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Show Notes & Links:
- Mrs. Frisco on Facebook
- Mrs. Frisco on Instagram
- Mrs. Frisco on Twitter
- Mrs. Texas International
- 22Kill
- Honor, Courage, Commitment (main site), HCC in Dallas
- Equipped for Success (site coming soon)
- If you want to have Mrs. Frisco out to your event or sponsor her for Mrs. Texas contact her on Facebook
Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:
Transcript
Scott Ellis: Welcome to the Frisco podcast I’m your host Scott Ellis and today we are joined by Cindy Sampson. You may know Cindy better as Mrs. Frisco. Today we’re going to learn a little bit more about how she became Mrs. Frisco and what the responsibilities of that position are. You’re also going to find out a little bit more about the charity she’s involved with and how we can help her go on to become Mrs. Texas. We are here today with Cindy Sampson aka Mrs. Frisco. Welcome to the Frisco podcast.
Cindy Sampson: Thank you for having me.
Scott Ellis: The first question I have is, how did you become Mrs. Frisco? I didn’t even know until maybe a couple of years ago that this was even out there.
Cindy Sampson: A lot of people aren’t aware that there’s a Mrs. Organization that is out there. There’s actually quite a few. The one that I’m involved in Mrs. Texas International and it’s a nice avenue because it allows for misses to be able to run into pageants and they look at more substance and more platform. I was inspired to run for Mrs. Frisco by my son Tyler who is born an amputee.
Scott Ellis: He’s here with us today hanging out. Thank you Tyler.
Scott Ellis: How did you actually then become Mrs. Frisco? What does that process look like is there a pageant?
Cindy Sampson: What there is, is an interview process. You apply online through a written interview, you submit that and it goes in front of a board with international system. They review all the women that want to become Mrs. Frisco, Mrs. Plano whatever you want to be and they choose whoever they think would be the perfect candidate. Then they call you back and you have a phone interview and then they let you know yes we have selected you and then you go on to run for Mrs. Texas.
Scott Ellis: Is that something you’re doing or in the process of?
Cindy Sampson: I ran for Mrs. Texas back in March and I was very close to winning. The great thing about this organization is even though I did not win Mrs. Texas this year I still can run as Mrs. Texas in 2016. I am technically Mrs. Frisco 2016 unless I decide I want to give that title.
Scott Ellis: How long do you hold on to the title for your city?
Cindy Sampson: I will always be Mrs. Frisco 2015. I will always be Mrs. Frisco 2016 but then if I win Mrs. Texas next year then I will be known as Mrs. Texas 2016 but I will always be Mrs. Frisco. Does that make sense?
Scott Ellis: It does. There’s nobody that comes along and necessarily replaces you?
Cindy Sampson: No. if I won Mrs. Texas 2016 then there would be Mrs. Frisco 2017 and it wouldn’t be me.
Scott Ellis: If you chose to stay in this role indefinitely then you are Mrs. Frisco for …
Cindy Sampson: If I never won Mrs. Texas I could be Mrs. Frisco all the way up until I believe there’s an age limit but I’m not sure what that age is.
Scott Ellis: What are the responsibilities of holding that title? I see that you’re very active in a lot of things, but what are you actually responsible for?
Cindy Sampson: I’m responsible for promoting my platform which is called Equipped for Success which is as you know I’m raising awareness in educating others about all the resources available for amputees and their families. Then I also promote the official platform for Mrs. Texas International which is the American Heart Association Go Red for Women campaign.
Scott Ellis: What about other community not necessarily awareness but just being active? I see you do things like Rough Rider games and you’re out there a lot.
Cindy Sampson: I’m always active and that’s part of my community service is to reach out to the community, make them aware of events that are going on in the city, reach out to other programs, see if they need my assistance so that’s what I do.
Scott Ellis: Do you get asked to come to a lot of things?
Cindy Sampson: I do.
Scott Ellis: What sort of things do they like you to do when you come out there? Is it mostly just promotional? Is it I would imagine a lot of pictures and all that kind of stuff?
Cindy Sampson: A lot of pictures. Last year I was at the July 4th event at Frisco Square and my responsibility was to be an emcee for the Dallas Cowboys, their dance squad which his rhythm and blues dancers and I introduced them all day. They did several performances and then [inaudible 00:04:55] also, wonderful guy I love him.
Scott Ellis: We got him on the show. He’s awesome.
Cindy Sampson: He is. He is so wonderful. He invited me out to the lighting of the Christmas tree at Frisco Square so I got to see it up on stage. A lot of the times I like to go to the festivals and walk around and talk to the little girls or the kids and inspire them and tell them “If there’s something that you want to do, do it. Don’t let any challenge that comes along your way stop you from pursuing your dreams.”
Scott Ellis: It sounds like you’ve been a good role model for the community.
Cindy Sampson: Thank you so much.
Scott Ellis: Keep going. What is it mean to you personally to be Mrs. Frisco?
Cindy Sampson: It has been such a wonderful experience not just for me but also the amputees that I represent because it has allowed the door to be opened for them, to raise more awareness and show people that these amputees are incredible and the things that they can accomplish is just so inspiring. Like I said it allows you to say, “I may not have a physical disability like some of the amputees but everybody has a challenge.” It allows you to say, “If they can do that then I can get over the challenge that I’m facing.”
Scott Ellis: That’s a good message to convey in any community really because sometimes it’s easy for us to get into a little bit of pity party or down on ourselves and we’re having a hard time. When you realize that there are people out there that have things that may seem to be stacked against them in a way that you don’t, you get over yourself real fast and realize that I really don’t have a good excuse here. I just need to get back in the saddle and go out there.
Cindy Sampson: That’s the other thing. I was talking to you earlier off air about 22Kill and how that organization has been set up to help our veterans who come back with PTSD and 22 veterans commit suicide every day and so …
Scott Ellis: Every day?
Cindy Sampson: Every single day and that is without 2 states reporting. It’s probably more than that. I think it’s only with 25, well 2 major states reporting California and Texas is not required to report veteran’s deaths and so 22 a day is only with 25 states reporting. That organization has been wonderful because a lot of the military guys they come back and they’re trained to be very tough. If they come out and say I have depression or I’m having thoughts of suicide or I’m having a hard time adjusting they hold it inside and they feel like if they come out it shows a sign of weakness. They’d rather take their lives because they see that as more honorable than admitting that there is something going on.
Scott Ellis: That’s a good transition. Is there an office or a place for veterans to get that kind of help in Frisco?
Cindy Sampson: I haven’t heard of a place in Frisco but I always keep my door or on my Facebook and they can always contact me or 22Kill on Facebook. They have Instagram. They have all of that. If there is somebody out there that’s listening, they can always contact me on Facebook In the know with Mrs. Frisco.
Scott Ellis: You’ll put them in touch with a lot of people?
Cindy Sampson: I’ll put them in touch with the people that they need and there are several organizations there’s 22Kill. Honor Courage Commitment, Carry the load.
Scott Ellis: What made you get involved with that particular organization?
Cindy Sampson: That’s an interesting segue because when I first started running for Mrs. Frisco or pursuing Mrs. Texas I wanted to raise awareness for children that are amputees. Then when I started doing more and more events, I started realizing there’s a lot of people out there that need our help and a lot of amputees are military veterans. I just was able to make a connection through some of these veterans.
Scott Ellis: That’s a logical connection.
Cindy Sampson: They said “You need to get in touch with Jimmy Mac from 22Kill and all these people that are really out there trying to not raise awareness that there’s 22 veterans that commit suicide but we’re trying to save 22 veterans a day.
Scott Ellis: Coming back to your role and your title as Mrs. Frisco, first of all if somebody wanted to have you come out to an event, what types of things do you normally go to and then tell us a little bit about what’s the best way for them to reach out to you?
Cindy Sampson: I can do pretty much anything. I can emcee. I can go sign autographs, take photos. I’m pretty open when I go to an event. I usually go up to the event coordinator and I just tell them “Hey let me know what you want to do.” It might be something as simple as collecting money as people are coming in the door, handing out raffle tickets or like I said taking photos or sometimes presenting awards, speaking at events about my platform Equipped for Success.
Scott Ellis: If people are interested in having you come out, how should they reach you?
Cindy Sampson: They can reach me on my Facebook In the know with Mrs. Frisco.
Scott Ellis: I like that. It should be easy to remember
Cindy Sampson: I do have a website in the making and it’s going to be www.equipforsuccess.info. That’s in the process. It’s not up yet. If you go to that you will get an under construction.
Scott Ellis: When do you expect that to launch?
Cindy Sampson: Very soon. I wish I had a timeframe, within the next month.
Scott Ellis: We’ll link this up in the show notes for your Facebook page, Twitter. Are you on any of the other platforms or is it mostly just Facebook?
Cindy Sampson: I do. I have everything. I have Facebook. I have Instagram. I have Twitter. If you go on to Facebook it’s a long name but I know you’re going to …
Scott Ellis: We’ll put a link in the show notes for everybody.
Cindy Sampson: You’re going to do that but on Instagram you can reach me at Mrs. which is M-R-S_friscotx and then on twitter I am at mrs_friscotx. Pretty much [inaudible 00:11:25].
Scott Ellis: We’ll make sure all of those accounts are accounted for.
Cindy Sampson: Thank you.
Scott Ellis: Then we’ll probably go ahead and drop a link to the new website so that when it does go live it’s already out there and people can find it. We’ll just let them know.
Cindy Sampson: Great! I appreciate that.
Scott Ellis: It’s under construction for a little while longer but it’ll be live soon.
Cindy Sampson: My number 1 goal is just to reach out to people, educate them, help connect them to the resources that they need to be successful. It doesn’t matter. They don’t have to be an amputee because I have several connections with all different types of organizations to help them.
Scott Ellis: I’ve got 1 last question to close out on this. Is the role and the activities that you do, are they voluntary or do people normally compensate you for coming out? I just want to set that expectation so people are reaching out they know what makes a lot of sense.
Cindy Sampson: Everything is voluntary. I’ve gone to events as Mrs. Frisco and I’ve paid admission to get in because usually it goes to a charity. Even if didn’t, I’m okay with that but there’s never any strings attached or anything. I just want to go out there and help.
Scott Ellis: That’s very good. Thank you so much for coming in today.
Cindy Sampson: Thank you for having me.
Scott Ellis: Again, we’ll link everything up.
Cindy Sampson: This is fun.
Scott Ellis: This is fun. Maybe we’ll have you back once in a while and update on some of the things that are going on around …
Cindy Sampson: Maybe when I’m Mrs. Texas that would great.
Scott Ellis: Actually I’m glad you brought that up. Before we go, I lied. We’re going to close out on this one.
Cindy Sampson: Okay, great.
Scott Ellis: We want to support you in your bid for Mrs. Texas.
Cindy Sampson: Thank you.
Scott Ellis: What can we do? How can we get people in Frisco to help out to support you?
Cindy Sampson: If there’s any businesses that would like to sponsor me, what you can do is you can contact me through my Facebook page on In the know Mrs. Frisco and what you will get I will contact you with the pageant director to purchase an ad for the program. You will get obviously an ad in the program. Then any money that you donate will go to help Mrs. Texas with her expenses to go on to the Mrs. International pageant.
Scott Ellis: But we don’t get to go out and cast votes or do anything?
Cindy Sampson: Yes you can. When it gets closer to Mrs. Texas which should be around March you can go out to Mrs. Texas international website. I think its mrstexasinternational.com and you can vote for your favorite contestant.
Scott Ellis: That actually would help you win?
Cindy Sampson: That helps you win fan favorite. There’s nothing really you can do to help me win.
Scott Ellis: That’s what I was asking.
Cindy Sampson: That is all on me.
Scott Ellis: I’m sure you will do a fine job.
Cindy Sampson: Thank you so much.
Scott Ellis: We’re going to make sure we keep pushing on this for everybody so they go out there and vote for you.
Cindy Sampson: Thank you. I appreciate that.
Scott Ellis: Do everything we can.
Cindy Sampson: Great!
Scott Ellis: All right guys, thank you very much.
Cindy Sampson: Thank you.
Scott Ellis: Bye!