Rachel says the competition was nerve-wracking, but she found confidence once she made it into the top 15. "When I got in the top 15, I wasn't walking away with anything less than the Mikimoto [crown]," she says.
To get her through the rest of the competition, Rachel says she relied on the law of attraction and positive thinking. "I lived by my faith and The Secret. I was reading The Secret. I was reading excerpts every night. And that just gave me the driving force that I could do it," she says. "I was thinking, 'I'm going to get out there and nail that pattern, and I'm going to woo them, and I'm going to show them my personality and my charm. … I'm not going to give 'em a reason why they shouldn't pick me to do this.'"
Now that she's attracted the crown, is Rachel worried about it falling off? "Oh, yeah! And I don't want to be liable for something like this," she says. "I love this little Mikimoto. It's a nice little addition to my wardrobe."
Although she doesn't have to wear it everywhere, Rachel says she's happy to put it on anytime.
