She Wasn’t Chasing a Crown, The Crown Found Her: A Conversation with Mrs. Connecticut Erin Smith
When Erin Smith walked off the Mrs. Connecticut stage with a crown, she wasn’t standing at the finish line of a long-held dream. She was standing at the intersection of everything she’d already been building… her business, her marriage, herself. Now she’s packing her bags for Las Vegas to compete at Mrs. America, just days away! I caught her in that electric window between winning and what’s next.
Ani: Oh my gosh, you’re going to the Mrs. America pageant. How cool is that?! What are you most excited for?
Erin: Honestly, I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet. But I’m excited to be in a room full of women who said yes to something big, who showed up for themselves in a really public way. There’s something powerful about that energy. And I’m excited to see what I’m capable of on that stage.
Ani: Before we talk about the pageant itself, I want to back up because the real story here is what you were focused on before the pageant even existed for you. What were you really working on?
Erin: Two things above everything else: my business and my relationship with William, my partner. I was really focused on growing what I’d built professionally. I wanted momentum, I wanted things to click. And personally, William and I were doing the work to get closer, to build something solid. Those were the real intentions I was holding.
The pageant wasn’t on my vision board. It wasn’t even on my radar.
Ani: That’s what I want people to really hear. The pageant came up as what I’d call an enlightened opportunity, not something you were aiming at, but something that showed up in response to what you were already building. When it did come up, how did you know it was a yes?
Erin: It was fast. I didn’t overthink it the way I would have before. There was something in me that just… recognized it. Like this felt right in a way that was bigger than logic. I think part of me already knew I could do it.
Ani: And saying yes meant moving fast. You had to put a lot in place quickly, including, notably, getting married!
Erin: [laughs] Yes. The wedding was already happening, but the timeline got very real, very quickly. And William and I had things we needed to work through. There was real relationship work happening at the same time as pageant prep, at the same time as business growth. It was a lot but it flowed.
But that’s actually the part I think is most important for people to understand. You say yes to the opportunity, and then life doesn’t pause and wait for you. You have to show up for all of it at once. The coaching work we were doing wasn’t a luxury, it was how I kept my feet under me.
Ani: And then… you won!
Erin: And then I entered Mrs. Connecticut and I got it. [laughs] I actually got it.
“The pageant wasn’t on my vision board. It showed up in response to what I was already building, and I said yes.”
— Erin Smith, Mrs. Connecticut
Ani: Since winning, what have you noticed in the other areas of your life, the ones you were originally focused on?
Erin: Everything is moving. My business has been doing really well, better than it was before. My relationship with William is stronger, more grounded. It’s like the pageant and those other intentions weren’t competing with each other. They were feeding each other. I know that sounds hard to explain, but it felt like a parallel track… everything rising at the same time, even though the things themselves aren’t obviously connected.
It’s not linear. But it’s real.
Ani: I have to bring this full circle, because I remember something you said early in our work together. You told me that sometimes you thought maybe you didn’t want to do the business, that you just wanted to be a trophy wife.
Erin: [laughs] Oh God. Yes. I said that.
Ani: And now you are a literal trophy wife, with a crown, AND your business is thriving. What felt like an “either/or” was always an “and.”
Erin: That gets me. Because you’re right, somewhere in me, I thought I had to choose. Like I could be the polished, supported, beautiful version of my life or the ambitious, building-something version. The work helped me see that those weren’t actually in conflict. I didn’t have to trade one for the other. I could be both. I am both.
That might be the biggest thing I’m taking to Vegas.
Ani: What are you carrying into Mrs. America?
Erin: Trust. Trust in myself, trust in the process, trust that the work I’ve done is real and it will show up when I need it. I know what I’m made of now in a way I didn’t a year ago. That’s not arrogance, it’s just clarity. And it’s grounded in something real, not just positive thinking.
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Somatic Coaching Academy wishes Erin all the best of luck in the pageant on 9/3/26! Follow her on her Instagram HERE!
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