 I'm Rusty Komori and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game are about leadership, character, and creating a superior culture of excellence, which is what this show is all about. My special guest today won the 2019 Miss Asia Hawaii pageant, and because of COVID, she has the title through 2020 as well. She is Camille Yano, and today we are going Beyond pageants. Hey, Kami, great to have you on the show today. Happy New Year. Good morning. Now, Kami, I know you for many years now, but can you tell me about what schools you attended? Sure. For elementary, I went to Kanaui Lani Elementary School, and then I went to Highlands Intermediate, Pearl City High School, and one year at Honolani. Okay. So I went to Honolani up until my eighth grade, and I want to know, Kami, what is the first job that you ever had that you got paid money for? Oh, this is going to tell you my age. So I once worked once upon a time ago at Liberty House, and I'm so grateful for that because at one point in my life, I owned a mobile boutique for about three and a half years. Wow. And Kami, how can you work at Liberty House when you're like 21 years old right now? Now, I know your grandmother had a huge influence on you in your life. What's the biggest thing that you learned from your grandma? Definitely. She taught me a very important value, and that was giving back. She told me that it doesn't matter how much or how little you have, that you should always give. I like hearing that, and she's such a cute little petite woman. Yeah, she's like 4'11". She's the sweetest thing ever. And Kami, you have my books, and I want to thank you for being such a great promoter of my books, and I want to know what are some things that you like about it? I love what you said about how your mind talks to you out of doing something within five seconds, and I feel that it resonates with me. I also read a book called, The Five Second Role by Mel Robbins, and I applied in my life. So I count backwards from five. For example, if the alarm clock goes off, I give myself five seconds, and I go five, four, three, two, one, wake up, and so I'll get myself out of bed. And I'm human, so I don't do it all the time, but I'm learning to instill that into my daily life because it becomes a positive habit after a while. I like hearing that, and I'm trying to inspire everyone through my books, and I know you've been inspiring a lot of people in our community, which we're going to really talk about on this show. And you and I have talked a lot about dealing with adversity and how some people have deeper levels of adversity versus others. What is the lowest point that you faced in your own life? Well, when I was in eighth grade, about 13 years old, I attempted to commit suicide, and I was actually supposed to fail. But luckily, you know, I succeeded, and I was given a second chance at life. So what led up to you wanting to commit suicide? It was my parents' divorce. I was raised in a single-parent household by my dad since the third grade, and I struggled at home thinking that, you know, I was in love, trying to figure out how could I get this affection that I would want in a mother, and it was something that I longed for for so long, and then I would go to school and I would get teased because I had this French name, and obviously, you know, I'm not French-looking. I'm mostly Asian, and so I would get called Camille the Camel and Camille the Chameleon. And so that was really hurtful, and I remember going to a counselor in school and I would get called out of class and I would get teased for that. So it was so bad to the point where I found out you could change your name, and I almost, you know, went to the DMV and had my name legally changed, and so my family had to think of an alternative, and so that's how I got my nickname Camille. So how would you get called out of class? My dad had scheduled counseling sessions for me during school hours, and so the teacher in front of the students would, you know, tell me that I would have to go to the counselor, and, you know, the kids would just start laughing and being kids, and it was a struggle at home and at school, you know, and I just felt like, so depressed to the point where I felt I had no one to talk to. I didn't even feel comfortable talking to the counselor, and I held it in for many years. I know that when we would talk through the years, you would tell me that you were self-conscious about your hair. Yes, so that's the only Hawaiian that shows in me. So people would tease me about my hair because it looked like Pele's hair, right, and Pele's hair is, you know, like a Hawaiian thing, and I would sit in front of the mirror in my room, and from the bottom underneath, I would like pull my hair out every night because I didn't want all this hair on my head, and now, you know, I learned to love my hair and my name, and I just, you know, as I get older, I'm so fortunate to have this vivacious, massive hair on my head. Better than being bald, right, Kami? Yes, that's very true. So Kami, when you were attempting suicide, what did you actually try to do? I actually used to read a lot and watch certain shows, so like Unsolved Mysteries and Books by Dean Coons, so a lot of mysteries, and, you know, I learned that the fastest and safest way to take your life would be by overdosing, so this was my frame of mind back then. I took Tylenol and Advil. I can't remember what I took first, but let's just say it was Tylenol, and I waited for my dad and my step-family to go on this cruise, and then my mom and my brothers went to the Big Island, and my dad's mom and dad, they were watching me, and I wrote a goodbye letter, and then I put these Tylenol pills in sets of five and I put them in 10 pills in each set, so there were 50, and I took all 50 pills, and I didn't fill anything after, so I went upstairs in my grandparents' house, and I found Advil, and I didn't count the Advil, so I don't know exactly how many pills I took, but I know it was over 50, and I filled up my cup with water, and I just started taking pills until my throat hurt from taking so many pills, and then I just felt tired, and so I remember falling asleep and waking up at polymomy in the ER, and the nurse in the ER was yelling at me, cutting my clothes open with the scissors and pointing to this tray of charcoal, which I later learned that charcoal is used for people who overdose to try and get whatever is in your system out, but they told me in my situation it was too late, too much time had elapsed, and I was like a disgrace, so I'm already feeling like crap, and I wake up to this nurse telling me these things, and then the next thing I knew, I'm in the ambulance being transported to Kapilani Hospital, and I had a really vivid memory in that, in the EMS, and I remember the technician told me, whatever you do, don't close your eyes, I'm gonna talk to you, but I was so tired, and I had no energy, and I remember closing my eyes, and there was this narrow, bright, yellow, and white light, and it felt like my body, not my physical body, but my body was being lifted upwards, and I tried to look towards my right for whatever reason, and the light was so bright that I couldn't even look to my right, so I just looked up, and I thought I had succeeded in committing suicide and that I was going to heaven, and growing up, I'm not Catholic, but I was my dad's mom, my tutu, she's Catholic, and I would go to church with her, and I would go to Christian Church too, and I was taught that if you commit suicide, you don't go to heaven, so I was so confused, and I honestly thought I was going to heaven, and at that point in my mind, I was telling myself, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, and then next thing you know, I am waking up at Kapilani Hospital to people from elementary, second and third cousins, and that's when I learned that I wasn't supposed to live, and so God gave me a second chance at life. Well, Kami, thank you for sharing such a personal story, and because you and I both know there's so many other youngsters and adults that deal with a lot of similar things that you were dealing with and more, and I know that you're gonna, I mean, you are inspiring so many people to really see the positives in life, and you mentioned about kids would tease you, your name, Camille the camel, how did you start to love your name? So it was about one and a half, maybe two years ago when I went to Mexico, and I like to find unique experiences when I travel, and I found out that you could ride a camel on the beach in Mexico, and this would be something that I will never forget, and I used to think that camels were the ugliest animals before because I was teased all of my elementary years, and that picture, that camel in particular, his name is powder, the camel, and camels are now one of my favorite animals, and that's when I learned to love my name. Camels are unique. I have yet to meet someone with the same name as me too, and it took many years, but I love my name now. I love my name now. Well, I think that you visiting that camel and meeting the camel, and then really learning to love your name like that, I mean, that's fantastic. I love hearing that, and Camille, I wanna ask you about the Miss Asia Hawaii pageant. I mean, why did you decide to run in that pageant? I decided to run for the pageant because I wanted to give my platforms a greater voice. So I currently experienced domestic violence previously in my past relationships, and my other platform would be giving back, which is something that my tutu instilled in me from when I was a kid. And the last platform is mental illness, suicide awareness in particular, and these are three things that I've experienced, and I have a function for it. And Camille, I find it really fascinating that you're the 2019 Miss Asia Hawaii winner, and you also keep the title through 2020 because there wasn't any pageant because of COVID. Yes, I feel very blessed and grateful. This is the second pageant I've ever run in, the first one that I was blessed to become a title holder for, and who knew that due to a pandemic, I would have another opportunity to serve an extra year, and for that, I'm truly grateful, and I've been trying my best to live out my tutu's legacy, which truly is giving back. Now, the Miss Asia Hawaii pageant is a wonderful pageant, and what's some things that you learned about yourself during that pageant? Last year, besides the pandemic, I was going through a really arduous time in my life, and I remember praying to God for many reasons, and he kept telling me to serve, and I didn't understand why. So when I served at the Mother's Day food drive for the Salvation Army, that's when I realized something, and I started crying, passing out food, and I realized that there's people who are less fortunate than me, and I realized my purpose in life, so what is your purpose in life, Kami? To be a servant leader and to help others with my story, and being able to be on a show is a blessing because I'm able to publicly talk about my experience when I attempted to commit suicide, and it's something that I used to be ashamed of, and I would never talk about, and I have shared it before, but not in detail, and I think it's so important for people to know. Well, I absolutely know that you are a fantastic role model, Kami, for everything that you've dealt with in your life so far, and when you won that pageant, I was so happy and proud of you, and beyond the pageant now, can you tell me what is echelon and what is your role with echelon? Echelon is a group of young, vivacious leaders rising up to serve the Salvation Army and their communities, and so I serve as the social media event and marketing chair for our local board. I've been on the board for five years now, and I'm serving my second term, so each term is three years, and I'm also one of the founding members. I also, I'm serving my second year on the national board, which is a picture that you just saw, and I serve as the existing chapter development chair. Oh, that's fantastic, and Kami, I know that you love going to schools and helping kids. Can you tell me more about that? Yes, when I got the title of Miss Asia Hawaii, I wanted to give back to my elementary school, Kano'ilani, so I made friends with the principal, and I got to be a part of their first outdoor welcome back assembly, which was so special to me, and now times are a little bit different, but it was one of my goals. Oh, that's so good, and what's the connection between echelon and the Salvation Army? Echelon is a young advisory board that helps to promote the work of the Salvation Army, and so that is majors, Elisa and Jeff, and they are a part of our Hawaii chapter. Oh, I love it. And that was during Thanksgiving. Oh, that's, I love everything that you're saying and how you're a servant leader and you're inspiring so many others to do the same, and I mean, Major Jeff, I know him for about a year and a half now, and what he's doing with the Salvation Army is tremendous, and Candy, I know that you're very, very proud of a huge Japanese billboard. Can you tell me about that? Oh, I forgot about that. Because of my tutu, you know, she enrolled me in modeling school to give me self-confidence because I had no self-confidence growing up, and I guess I used to dress like a tomboy because naturally, you know, I had brothers and my neighbors were boys and a lot of my cousins are guys. So I grew up with a lot of male influence in my life, and I used to wear stripes and polka dots, and I thought that was cool. So when she enrolled me in modeling school, I freaked out and I was like, oh my God, I have to wear dresses and heels and walk on this platform. But you know, that was another blessing in the skies. And I got to be on my first billboard in Tokyo, Japan, and I flew all the way there just to see it, and that was an experience on its own. It was so unforgettable. So there it is. There's that billboard. Now, what were you feeling about when you were there? What was your feeling like? I couldn't believe it. I grew up so depressed, right? And I just never thought something like that could be possible. And, you know, my parents divorced was actually a blessing in the skies. And I've learned, you know, last year with everything going on and through all my adversity for the first time in my life, you know, I've learned to find peace in my pieces, and I think it's such an empowering place to be. I'm so happy to hear that, Kami. And, you know, you, I mean, you're so courageous to share, you know, what, you know, about the suicide and, you know, that being the lowest point in your life. What is the second lowest point in your life that you experienced? That was last year. So on top of, you know, the whole world going through a pandemic and us going on a lockdown, I got out of a toxic relationship. And two days, you know, after that relationship ended, I had my first miscarriage. And two weeks after that, I had another one. And later learned that, you know, it was a possibility that they were twins and it was hard to see a provider because a lot of the providers were not seeing patients, let alone new patients. And this all circles back to me attempting to commit suicide when I was told in the hospital that I may never be able to have kids. So to think that, you know, I actually carried life and to learn about the person's character with whom I had shared that life with was very discouraging. But God strategically placed certain people in my life last year that helped me to grow and to heal faster than I ever had, you know, in all my life. And so that's a huge blessing in itself. So that would be my second adversity. Great. Who is, who are some of those people that helped you after that experience? Definitely God, you know, I have to give God the glory for a lot of things. My best friend, Tiare, and another friend who has been on your show, Charles Hewlin. Yeah, no, that's really good, Cammy, because, you know, oftentimes when, you know, people feel hopeless, they have to really open their eyes sometimes and really see that there is hope with people that really care for you. And is that what you found? Yes. Yeah. Cammy, so what advice, knowing what you know now through your short life so far, what advice do you have for others? I could never understand the adage, but I believe, and I understand it now, that time is precious, right? Life is fleeting and the older we get, you know, the less time we have. And so I try to maximize my time to the point where I admit, I don't get enough sleep and I haven't gotten, you know, a lot of sleep for years. It's just because I'm a doer and I like to get things done. And so I would say, you know, to cherish the moments with the people that you have while you can and don't take it for granted. I can't do a recommendation on sleep. But get some sleep, because sleep is important for your brain and your health. Oh, well. But I'm working on that. Now, in terms of others who might be bullied, going through a bullying situation, going through a domestic violence situation, thinking about suicide, what would you say to them to instill courage in them to do the right thing? You know, back in my days, I didn't have access to the internet. You know, the internet wasn't even a thing, nor was smartphones. I grew up with a pager. So you have so many resources at your fingertips, right? And that's such an important thing. So I would use that and to seek help, invest in yourself because it is so worth it and you are so valuable. So, you know, these are things that I do in my life and that I'm still in my life. Yeah, there's a lot of people that try to make everyone else around them happy and then they're miserable themselves. It's so important for you to make yourself happy first, truly happy before you can make others around you happy. And I know that's something that you were dealing with as well, right? So another thing that my tutu would tell me growing up is that you can't take care of other people if you can't take care of yourself. And I never understood that until I got older. And, you know, it's so true. If you yourself are not well and you're struggling, how do you expect other people to look up to you and take your advice? And, you know, last year, I also found true happiness within myself and it's such a great, you know, a great thing to feel. Kami, what's a future goal of yours? A future goal of mine. You know, this was never on the top of my mind but to have the courage to be able to be on your show and to share something that once was so difficult for me to talk about, I would love to travel around the world because, you know, it's one of the things that I love to do and to share my message. Oh, I love hearing that. And Kami, you know, you are an extraordinary queen of the Miss Asia Hawaii. And I want, I hope that there's, you're inspiring many other girls who will watch this who want to enter the pageants. What are your thoughts about that? Going into my first pageant years ago, I think it was like 13 years ago, maybe 14, you know, it was a cherry blossom pageant and an immediate family member told me something discouraging when I decided to run and they told, they asked me, who's gonna sponsor you? You know, you need to get your hair and makeup done, you're gonna need a sponsor for that. And it was at that point in my life where I started to change my mindset. And I was like, you know what? I'm so glad that they asked me that because more so it was like a challenge and it pushed me to do it. And I wanted to run in the cherry blossom pageant because it's such a unique experience. You know, you get this cultural, you get to learn more about your culture. And also I was afraid of public speaking. So after going to modeling school, I had a little bit more self-confidence and now I wanted to rise up to the challenge to get comfortable with public speaking because that was one of my fears. And it was one of the, you know, I did in place, in the cherry blossom, but it was such a great experience. So I would tell girls to do it. If it scares you, then do it. That leads to growth for sure. And look at you now. It took a lot of work. You know, I have really great friends who are mentors in my life and I do see a therapist and you know, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I think it's important for people to have that outlet. Hammy, I want to thank you for taking time to share, you know, your very personal insights with me on the show today. And I know you're going to continue to be a great role model to inspire countless others in the world. Thank you for having me, SD. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Camille and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.