy. But by sharing these stories, actually, one time, there was a girl who had autism in one of the classrooms, and she didn't know that she was autistic. But she heard me read the slideshow, and she went back to her mom and she said, mom, today I learned about autism. And that gave the mom the opportunity to tell her daughter for the first time that she was autistic.

我還有很多類似的精彩故事，但能夠利用美國小姐組織這個平台與家人建立聯繫，真的意義非凡。所以，舉辦五指湖小姐選美比賽的組織就是美國小姐組織。是的。好吧。還有五指湖小姐和紐約州北部小姐選美比賽。哦，好的。

還有布法羅小姐和尼加拉小姐組織，它們是紐約小姐組織的地方分會。紐約小姐組織是美國小姐組織的州分會。好的。聽起來像是多層次組織。是的。

是的。實際上，就像美國其他地方和許多其他領域一樣。哦，是的。所以，我很高興你能夠影響至少一位年輕女性，並被告知她患有自閉症。我敢肯定，她的母親一定想辦法告訴她，因為我相信，身為父母，這可能並不容易。

What other, there was a couple other stories that you told me. What other reactions have you gotten from some of the students you've spoken to? Well, one time, I went to an event held by The Arc Lexington. The Arc Lexington is a nationwide organization that has programs and services that helps families throughout the nation. They actually help my family through their programs and services.

因此，我能夠以「五指湖小姐」的身份參加他們全年舉辦的活動。他們還舉辦了一場「搖滾萬能」音樂會，參與者都是殘疾人。他們組建了自己的樂隊，我有機會在那裡發言，談論我的社區服務計劃，以及我最小的弟弟泰迪（他患有自閉症）以及自閉症如何影響我的家庭。實際上，參加活動的還有年齡更大、但自閉症譜系更健全的男孩和女孩。我讀完演講稿後，他們走過來告訴我：「哦，我和你哥哥一樣，也有自閉症。」這真的意義非凡，因為這意味著他們在傾聽我，並且與我產生了共鳴，他們給了我一個最熱烈的擁抱。

And I took a photo with them. It was the sweetest moment. And I wanna point out a key factor. Being on this platform has caused some people to listen to you. And to me, that's the only reason to be on any platform for any reason.

Entertainment, you name the reason is to get people to listen to you because then that's an opportunity to make a difference. And I'm sure for some some of the kids that you've spoken to, they were able to feel a little bit more accepted, normal, give it whatever word you want there. Just because they heard you talking about it, you know, someone who's got a big title saying, hey. I know I I have someone like you and I know what that's like. So I, I think that's great that you were using, you're using your beauty as a tool to, to talk about something that's, you're passionate about.

And I think that more people need to be like you. Not that they need to be beauty queens, but they all have different gifts and talents that they could follow you in that respect, in that you can use whatever gift and talent you have, whatever platform you have, even if it's small to make a difference in the people around you. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about we know that you are miss Niagara, miss Niagara Niagara's Teen for 2025. What are your plan what are you gonna do with that?

你有什麼計劃？嗯，去年我舉辦了一場T卹募款活動，主題是「支持傑出人士」。但與其說是“傑出”，不如說是“傑出”，因為它代表了傑出的、令人敬畏的，足以體現它的意義。正如我所說，萊剋星頓Arc是一個透過他們的計畫和服務來幫助我的家人以及社區裡其他家庭的組織。所以，作為下一屆尼加拉小姐的團隊，我想再次發起這些募款活動，不僅在我的社區內分享，也透過ARC的其他地方分會分享。

我正在與尤蒂卡奧奈達縣的ARC以及伊利縣的ARC合作進行規劃，實際上，這離我在布法羅市贏得尼亞加拉小姐團隊的地區很近。我還計劃在十二月假期期間在我當地的滑冰場舉辦一場感官滑冰活動，因為我想安排一些時間，讓殘疾兒童和他們的家人可以進行開放式滑冰，音樂不要太吵。哦，太棒了！不要太刺激，這樣他們就能像神經正常的孩子一樣，在每天滑冰時擁有同樣的機會。這真的很棒。是的。

你知道，我從來沒覺得這是個好主意，因為對很多人來說，吵鬧的噪音真的很重要。是的。所以，如果能把噪音控制得低一些，讓大家喜歡，不打擾，也不妨礙別人，他們就能玩得開心。這太棒了。對我弟弟泰迪來說，這可是個難題，他不喜歡吵鬧的地方。

So to be able to impact more kids and even give Teddy the opportunity to go skating without having to worry about, like, just being in his own space and being comfortable. Well, I think that's really freaking awesome. I'm so glad that you're doing that. What else do you plan for your your personal future besides those things, as your title? Last year, I was able to compete at miss New York's teen in July, and it was one of the most life changing experiences.

我見到了來自紐約州各地贏得當地冠軍的女孩們。我以前從未見過這些女孩，但感覺一周後，我們已經建立了深厚的友誼。這很棒。我有機會分享我的熱情、我的才華、我的社區服務計劃，以及我有一個自閉症弟弟的經歷。所以，有機會再次以尼加拉小姐的身份加入紐約小姐團隊，我非常期待。

Because now you come back. I got enough title. That's so great. That's so great. And what else do you see for your future?

I also am looking forward to hopefully being on the college dance team and going to college to be a radiologist. This is something I'm really passionate about, and I'm 14. I have four years left. I don't know where I'm going to college yet, but if I win miss New York's team in the future, I'm looking maybe to go to Alabama because the miss New York organization well, the miss America organization, they give each girl on the team category the experience to go to Bama with a full ride scholarship. Oh, I didn't know that.

Oh, well, that's awesome. So cool. That is so awesome. Well, you do have a few years before college. And, tell us why radiology why are you so passionate about that?

Well, because my brother, Teddy, has autism, and I've always been interested in the subject health in school. I think it's so important to have the opportunity to be able to look at MRIs and to look at things and to be able to tell people what their problem is and what's going on. Because I know that it takes a lot of hard work to go to medical school and to come out and be a radiologist, but I think it's so cool to be able to diagnose people with their problems and to make a difference. That's that you're right. I never thought about that.

You are kind of making a difference by letting them know what they have so that they can start the process of whatever they need to start and a lot of different things. Yeah. Radiology is very it's rocket science. It's it's, it's it's not easy, and you it's not something that stupid people could do. That's for sure.

這確實需要很多腦力。我對此有些敬佩。例如，實際上，我在醫學領域做了很多工作。是的。我想說，我最喜歡你的一點，也是我邀請你來我節目的原因之一，就是你非常腳踏實地。

People assume that when you're really pretty and you have attention, whether it's in your case, titles or you're on TV or social media star or whatever, people assume that, oh, you must be arrogant. You must be snotty. You must think you're all that. You don't have you don't carry that with you at all. And it's one of the reasons why after talking to you, you were just a a client whose dresses I was altering and, you know, doing alterations to.

But after having a conversation, I'm like, you know what? I wanna earn my show because there's more depth to you than just on the outside. You're pretty on the outside, but, honestly, that's not the most impressive thing about you. So what? You were pretty on the inside, and that's what shows.

And for many of you listening, you are just like her. You don't need to be a beauty pageant. You are pretty on the inside, and it needs to show on the outside. I'm not talking about your physical look. I mean, some of you need to open up and allow your passions to show through because you can do so a lot of some of the things that she's doing, you can do.

我指的不一定是美女的頭銜。我只是說，走出去，找到你的定位，找到你認為重要、值得為之奮鬥的事情，並為之努力，因為這本身就能提升你。我保證，這一定能實現。對吧？嗯。

Yes. It can. It just takes hard work and dedication. And even when I go into schools, like, whether I have a crown or a sash on or not, I always try to influence young girls who ask me, how did you get here? How did you do this?

I tell them it takes hard work and dedication, but if you have something that you're passionate about and everyone has something that makes them unique, and if you use that to the best of your abilities and express yourself with authenticity, like how I took my experiences of having an autistic brother, and I made it something that made me unique, but also how I can express myself in my at home life. Did you ever have before you started pageantry, did you ever feel like, oh my god. I don't know if I can do this. I experienced the I don't know if I can do this feeling every, like, every single day. Like, there's always going to be times where I doubt myself.

僅僅因為我有一個社區服務計劃，並且我喜歡使用美國小姐組織作為平台來分享我的經歷和所有這些事情，並不意味著我不會自我懷疑。事實上，就在幾週前，我在接受尼亞加拉小姐團隊的採訪時談到了這一點，能夠分享我如何處理自我懷疑以及它如何幫助我成為一個更有韌性的人，這就是我想要帶給紐約小姐團隊，並希望有一天能夠帶給美國小姐團隊的年輕女孩們的東西。我希望你這樣做，因為像你這樣的人應該這樣做。哦。我認為你這麼說很重要，因為我想讓觀眾聽到另一個年輕女孩，讓你知道，僅僅因為你是超模，漂亮並不代表你就有100%的自信。

And, you know, people again, people assume that sometimes it's because you're pretty, sometimes it's because you're famous or have a lot of money. They assume that means you have everything else together. And that is almost never true. You know? And and I want the girls out there to know that just because if you feel like you're scared and not confident in certain areas, you're actually normal.

There's Mhmm. You're probably there you you're probably not as confident as you should be, but you're actually normal. And you're you're, you know, doing great things is not out of reach for you because it's not out of reach for her. Yeah. Everyone doubts themselves once in a while.

Like, if they tell you that they don't doubt themselves, that's a lie because I'm sure it crosses everyone's mind. Absolutely. And it's normal to do that. And I want other girls your age to know it is normal to do that. But what what you don't wanna do is stay in the doubt and park there.

Use it as a gas station. Alright. This is how I feel right now, but I'm gonna be brave and I'm gonna tough it out and I'm gonna move forward anyway. You can use it as motivation to do better because I know in dance, like, it's not always easy for me or anybody to get anything automatically. And I have to remind myself, if you don't get something automatically, it's even more of a reason why you can work towards it.

And tomorrow is a new day, and you don't have to get it's not going to be easy. And if you expect it to easy to be easy, it's never going to come because progress is a process. You stole my words, girl, because I say it all the time. But it's it is really true that progress is a process, and understanding that helps us to not give up. But if you expect everything to be, you know, overnight, I can't stand it when there's people in positions like yours, and they only show the glory of their position.

And they're not honest about the the journey it took to get there. And it's like, I don't care if we when this kid was talking about pageant, we could be talking about success in another area. I don't care what what we're talking about. Nobody just jumps overnight and goes, ta da. I is here.

It just doesn't work like that. We have to work hard if we wanna accomplish our dreams and goals. I don't care what topic you're talking about. Now I I want you to talk directly to your peers. You already did a little bit, but what advice do you have for any teen listening right now?

The advice that I have is, like I was saying, if you have something, which I know everyone does, that makes you unique, you don't hide it. Don't hide it to be like everyone else. Because the only reason why I'm here today and why I'm in I am involved in the Miss America organization and I've had these fundraisers, and I've been able to be an advocate for autism is because I expressed what made me unique, and I didn't just go in my comfort zone because I wouldn't be here today if I didn't step outside of my comfort zone. Sometimes you have to push yourself to do the best that you can, but also to sit outside of your comfort zone. And sometimes it's not always comfortable what you're doing, but you can over time.

It's a skill that you're going to learn that you have to gain resilience through your experiences because it's not always going to be easy. But if you keep pushing on and stay motivated, you will get there eventually. Beautifully said. Beautifully said, Lucille. And, I'm hoping that your peers were listening and and take that under advisement, no matter what topic their focus is.

It's everything you just said is absolutely true. So how can people find you, Lucille? You can find me through my Instagram accounts, Lucille dot Essler and miss Niagara team New York, but New York like n y. Alright. And I will have that in, the podcast description So you all will be able to, to follow her if you'd like and see her, hopefully, her other wins because I think she only just began.

我們會看到越來越多。我確實這麼認為，我希望我是對的。如果我錯了，請不要回來糾正我。但我希望我是真的對。我希望我是真的對，並且你們確實在其他平台上有所提升，只是因為你們會利用它們。

As long as you don't change your mindset, you will utilize the whatever platforms you're put on for good. And so I applaud that, and I'm really, really glad you came on. I absolutely love you, and I I'm really glad to to have met you. Thank you. And me too.

You not only did the best job as a steam as a seamstress, but I knew know you're doing good in this world, and I know you're doing more than just being a seamstress. Yes. Thank you so much. Well, again, once again, thank you, Lucille, for coming on, and, we will talk soon. Of course.

Alright. Talk to you soon. Thank you. And now for a mind shifting moment. I want to go back to something that we both said at some point during the episode, and that is that we all have gifts and talents, just different kinds.

And I want you to think about what power do you have? Could be the way you talk, the way you're able to convince people of things. It could be the way you're able to analyze things. You have some sort of platform. Could be a teacher, whatever your platform is.

You maybe you, everybody around you listens to what you say, even if it's just in your small circle in high school. That's still a platform. What gifts or platform do you have that you can use to make a difference? You hear how Lucille is using hers. She's using her her gift, her beauty as a tool.

You see her her beauty is a gift. She was born with it. She was born that pretty with that body, that face, that hair, but she chose to take all of that and do something with it. What were you born with? What gifts do you hold?

And how can you use it as a tool to help those around you? Just something to think about. Thank you for listening to Mindshift Power Podcast. Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel at the mind shifter. If you have any comments, topic suggestions, or would like to be a guest on the show, please visit FatimaBay.com/podcast.

記住，轉變思維會帶來力量。請關注下週節目。