I was the first person in my family to be college educated. My grandad was a big influence and instilled in me the importance of education. My family owns four or five restaurants (including Rudy’s and Maximilians Bistro in Blanchardstown)and I learned that you have to work hard to get on in life.
When I was in school I worked part-time behind the bar and then went to law school and abroad to study. No. It is very expensive.
There’s so much you need behind the scenes, like coaching, dresses, and the money to throw fundraising events. It’s a costly vocation and passion. When I won, it was my third time competing and at that stage, my parents said, “that’s the last time” – I was dragging them halfway across the world to get dresses! We went to Kosovo twice to get my Miss Ireland dress.
I’ve really studied pageants for many years and I looked at what other girls from other countries were doing at Miss Ireland and Miss Universe and many were buying dresses in Kosovo and Albania because the dresses there are stunning. Dubai. But when you work hard in life, you deserve to enjoy yourself because you’re making memories.
I was fortunate to have a really good job in Dubai, but for tourists it’s expensive because it has a lot of elite restaurants and hotels that we wouldn’t have in Ireland. I’m a serious shoe collector – I love Jimmy Choo and Tom Ford. Some of my pageant dresses are very expensive as well.
I hired a pageant coach called Nia Sanchez, a former Miss Universe contestant, when entering Miss Ireland because I wanted to become more confident and to project my message better. That was a really beneficial investment for me because I want to be a lawyer and I’ll have to stand in a courtroom. I’d love to but prices are extremely expensive, so not at the moment.
Hopefully by the end of next year I’ll find something I love. I love Rathmines and Ranelagh and Dundrum, where it’s close to everything. Revolut.
I think it’s an amazing app because you can transfer money to anyone in the world and you can change currencies. My dad used to be a stockbroker and my brother trades so we’re a family that’s very interested in that. I used to work for an NFT (non-fungible token) company and I purchased some.
I think digital currency will be our future..
