#304 Marisa Brown Interview

Each week, I share no-fluff pageant coaching to help you lead, speak, and leave a legacy. With 300+ interviews and coaching across Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss America, this isn’t theory—it’s what works.

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About Marisa

Marisa Brown, Miss Capital City Volunteer, will be competing for the title of Miss South Carolina Volunteer this July. She is a rising senior at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, majoring in Mass Communications with a cognate in Health, Promotion, Education, and Behavior. She is also double minoring in Dance and Entrepreneurship.

At just nine years old, Marisa developed an eating disorder—a struggle that resurfaced at nineteen as a result of unhealthy approaches to fitness and wellness. Her disorder robbed her of many things, including her joy, which had always been one of her most defining qualities. It wasn’t until she began her recovery at nineteen that she fully understood the physical and emotional toll she had endured. Determined to reclaim control, she made the decision to stop letting food dictate her life.

From that turning point came her S.E.R.V.E. Initiative: Fueling Freedom—Healing Our Relationships with Food. The mission of Fueling Freedom is to help young girls and women understand eating disorders, recognize the body's need for nourishment, and develop a kinder relationship with both their bodies and their minds.

Marisa believes that true beauty begins within. When someone knows who they are and is confident in their accomplishments, they begin to see and appreciate their outer beauty. Through Fueling Freedom, she is working to make this vision a reality—empowering young women to align their heads and hearts and take the first step toward healing, because it all starts in the mind.

https://www.instagram.com/_misscapitalcityvolsc/

Timestamps

* 0:00 – Intro: Meet Marisa, her titles, studies, and what drives her

* 1:10 – Bananas, peaches, and pageants: a lighthearted Southern start

* 5:07 – Why pageantry? From being overlooked to empowered

* 9:35 – How her eating disorder began and what triggered it

* 17:42 – The turning point: relapse at 19 and toxic prep culture

* 22:50 – Starting therapy and learning to choose vulnerability

* 31:50 – Creating Fueling Freedom and helping others heal

* 39:15 – What healthy eating and mindset look like today

* 43:30 – Faith, purpose, and what “fearfully and wonderfully made” means to her

* 58:20 – Final 10 Questions: quirks, wisdom, and what she wants to be remembered for

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