 Oh, your friend as we journey to take your health back. We are coming to you live from downtown Honolulu from the studios of Think Tech Hawaii in the Pioneer Plaza building. Today our universal discussion will be with or be on work life balance for the Martin Bahini in Hawaii. And what I would like you to take away from today's discussion is that we recommend you to ask for help and seek out networks of the minds, minded, like minded women to support you through your life's journey. Today we are very honored to welcome Brooklyn, Miss Hawaii USA 1997, Miss Hawaii USA 1997 and then Miss Universe 1997 all wrapped up in one beautiful and stunning young lady and also the host and producer of the Martin Bahini Hawaii. Welcome Brock. Hey. Hey, boy. Wow. What a title. You got so many accolades and titles according to, you know, all the history books. I just like what you said. I was young. Hey. Of all of those titles, young attracts you most and you are very young and stunning at this point. Thank you. We're so excited to have you here. I'm excited to be here. So, you know, you've been gone for a while here and there and I just want to take people back to your good roots of Pro City. Pacific Palisades, to be exact, the number 53 bus, born and raised in Pacific Palisades, the leeward side. I went to grade school out at our Savior Lutheran. I went to preschool at Children's House in Pearl City right there in Palisades and I got into Punahou, early acceptance in the fifth grade, went there to my sophomore year, then went to lab school for a year, loved it there and finally got into Kamehau. After trying since kindergarten, got in my senior year. Wow. So, I went and I graduated as a class of 1989 from Kamehau Schools, Palahou. Wow. Perseverance. Yeah. Perseverance. That's what it's all about, right girl? I guess. Yeah. It works. I guess. It works with you. And this is just the beginning. Yes. Yeah. So, Brooke, I've known you for a while. A while, yes. Let's not say how long. Yes. A while. Yes. And I was very taken back with you. Which is ironic because you were doing candies. I was doing chocolates. And we were training. Yes. But you'd be giving us candies all day long. My job was to see your resistance and your discipline. It was a test. Yes, it was. And you passed. I did. You did. You did. Until you got that other crown and then it all came out. That's true. But so, I knew you then. Yes. And then you won the title as Miss Hawaii USA. Yes. 1997. Yes. How do you feel for you? Well, the prehistory to that is I had been running in the other system, which is the Miss Hawaii America system for about three years. I was horrible at it. I ran in preliminaries, then went to the state title, lost. Ran in a preliminary another year, went to the state title, lost. Did it again, lost. I was like the Susan Luccio of the pageant system. And then I aged out as they say. And then I went to the Miss Hawaii USA system, which is a little older after you got the college. And I hit it the first time out the gate. So I became Miss Hawaii USA in December of 96. Wow. Went to Treeport, Louisiana for Miss USA in January of 97. Won that. And then moved on to Miss Universe in May of that year and won that. So it was a really good year. Wow. It was a great year. It was a really good year. Yes, 1997. It was a good year. A great year. You know, the whole story behind or the lesson learned from your beginning for Kamehameha schools for surveillance. Right. And then going for the title. Yeah. Working hard, knowing what you wanted to do and wanted to accomplish. Yes. And not giving up. Is there anything you all like to take, have a takeaway for the young women and the men, of course, of Hawaii, of not giving up? Yeah. I mean, for me, I think I tell a lot of contestants because I get it a lot. People want me to train them for pageants. I wasn't really ever trained. You can probably see that when I say I ate everything twice is my answer. But I tell girls, I want to scholarship my first year that I lost at Miss Hawaii, America, of $17,000 to Shamanad University. Yes. So I transferred from, I was at Leeward Community College just figuring it out and got to go to this, you know, next level kind of Shamanad private college. I graduated with a degree in English, debt free, which is a pretty big deal. All from running in a patch that I didn't even win. I tell girls all the time, run just to run, run just to get scholarships. If you win, you win great. If you don't, at least you got an education and you're debt free. Either way, it's a win-win. Right. You know, I've been on board with the Miss Hawaii and the Miss Hawaii USA system for about 22, 23 years now. And that is my full-time focus for me when I meet young ladies. And my first question to them would be, hey, what college are you going to? And they'll answer, some of them will answer, Auntie, I'm not going to college right now. Can't afford it. Can't afford it. Exactly. So then I would bring up the topic, hey, would you consider running in the Miss Hawaii or the Miss Hawaii USA scholarship pageants? And then they would say, well, I never thought about it. I says, well, here's my card. Think about it. Go check it out. And if it makes sense to you, it resonates with you, give it a shot. Because I also think, especially in today's society with Instagram, social media, all those things, I think there's a lot of people have an attitude towards pageants that they used to not have because there's so many reality shows and you can get famous in so many other ways. But for me, the pageant, I was a model my whole life. I started modeling when I was like five or six years old. No one ever asked me my opinion until I ran in a pageant. Up until that point, I got in the clothes, I got on the stage, I walked on a runway and I went home. Nobody asked me what I thought about gun control. Nobody asked me what I thought about the world. Nobody asked me anything. You just come, you take your pictures and you leave. So when people, when you're required to have an opinion about something, that was addicting to me. I ran in pageants because it forced me to have opinions about things. And then I got kind of good at it. And then the thing on stage where you had to answer questions, that just became like sport for me. Some girls, it's harder for them and they don't like that. For me, that was like, I would be like gloves off. I'd be like, bring the question. Bring it on. Yeah, interview. Bring it. But you know, that's so key because in general, a lot of the local girls, they're a little bit more introverted. They're not all going as much back in the day. And I will say that the pervading culture is, if you're a pretty girl, then that's all it's really required. And I think in pageants, it's the same way. There are a lot of girls that answer questions on stage. They say things like world peace, or they forget where I ran is. There's a lot of girls that flub, right? But there's also a lot of girls that when asked the question on stage in 90 seconds in a bikini, you have to like balance the Middle East and what's going on with the other world. And yeah, have an opinion. A lot of them come up with amazing things which nobody would be able to do, not even a senator, especially in a bikini and in heels in front of George Hamilton. The pressure, from the pressure, from the pressure. So I think pageants in a lot of ways gets a bad rap because people met me during my year and they'd be like, you're so smart. And you'd be like, I'd rather you expect me to be smart and then just be disappointed that I have such a low ball like if I'm not dribbling down the front of my dress. You're like, yay, gold star for you. Like that kind of stuff bummed me out. Because I was like, did you not see me say I'd eat everything twice? That's how you do it. And so that's the real reason why I get involved is because I want each bikini of Hawaii to max out who they were created to be and give them this opportunity to put that mic in front of their face and ask them those questions on world peace, on gun control and the wall and see what they have to say. And if they don't know the answer, by golly, they're going to go and research it and they will have an answer better. Because their feet are in the fire and they're required to have to do that. And sometimes in life you're just not required. When you're a pretty girl, especially in today's age with Instagram and all of this Instagram notification, you really just can get away with a lot. You know what I mean? And get the likes and get conditioned to feel like I don't need to be a certain way. Whereas when the pageants, you've got to fulfill these four things. You have to wear a swimsuit and evening gown, answer a question on stage and do an interview. So I mean, it really is a boot camp. It is. It is a great boot camp. People sell it short. They really do. That's why I'm never going to give up. And I truly believe in trying to max out all of you to create you to be who you are in here. But you just didn't have that opportunity. And so by giving these girls that platform of a stage and a voice, I tell you, we are creating some amazing women of Hawaii. Absolutely. And giving them scholarships to boot. And giving them platforms, showing them a way to go on to other things. So they tell them one girl is going to win. Any other given night? Venezuela would have won that night at Miss Universe. Any other given night? If one judge had had indigestion, eggshell light, number five was off on my left side, some other girl would have won. And that would have been a different lifestyle for me. But so, you know, I got the opportunity. I won. I took it. If you don't win, you got scholarships. You got some opportunity. You were able to grow. Move on. The shiny thing lasts a year. But the education lasts forever. And the memories and the growth. Exactly. Right. You know, getting back to that one slide where you finally saw your name in print. Yeah. Brooklyn, you know, Miss Hawaii or Miss USA. How did that really feel when you saw your name in print and it was now being reality? Yeah. I honestly, those were being sent to my house. What happens when you win? Like you win Miss USA, like you say in Shreveport, Louisiana. You're whisked away. Like you don't ever go back home for like months later. Right. So whatever you packed in your bag to go to the competition is like all you have until they buy you other stuff. So I was on the run. I didn't really like get to register thing. I just was like, this is my job now. Right. So I have to meet all these people. Live with a strange lady in an apartment in LA. You know, I just keep going. And so I didn't really register those things until much later. I was proud that I got with Shaka. And that that was like a picture that went across the world. Like that to me was like, yes. Yes. Well that was our signature, right? Yeah. And they told me at Miss Universe, when I went to Miami as Miss USA, they were like, okay, CBS sponsors, I mean CBS censors are saying, if you get that far, do not flash the Shaka sign, because a lot of people think it's the sign of the devil. And I was like, you got to be joking. They're like, we're just warning you. We got a lot of mail after Miss USA. Just if you get that far, just tamp her down on the Shaka. But as soon as I want it, I was like, what's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? What's up? It's just part of your DNA. Get over it. Right. And so now let's go back now to the Miss Universe stage. Yes. And they're crowning you and they're going to ask you that one glorious question. No, this is a loaded question. Oh yeah. So sharing with the audience. So here's the backstory on that. So this is a two-part series. So Miss USA, at Miss USA pageant, similar questions were asked. Alicia Machado, who is the current Miss Universe from Venezuela. Let me back up. Trump bought the pageant as I was going to Shreveport, Louisiana. So he bought the pageant. He was now our boss. Right. He didn't like that she had been gaining a bunch of weight. So he started like putting her on treadmills on CNN and then calling her mass universe or Miss Piggy or whatever. Like just degrading stuff. And so my question at Miss USA was, if you were putting her place and she's sitting right in front of you and you had gained all this weight, what would you do? And like, you're like, you're talking about this Miss Universe in front of her. Like she's not here. That's rude. Whatever. So I answered that question. I said, you're Miss Universe. You are who you are. Your nose gets bigger or smaller. Whatever. You're Miss Universe. Fuck it. So I won Miss USA. And then I went to Universe. They continued to like harp her no matter what. They couldn't even let her go out. Right. So there was a 1-800 number. You had to call in. Should the new Miss Universe be held to a weight clause in her contract? Like it was like a whole thing. They couldn't even let her have her moment. So when it got to the end and I made it that far and they were like, if you had no rules in your life, what would you do? Like I had to take the shot. Right. Because I was like, I'll miss USA. I already want a car. I already want a boat. I don't need to win Universe. But I certainly need to make a statement. Right. So that's why I said I'd eat everything twice. And what did you say? I said I would eat everything in the world. You do not understand. I would eat everything twice. And if I could drop the mic, I would have. And then I walked stage left. Wow. I did not think I was going to win. I had too much of the imagination. Girl, but that's ironically. Ironically. I did not think I was going to win. Ironically. That was part of why you... That was like, I was just like, you know what? Because you had a voice, girl. You had a voice. I was just tired of them like harping on this girl's weight for all of these. It was like, okay, you did it once. That's fine. You tried to get your PR off it. Great. She's giving up her title. Like just let her go in peace, you know? Like send her with Aloha and go. Nope. Even on the way out. You got to be like, should the new Miss Universe be able to... I was like, if I get to the top three and there was even a chance to be able to work it into the sentence, I am taking my shot. Take your shot. And that you did. So now you've won. The crown is on your hand. Now you're the Miss Universe. 1997. Yes. So, you know, I work with a lot of girls. And when they come to me, I always ask them, do you know what you're getting into? And you know, they have no clue because they're going for Miss Hawaii USA or Miss Hawaii or they're preliminary. I just won the scholarship and then they win the title and then they win. And then did you realize what you were getting yourself into when you went that far? No. I had no idea. But see, here's the thing. USA is really where everything happened. Because universe, you just extend your tour duty for three more months. You're the same girl. I mean, you're not because you're whatever, you're international. But you work for the same office. You live in the same apartments, one above the other. So I knew what it was like because I was Miss USA and I was either going to get myself a new roommate or someone to hang out with or I was going to become that girl. So universe was kind of like, it was just a continuation. USA, when I won, that was kind of like I never even thought in my wildest dreams that was going to happen. And then when it did and then the whole staff comes at you and you've got like car services and you don't ever know where a vacuum is. Like you've got people doing stuff for you. Vacuum? I never put gas in a car for a year. I didn't drive for a year. I mean, it was bizarre. It was bizarre at last, for sure. What a life. And so now we've dealt into the life of Miss Hawaii, Miss USA, Miss Universe. And now I'm sure a lot of the girls out there are raring to go knowing that there is more than just a crown, but there's a massive responsibility until death do you part, I should say. That's a fine print. Nobody ever tells you about that part. And I tell the girls all the time. But right now, we're going to have to take a one minute break. And when we get back, we'll learn more about what is Brooke up to today. We'll see you right back. Hello. Hey, Aloha. My name is Andrew Lanning. I'm the host of Security Matters Hawaii airing every Wednesday here on Think Tech Hawaii, live from the studios. I'll bring you guests. I'll bring you information about the things in security that matter to keeping you safe, your co-workers safe, your family safe, to keep our community safe. We want to teach you about those things in our industry that may be a little outside of your experience. So please join me because Security Matters. Aloha. Aloha. This is Winston Welch. I am your host of Out and About where every other week, Mondays at 3, we explore a variety of topics in our city, state, nation, and world, and events, organizations, the people that fuel them. It's a really interesting show. We welcome you to tune in and we welcome your suggestions for shows. You got a lot of them out there. And we have an awesome studio here where we can get your ideas out as well. So I look forward to you tuning in every other week where we've got some great guests and great topics. You're going to learn a lot. You're going to come away inspired like I do. So I'll see you every other week here at 3 o'clock on Monday afternoon. Aloha. Aloha and welcome back to Think Tech Hawaii in downtown Honolulu, where we are very privileged to have the honor of Miss Universe, 1997, Brooklyn. In the first half of the show, we discussed her journey from being a Palisades, a city Palisades girl, winning the title of Miss Hawaii, USA, 1997, to Miss USA, 1997, and then on to being Miss Universe, 1997. Let's fast forward the clock a few years. So Brooke, after you won all those glorious titles, and then your year of reign has concluded, and then you find yourself living in the mainland for a few years, and then you meet the man of your dreams. Sometimes he's a dream. We're 13 years in, so yeah. Sounds like a dream to me. It's definitely a reality now. 13 years and still going, so. What do you do? What does he do? Well, at the time he was working in movies in LA, we had met through Mutual for a childhood friend of his. I had done a travel challenge show. She was a producer on it, and I was the host, and so she had introduced us, and we just sort of hit it off. And we started dating, got engaged, got married in about six months, and then eloped, and then had my son within a year. Very good. Yeah. And I was very privileged to meet him, and he came to my home, and you guys worked so lovely together. I'm very happy, happy for you. Good kid. Because you're, I mean, of course, your whole life story is perseverance. Getting to the school that you wanted to go to, getting a title, worldwide, internationally. Even kids, kids were perseverance. Yes, and then having a man of your dreams, and then now you have two children. Three, if you count my husband. Well, I know I was introduced to Bailey and Daphne again. So shout out to them. I know they're watching Mommy. They're so proud of you, as you are so proud of them. But in that one shot, I know I can see you being the mama. I am, yes. So now you're a worldwide leader, icon, you're a wife, you're a mother, and now we're going to talk to you a little bit about your career, because now you're going in deep into your career. And so I just want to know, Brooke, how does one balance all that you have on your plate? Again, from being a title holder, not just local or international, a national, universal title, then being married, a wife, being a woman that you are, mother and career woman, how do you balance all this? I will say it was easier on the mainland because when you live in Hollywood, there's like a totem pole of fame, and there wasn't as much pressure as there is here having moved home. I was a stay-at-home mom. I had the luxury of doing that because cost of living is different there. So I stayed home with the kids. I auditioned and did shows whenever I wanted to, not necessarily all the time. But then we moved here last July. And my kids started school. And Hawaii is a whole different beast. So I started dancing hula back in Waikiki like I did when I was growing up. And then I got a show on Keihei, modern Haini, Hawaii, and that's like a train that just keeps on trucking. So I've got like three jobs, like three jobs, which is the norm here. But it's a lot for someone who spent 20 years on the mainland, you know, living a different type of lifestyle to come here and do this. It's kind of like a little bit discombobulating. So I mean, I try to balance it. There's really no other way to do it. If you don't balance, everything crashes to the ground and that's not an option. Not an option with us. You just have to keep on keeping on. Keep moving or you sink. Right. And I know family is so important to you. Yeah. So that must have had a play on wanting to move back to Hawaii as well. Yeah. I mean, my husband was a caregiver for his dad who had gotten really sick over the last two years. And then he passed away. And that was kind of when we made the decision that since he had fulfilled those obligations, he really didn't have as much things tying to him to LA anymore. So that maybe it was a good transition for us to move to Hawaii so that I could spend time with my aging parents and have my parents be able to see their grandkids more often and have that experience with them. So that's kind of why we sort of matriculated towards moving back to Hawaii for family. Well, and you know, in the one slide here, I can see you with your mother. Yeah. And of course, we all know everyone in the world in Hawaii world knows Tony Lee. She's just an all go around all too cultural events person. At every event, I bump into your mom. It's really weird because people thought she was a pageant mom because I'd want all these things. They're like, oh, you know, how'd you raise Miss Universe? It's just like I didn't even know she was running in pageants at first. Like I was like the last to get the memo. She really was not hands on with that stuff at all. She could have cared less. And when we were at Miss Universe and other parents are like preening their daughters into whatever, like she was like, not nowhere to be found. She was like somewhere in the back like where's your mom? Why isn't she here holding all your things? She's like, ah, she's busy. Well, your mom is surely busy and she has a whole world of her own that she looks after. She does white music all of things. Yes. She's a real Hawaiian band. She does the little week parade. Civic clubs. Kamehameha school alumni. I mean, she makes me tired. Like since I've been home, I can't keep up. I can't keep up with her. I can't keep up. Well, what a good path to follow. Yeah. You know, so you've got to keep up or you've got to sing. I know. It's like a high mark though. It's a high marked. Yeah. But it's okay. You've got that mark and you're meeting her and she's so proud of you. Yeah. I see people like those icons. You see those emojis like just the eyeballs looking sideways. I feel like people are looking at me like that when they see me with her they're like, you're next. Just passing the torch. Exactly. Pass the torch. Pass the torch. And you know, exactly what she was involved with all the Hawaiian cultural events. Yes. And so for you, the woman of the times, now you jumped into this program of yours. Yeah. Which airs, I know I've already watched two Sundays on Sundays. Sundays on Sundays. Every broadcasts like throughout the week on KHN, but it's primarily fresh episodes every Sunday, 7 p.m. on Keahi for the next year. Seven and then if you miss it at 7, it goes on at 11. Yes. So we get to see you on Sunday. Yes. And so now my Sunday ritual is church, lunch, surf, and brook. And so that's what we're going to do. And that's how we encourage all because you're going to have some amazing guests on board. I hope so. And just premiering what women of Hawaii are doing. Yes. We're talking about everything from design in your home, space saving, makeup tips, health tips. But the part I love the most is interviewing women from here and from the mainland. Because we have we've had other women who have Hawaii hearts but are not necessarily from here. But I just like talking to the women and sharing their stories and holding them up and, you know, just giving them a little bit of light because there's a lot of women that do a lot in the community that really don't get the accolades I think they should and that people should know what they're doing like you. And so, you know, these are ways that I can use some of my light to shine on other people and let other women know that this is what's out there. Girls growing up through the ranks, if you're 20 years old, you don't know what you're supposed to do with your life. You're in college, you're flailing at HPU and you turn on my show and you see this woman who's like the first president of Adventist Health Castle started off as a thoracic nurse. You're like, she can do it. And they all say it. Every woman I've spoken to who's gone, wherever they've gone in their field, they're like, I never knew I could do it. People didn't tell me I could do it. I had to go make it happen and now I'm turning around to others saying, come on up, the water's fine. And so I'm really grateful to be able to be part of that. Just like this show, Think Tech Hawaii, we are a voice, not just you and I talking story and meeting some friends at the mall or at the restaurant, but we're able to reach so many more people. And so your show is so important, just as this show is very important. So the title of my talk is Take Your Health Back. And so my journey is to just make women and the people of Hawaii more aware of how simple it is to take your health back, whether it's marital health, whether it's professional health, whatever it may be. And so when people see you, you know, 21 years ago, I believe around there you had the title of Miss Universe. Yes. So you look just the same. People say that, but you have to be a moving target. As long as you keep moving, people can't zero in. You just have to be a blur. You just have to be a blur. You just have to be a blur. And so what I'm trying to get at is how important is it for you with health and nutrition? You know, you have children. So usually when you're a mom, you eat the leftovers on your kids' plate. Yeah, that is true. That's a thing. You know, and eat what they want. But how do you emphasize that? Obviously, you're doing something right. Well, I think a lot of it is because you work a lot here, so you don't have time to eat. But I mean, the nutrition thing I haven't quite figured out yet. Like, I'm not a big eater. I'll be very honest. People who know me know that when I said I'd eat everything I'd eat it twice on stage, they knew it was a political statement because I'm not an eater. Like, I don't, like, dream about food. My husband's an eater. Like, he's dreaming about food from the minute he steps up. I'm not that person. But like with my kids now, it's really important to kind of control what's happening with them. I like to be like a hands-off mom you figured out. But like, you know, when they're eating candy 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and then you've got to go to a dentist's office and get all their teeth fixed. You know, it's kind of like on you moms, you know. Like, the dentist is like, you're like, she, you've got to say no. You can't just let her mow through walkers like all day long. Like, she's five. Make a choice, you know. So I'm working on that part. Like, I really want to talk with some nutritionists on my show. And because my son, it's interesting, since I moved here, my son's cholesterol level has been slightly elevated since we moved here. When we lived on the main line, it was not. And I think what it is, is I'm working more now. So I'm not in control of what's going on the table as much because I'm off working at night or working the day. And I don't know what he's eating. And if I'm looking at my husband, well, let me just put it this way. I don't know what he's eating. You did come to my home. Right. And we will be on your show next Sunday. And we're very excited about that. And when you came to my home, I made you and your family kale smoothies. Fresh kale smoothies. Right. And you said, if my son would drink this, we're sold. We're good. Because he doesn't usually like that stuff. But we cut the kale. We blended it up. And he drank the whole thing. And he drank it. My husband's one as well. Exactly. And he actually loved it. Yeah. My daughter. Yeah. Not so much. She's a tough one. Right. But one out of two. You got her the gummies. Right. One out of two. Not bad. Yes. And so, and he's, there's hope for him. And so, mom, for you, you know, just get that woman or get that person on your show to teach. And when you're, when she's sharing the message, you're actually going to be receiving all that knowledge. Right. Because I think moms need help. Oh, for sure. I mean, because there's so many choices and you just don't know what to feed them. Chicken nuggets. Out of the freezer. Out of the pan. No, mom, you just say no. I know when you, when I told you that, you were like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Bro, it's like, oh, our time is up and I wish we could continue on. Maybe we'll invite you back again so that you can show the Hawaii in the world what a real mom is like. A real woman of Hawaii is really like, not, and you know, you're going to see the growth in yourself as well as what the message was. We'll come back and say congratulations, Bro. Thank you. You were a great representative. You are a great representative and you will continue on being the Miss Universe of Hawaii and we're so, so proud of you. Thank you. We love you very much. Thank you. So from now, aloha to everyone.