Raising Awareness Through Pageantry: Nicole Petrie's Mission

In This episode of Kunes Car Convos

• 1:10 - First Pageant
• 5:15 - Competing for her mother
• 6:30 - Raising Awareness
• 12:15 - Being Yourself

Welcome back to the latest episode of Kunes Car Convos! Today, we are joined by Nicole Petrie, Miss Lake Geneva, who will soon be competing for Miss Wisconsin. However, that's not all that Nicole does. She is also a model and one of the primary caregivers for her mother, who is afflicted with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Being a caregiver is a huge but worthwhile task for Nicole and her father, as they both share this responsibility.

Nicole’s main reason for competing is for her mom, who was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia(FTD). Miss Wisconsin USA is providing Nicole a platform to talk about this and raise awareness so that other families in Wisconsin can get the support they might need. 

One of Nicole's main goals is to talk to state legislators about starting an FTD Registry which would help determine how many people have FTD in Wisconsin. Another goal of Nicole's is for Wisconsin to be one of the first states to recognize World FTD awareness week.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a term used to describe a group of brain diseases that primarily affect the frontal and temporal lobes. These regions of the brain are responsible for personality, behavior, and language. Lots of people don't know what FTD is until you, or someone you know, gets it. The awareness would help people learn about the disease before they get it so they know what is to come and they can plan ahead.

Nicole and her father have been the primary caregivers for her mother since her diagnosis. , Thanks to their incredible commitment, Nicole’s mom is able to continue living at home with her family. It is not an easy disease to endure and requires 24/7 care from both Nicole and her father.

Nicole has only participated in one other pageant, which was 10 years ago in 2014. She said it was a great experience for her and her mom to prepare for, but afterward, she focused more on modeling. Recently, one of her agents asked if she wanted to return to pageantry. Since pageantry is a great way to raise awareness of Frontotemporal Dementia, Nicole saw it as a perfect opportunity to use her platform for this cause.

Nicole has been getting ready since the last Miss America Pageant. It is a lot of mental and physical preparation. Nicole herself has been mostly preparing for interviews and on-stage questions. Nicole has been working on that portion of pageantry with coaches and on her own and is starting to feel more confident with it now.

Being yourself is a big part of pageantry! It is important to be vulnerable and genuinely connect with the judges and the people of Wisconsin. They want someone relatable, empathetic, and capable of understanding many different perspectives.