00;00;01;17 - 00;00;22;27
Liz Kay
Hello and welcome to the Province College Podcast. I'm your host, Liz Kane, and we're joined by producer Chris Judge of the Class of 2005 here in the Province College podcast. We bring you interesting stories from the Friar family. This week, we're talking with Abby Mintz Olelo, a member of the Class of 2021. Abby majored in English and in Women's and Gender Studies at Providence College and is now in her second year at Roger Williams University School of Law.

00;00;23;19 - 00;00;33;16
Liz Kay
Last year was a busy one for Abby because she was crowned Miss Rhode Island in May, and she competed in the Miss America pageant in November. Abby, thanks so much for joining us and congratulations on Your Honor.

00;00;33;16 - 00;00;34;13
Abby Mansolillo
Thank you for having me.

00;00;34;22 - 00;00;43;22
Liz Kay
All right. So thanks for indulging us in a little show. And tell us right from the start here. Can you tell us about your count? I can. How much is it weigh So difficult to weigh.

00;00;43;28 - 00;01;00;10
Abby Mansolillo
How much it weighs, but it's heavy. So I'll start with the banner, which we do where more often than the crown and I do have a crown pin on it. That was a gift from a former Miss Rhode Island, Allie Curtis. And so she gives that to the winner. So, again, oftentimes, if I'm not wearing the crown, the crown pen stays.

00;01;00;24 - 00;01;17;15
Abby Mansolillo
And so this is the this is the crown little mirror inside. And we have to keep out a pillow because you don't want to scratch. And this is it. It has, you know, four points of the crown. So it's style service, success and scholarship, which we can talk about a little later, if you'd like. And of course, there are this is this is the big question.

00;01;17;15 - 00;01;21;12
Abby Mansolillo
How does the crown stay on your head? And so, I mean, I'm not going to be able to fit it out here.

00;01;21;12 - 00;01;22;19
Abby Mansolillo
But if it were.

00;01;22;19 - 00;01;40;08
Abby Mansolillo
I would have to pin, you know, between six and eight pins in here. So it isn't too heavy. But by the time you get, you know, a couple of hours into your appearance, it gets a little heavy. But the night I won, I hadn't had the box yet. And I've been competing in pageants for so, so long. And I actually stuck with it next to my bed.

00;01;40;08 - 00;01;47;18
Abby Mansolillo
So that way I would know that I didn't actually dream that I had won Miss Rhode Island. And so I just I love it, if you can look at it.

00;01;47;18 - 00;01;50;19
Liz Kay
The first thing you see as soon as you opened your eyes that morning was the crown. Yes.

00;01;50;23 - 00;01;51;22
Abby Mansolillo
Yes. It was a good feeling.

00;01;51;26 - 00;01;52;14
Liz Kay
Dream come true.

00;01;52;24 - 00;01;53;07
Abby Mansolillo
It really.

00;01;53;07 - 00;02;10;08
Abby Mansolillo
Was. I have been competing since I was 14 years old, so I'd want to represent Rhode Island on a national level, a national pageant for for many years. And so, you know, to finally have this happen for me was really validating. And it was, you know, a really wonderful experience. And this year has been the best.

00;02;10;23 - 00;02;14;01
Liz Kay
So what inspired you to get started back when you were 14 years old?

00;02;14;02 - 00;02;37;03
Abby Mansolillo
So I had started modeling when I was younger, and then someone within that industry recommended that I give pageants a try. I did, and I caught the bug. And at 23 here, I am. And it's been really crazy because, again, sometimes you don't always win. You know, I hadn't won Miss Rhode Island and I wasn't around high school America when I was still Moses Brown for her in high school.

00;02;37;12 - 00;02;55;16
Abby Mansolillo
And that was great, since my system has done a lot for me. And so to win Miss Rhode Island was it was humbling. It was a really beautiful moment. And it's been a true pleasure representing our state, you know, going across the state to appearances and events and obviously going to Miss America has been like, you said, it's been a dream come true.

00;02;56;04 - 00;03;04;19
Liz Kay
This definitely sounds like being Miss Miss Rhode Island itself is a full time job. How did you balance being a second year law student and preparing for Miss America?

00;03;04;25 - 00;03;08;18
Abby Mansolillo
I don't know. But I did. You know, I'm really lucky that I.

00;03;08;18 - 00;03;23;21
Abby Mansolillo
Have a wonderful support system. My family is great. They come with me to appearances and they also, the ones to say, hey, love them. Like, you know, you don't forget you have appearances. We can, you know, make sure everything gets, you know, in order. But again, after competing for so long, you kind of do get used to balancing your time.

00;03;23;21 - 00;03;41;26
Abby Mansolillo
I had to master that pretty quickly before I won Miss Rhode Island and especially before I went to Miss America. With that in mind to the administration that Roger Williams law was really so accommodating that was so helpful. I had to, you know, move some of my exams and really make sure that everything was accounted for. So very, very carefully is how I prepared.

00;03;41;26 - 00;04;00;24
Abby Mansolillo
And, you know, my family knows that I have, you know, three calendars going all at once. And, you know, nothing happens until the work gets done and the work will get done. But it was it's hard to say it's a sacrifice because it it's not because when you love something so much doesn't feel like it's work. So this, you know, being around, going to events is almost like you're something else.

00;04;01;08 - 00;04;05;17
Abby Mansolillo
You can't just be in law school when you have something else to be really fulfilled. And this has been fulfilling in so many ways.

00;04;06;12 - 00;04;10;14
Liz Kay
Tell us about the Miss America pageant. What were some of the highlights for you?

00;04;10;15 - 00;04;27;17
Abby Mansolillo
Oh, my gosh. So going to miss America was so much fun. We actually started in New York, so I competed at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, and it was beautiful. It was a wonderful space. And meeting all the girls was just so much fun. But we started in New York for a tour and it was nice because that was a highlight.

00;04;27;17 - 00;04;43;00
Abby Mansolillo
Given that you had such a busy week ahead of you, knowing that it was rehearsals, knowing it was events, you know, for us and meetings and very long days. But that was our time to be with each other or to spend some quality time with the other candidates and get to know each other. So we went to Summit one.

00;04;43;00 - 00;04;48;20
Abby Mansolillo
Vanderbilt And that's when you're literally like stories up and you see all of New York and I'm horribly.

00;04;48;20 - 00;04;50;04
Abby Mansolillo
Afraid of heights, but it was.

00;04;50;04 - 00;05;05;03
Abby Mansolillo
So, so worth it. And it was gorgeous. We went to the 911 memorial, which I had never been to, So that was really, you know, it was meaningful. It meant something being that with them when we were at Miss America. So that was the first part, the first highlight when we were at Miss America, every day was a theme.

00;05;05;03 - 00;05;18;17
Abby Mansolillo
So we had rehearsals every single day. So it was, you know, your alma mater softly wore, say, province college gear. There was blue. There was like a Christmas theme. So actually, Miss America, the girl who was her name is Grace. We call her our Amazing Grace because we just adore her.

00;05;19;01 - 00;05;30;20
Abby Mansolillo
She came in a full Grinch costume and Miss Nevada was terrified of the Grinch. So she, like, stayed away for the whole day. It was hilarious. But, you know, things like that was.

00;05;30;20 - 00;05;46;15
Abby Mansolillo
What was really memorable and learning the opening number. And I have this one moment stuck in my head where we had to practice our eveningwear walk on stage to put your gown on. And my gown meant a lot to me because it was the one I actually won the state title with because I loved it so much I had my eye on.

00;05;46;20 - 00;06;02;05
Abby Mansolillo
I was 16, I fell in love and I had this moment of, okay, well, you know, Rhode Island, come on up. And you step on the Miss America stage for the first time. It was during rehearsal. You know, no one has makeup on. If no one's made up, you have your gown on. And that was when you look out in the audience that's completely empty.

00;06;02;20 - 00;06;13;25
Abby Mansolillo
And that was when it hits you like, oh, my gosh, I'm Miss America. And I think the highlight of Miss America was when I realized that I was there and I realized that eight year old me would never have believed that I would go and I was there.

00;06;14;01 - 00;06;22;10
Liz Kay
I think most people probably don't even realize that if they watched the televised pageant, that this is like the culmination of so much preparation, but also like a whole week's.

00;06;22;16 - 00;06;42;08
Abby Mansolillo
Yes, absolutely. So, again, we start in New York and then we went right into rehearsals. And then, of course, there were preliminary competitions. So before you even see the the live stream this year, it was live streamed before you even see that the whole show there is there are two days of of preliminary competition. So I had your interview.

00;06;42;08 - 00;06;55;06
Abby Mansolillo
You had your talent. You're onstage for your social impact initiative. You were on stage for your onstage question. And that, again, is just that's just you see this very, very small part. So to really have this moment and I didn't win this camera.

00;06;55;06 - 00;06;57;11
Abby Mansolillo
I didn't I didn't even come close to winning Miss America.

00;06;57;11 - 00;07;05;08
Abby Mansolillo
And that's okay because you still got there. And it was so it was breathtaking. It really was just to be there with this incredible group of women.

00;07;05;16 - 00;07;15;01
Liz Kay
So a little bit about the benefits of participating in a pageant like Miss America, because I think you kind of mentioned that, like you've gotten through all this preparation and that's really is going to help you.

00;07;15;14 - 00;07;16;01
Abby Mansolillo
Absolutely.

00;07;16;01 - 00;07;32;22
Abby Mansolillo
So I one thing that people maybe don't know about Miss America is that at its heart it's a scholarship organization. And so you don't have to win this America. You don't even have to win your state title to receive scholarship. So I competed in Miss Rhode Island when I was at Providence College and I was third runner up and I received a scholarship to Provence College.

00;07;33;16 - 00;07;51;25
Abby Mansolillo
And so that's great because again, you don't have to win to have that benefit. Of course, when you win, that number does go up and it's more scholarship. And then of course, you get to Colby, Miss Rhode Island, or be Miss America. But again, it's the opportunity because Miss America knows that young women, we need that that push sometimes and we actually miss America.

00;07;51;29 - 00;08;09;13
Abby Mansolillo
Raise the age requirement, the age limit. So women up to age 28, I believe, are now able to compete for their state title and to compete and can compete at Miss America. And again, that's wonderful, because not only are we looking at tuition, we're looking at student debt in a lot of time, that a lot of times that does plague young women.

00;08;10;01 - 00;08;28;13
Abby Mansolillo
So having that opportunity is so special. Aside from that, though, you know, it's doing events like this or it's talking in front of crowds or it's just going interacting with people on a day to day basis, being missed, being this renowned, competing in this island helps because you're getting ready for that as a future attorney. That's a skill that we have to know how to do.

00;08;28;21 - 00;08;51;16
Abby Mansolillo
And of course that's very beneficial. And I've been working with a pageant coach, pageant prep with Erika Cruz Weller for many, many years, and she prepared me not only to be at Miss America, not only to be Miss Rhode Island, but really just to be comfortable speaking to people and and knowing not, you know, how to answer a question, not how to walk on stage, but just how to have that confidence and know that you know how to do it.

00;08;51;16 - 00;08;56;03
Abby Mansolillo
It's just getting that tool and really sharpening everything that you have.

00;08;56;03 - 00;09;08;14
Liz Kay
Abby, you are the child of two Providence College graduates, and your mother, Elena, even graduated or even received a graduate degree from Putin. So tell us what led you to follow in their footsteps?

00;09;08;14 - 00;09;11;07
Abby Mansolillo
FOOTSTEPS And this is a very funny story.

00;09;11;07 - 00;09;24;12
Abby Mansolillo
So when I was in high school, I went to Moses Brown. As I mentioned, I did not want to go to Provence College. I thought for some reason I thought it was too close to home. But then I said, Well, I took it. I'll go, I want to go to Brown. I told Brown. I said, No, I don't think this is the right school.

00;09;24;12 - 00;09;31;23
Abby Mansolillo
You just you, you know, And I toured Providence College. It was I don't remember. I think it was like a nice ish day, but it's kind of icy.

00;09;32;24 - 00;09;37;01
Abby Mansolillo
I slipped down Guzman Hill again.

00;09;37;16 - 00;09;40;24
Abby Mansolillo
And I don't know who it was. I don't know which member of.

00;09;40;24 - 00;09;47;28
Abby Mansolillo
Friars Club it was. But, you know, I got up, I saw myself off, and he was like, That was the most grateful for all I've ever seen. I looked.

00;09;47;28 - 00;09;49;26
Abby Mansolillo
At my parents like, Well, now I have to go here because I've.

00;09;49;26 - 00;09;53;26
Abby Mansolillo
Literally marked the campus. And that's how I knew. But, you.

00;09;53;26 - 00;10;11;10
Abby Mansolillo
Know, I felt like it was home. It was just I liked being in Rhode Island. It's a small school. It just it was everything that I wanted. I didn't know that until I toured. So it it does mean something that I'm here. I was, you know, and I was here as a legacy student. And, you know, many, many of my family members have have gone here.

00;10;11;10 - 00;10;31;14
Abby Mansolillo
My grandfather was on the president's council. So again, Province College is home. And I pulled up here today and I said, oh, my God, I miss it here so much. You know, it's just it's a very special campus and a beautiful place. I was here for homecoming, actually, and as a as an appearance, but also just, you know, after the five K and it was so much fun and it was horrible.

00;10;31;14 - 00;10;36;25
Abby Mansolillo
It was raining, it was cold and didn't matter. It's still providence. It's still home.

00;10;37;22 - 00;10;42;14
Liz Kay
So tell us how you pictured your two majors, you English and Women's Gender Studies.

00;10;42;14 - 00;10;49;18
Abby Mansolillo
Yes, I have always loved reading. Always. My mother would when I was little, she would be like, I sit here and, you know, read.

00;10;49;18 - 00;10;52;28
Abby Mansolillo
Your book and I would sit here for hours and she's like, still.

00;10;52;28 - 00;11;08;16
Abby Mansolillo
Reading. And I just I wouldn't take my nose out of a book. I went to Barnes Noble yesterday just to walk around, just see what I could find. So I loved that. I also knew that I could do anything with an English major and then I started taking I think I declared an English major when I was maybe October of freshman year.

00;11;09;08 - 00;11;27;06
Abby Mansolillo
And then I decided to be a women and gender studies major as well. I believe it was sophomore year. I was Abigail broke that a lot of classes with her. I really liked the content. It was important work that she was doing that she was teaching us, and it definitely was a bit of a different approach that I could take to, again, whatever I chose to do.

00;11;27;18 - 00;11;34;22
Abby Mansolillo
I'm in law school now and it absolutely helps the critical thinking, the awareness of the world around me. But I wasn't supposed to be in law school.

00;11;34;22 - 00;11;36;26
Abby Mansolillo
Actually, that's a that's a very perhaps a longer story.

00;11;37;11 - 00;11;59;08
Abby Mansolillo
When I was at Providence College, I was interning at NBC ten. I thought I was going to be a news anchor. COVID sent us home, and it was around that time where I was like, You know what? Something isn't right. This isn't what I'm supposed to be doing. And, you know, again, that's the longer story. But being having those two majors behind me, it has helped in so many ways critical thinking, writing, you know, analysis.

00;11;59;08 - 00;12;12;28
Abby Mansolillo
And how do you approach something simple as approaching a document and and starting to write on an understanding the world around you and how that relates to who we are and who what this campus means to different people. It means something. It does.

00;12;14;02 - 00;12;23;04
Liz Kay
I'm curious how your background as a women's studies major, how has how you reflect on your pageant life and your pageant experience as a women's studies major?

00;12;23;17 - 00;12;46;08
Abby Mansolillo
That's a really interesting question because I actually spoke to one of Abigail Brook's classes before I went to Miss America about pageants, about Miss America, and, you know, the very complicated history that beauty pageants have. However, with that being said, Miss America has evolved in so many ways. Being a scholarship organization, we include a talent portions that women have, that ability to be creative on stage in any way that they so choose.

00;12;47;05 - 00;13;04;28
Abby Mansolillo
Our interview is longer, and so we are able to talk to the judges and it's really a conversation. They're interviewing me as much as I'm interviewing them, and it's really getting to know each other and understanding how I am right for that job that the women's studies major was very special because I felt so supported all the time.

00;13;04;28 - 00;13;28;17
Abby Mansolillo
And I bring a very interesting side of the story where people have a very specific idea of beauty pageants being all about what you present, how you present it, physical attributes. But there's again, there's so much more to it than that. And Miss America has been in Miss America. Miss Rowland, been so supportive of, you know, going to law school, being in law school and Miss America represents the whole woman.

00;13;28;17 - 00;13;45;23
Abby Mansolillo
It really does. And it's a very modern woman and one who can really put herself in any situation and know that she belongs in a boardroom, in a courtroom, and even on stage. And that means that anyone can do that, not just me, not just, you know, Miss America herself.

00;13;47;00 - 00;13;52;10
Liz Kay
So you didn't choose the courtroom. And it is your destination. And how did you choose that?

00;13;53;05 - 00;14;17;00
Abby Mansolillo
So my mother went to law school. I actually come from a family of attorneys, and I had always wanted to go to law school when I was younger. And then I think I got a little sidetracked. I want to try something different. And I loved working at NBC and it was a lot of fun. It was great. Then during COVID, I started having second thoughts and there was always that little nagging voice that was like, No, I'm not cut out to go to law school.

00;14;17;05 - 00;14;19;14
Abby Mansolillo
You know, Why would you do that? You have this in front of you.

00;14;20;18 - 00;14;23;09
Abby Mansolillo
And then I think by the time I told that voice to stop talking.

00;14;23;10 - 00;14;35;12
Abby Mansolillo
It wasn't too late. Thank goodness. Never is. You can go to law school really, at any time. So I took the I signed up for the LSAT, you know, to set the day after Christmas in 2020. I took it in February.

00;14;35;12 - 00;14;37;02
Abby Mansolillo
I had my scores back the next month.

00;14;37;02 - 00;14;45;11
Abby Mansolillo
And I knew where I was going by May and I actually joke because it reminded me of the scene in Legally Blond where the press like it's like she woke up and decided to go to law school today.

00;14;45;21 - 00;14;47;13
Abby Mansolillo
And that's kind of what people think.

00;14;47;13 - 00;15;05;20
Abby Mansolillo
But it was something that had always been, you know, a dream of mine, a passion of mine. And I'm happy to be here. And there's not a single day that goes by where I don't know that I made the right choice. I know I'm supposed to be in law school and I know what that ultimate destination is. And again, the great thing about a legal at a legal career, a law degree, is that you can do anything with it.

00;15;05;20 - 00;15;13;29
Abby Mansolillo
I can go and be a professor of law. I can go and be in the courtroom. I can go into politics. There are so many avenues I can take. And that flexibility, something I'm looking for.

00;15;14;08 - 00;15;17;25
Liz Kay
But you have a pretty unique ambition already. But tell us about that.

00;15;18;03 - 00;15;28;12
Abby Mansolillo
So my goal is to be the second female attorney general of the state of Rhode Island. I worked in the attorney general's office this past summer. I specialized in narcotics and violent crime, and it was a very.

00;15;28;12 - 00;15;31;10
Abby Mansolillo
Interesting office to be in. I loved it.

00;15;31;19 - 00;15;48;09
Abby Mansolillo
It was so wonderful. I focused also on forfeitures. So that was just it was rewarding because I saw the work that that office does and being in the public sector and how much, you know, the how in a lot of ways, the attorney general's office is the backbone of our legal community in so many ways. And people don't always don't always realize that.

00;15;48;27 - 00;16;00;11
Abby Mansolillo
So I met Arlene Violet, who was the first female attorney general of the state of Rhode Island, and she was truly inspiring. And it just solidified my love for public service. It really did.

00;16;01;01 - 00;16;11;16
Liz Kay
So now I'm curious whether it was your background as an English major or your inspiration to pursue the law that inspired your talent portion for the pageant?

00;16;11;24 - 00;16;34;24
Abby Mansolillo
It was actually both. I when I did Miss Rhode Island in the past, I sang and I it's it's like riding a bike. It's a it's a muscle I haven't really exercised in a long time. And I wanted to do something different that reflected who I was and where I was at this point in my life. So my talent portion for not only Miss Rhode Island but also Miss America, was a dramatic performance from on the basis of fact about Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

00;16;35;08 - 00;16;54;29
Abby Mansolillo
And I remember sitting down watching the movie and my jaw was on the floor. It was just so, so moving, so beautiful. And I chose this one particular monologue where she's talking about, you know, 100 years ago, women were not allowed to be in the courtroom. This was not an avenue that was available to us. And now look how far we are.

00;16;55;12 - 00;17;19;23
Abby Mansolillo
So it was really wonderful to bring that to life. And again, we think of a talent portion. So many women have been singing since they were little or dancing or cheerleading. And that's so special because we get to see this this very small glimpse of the girls who are who are who are competing. And mine is different because it focuses on my career and celebrating the women who've come before me and and paving the way, helping to pave the way, I hope, to those who come after me.

00;17;20;16 - 00;17;36;29
Abby Mansolillo
So I think it was both. I think it was both majors, because, again, I being an English major, you know, reading it was so special and writing was so special. But also being in this world where women's studies is really, really important. And I also acted for many years in Moses Brown. So it was nice to to do that again because I hadn't done it in a long time.

00;17;37;11 - 00;17;41;05
Liz Kay
When you look back at your time at Providence, what were some of the experiences that really stand out to you?

00;17;42;18 - 00;17;59;10
Abby Mansolillo
So I will never forget this is so this is a very specific memory, but it was Valentine's Day, which also happened to be Ash Wednesday, or at least it was like around Valentine's Day. But I remember Province College just playing Villanova and I'm a huge province college basketball fan. Like everything stops.

00;17;59;10 - 00;18;00;19
Abby Mansolillo
On game day.

00;18;01;00 - 00;18;05;25
Abby Mansolillo
So I, I was a freshman and so here students were in all pink.

00;18;06;04 - 00;18;09;10
Abby Mansolillo
We all had watches and we beat Villanova.

00;18;09;12 - 00;18;25;02
Abby Mansolillo
It was the best moment. And there are many, many others. This is just what I'm thinking about, especially, you know, being in the in the tournament. It was that was just the coolest moment because again, that being at the you know, the the Omega Pavilion was that's where.

00;18;25;07 - 00;18;26;18
Abby Mansolillo
That's actually like where you see.

00;18;26;18 - 00;18;42;12
Abby Mansolillo
A little bit of God sometimes with with each other. And that was very special. I was also a part of the Student Honor Association, which was so great. I really loved connecting with people who graduated Providence College and people who are still here because, of course, we say it all the time. Once a friar, you're always a friar.

00;18;42;20 - 00;19;05;28
Abby Mansolillo
And bridging that gap, bringing those two groups together, it meant something. And so again, that's why I want to go back to homecoming. That's why I wanted to come back here and really pay tribute in a lot of ways to this campus that really did shape me to be who I am. So that was great. And I have this one very distinct memory of being in professor of English class.

00;19;05;28 - 00;19;22;16
Abby Mansolillo
I think I was a freshman at this time. We were in. You're in Harkins. It was so beautiful out. It was like it was in the fall and, you know. Provenza Special all the time, especially in the fall, when it's still that newness of the school year. And there's a girl next to me who is also in the single association, and that's how we started chatting.

00;19;22;16 - 00;19;37;17
Abby Mansolillo
And again, this just that it's forging those relationships in the classroom and out. And it was just it was special. And I, I loved every single press I had. They all had such an impact on me, not just the ones that I've mentioned. So it's a it's home. When I say it's home, it really is home.

00;19;37;23 - 00;19;44;25
Liz Kay
I mean, when I think about this, I realize that you also had another milestone when you were here at P.S. because you participated in the NCAA program here.

00;19;44;25 - 00;20;00;00
Abby Mansolillo
I did. I did that. And thank you for reminding me because that was also up there, too. I wasn't confirmed before I came to Province College, and I think my family decided and I decided that, you know what? Whenever it happens, it happens. And God, timing is not ours.

00;20;00;00 - 00;20;04;08
Abby Mansolillo
And I know if I had to learn that and not winning for a long time.

00;20;04;22 - 00;20;23;02
Abby Mansolillo
And when we ask him for something, he says yes, no or not yet. Right. There's something else. And this happened to be my yes as soon as it was my freshman year, as soon as I walked on campus, I call I Amber, I call my parents. I was living in McKinney at the time and I called my parents and I said, I want to get confirmed What?

00;20;23;18 - 00;20;39;15
Abby Mansolillo
I said, Yeah, I'm going to take confirmation classes there every Sunday with Father Dom, and it's going to be really great. Confirmed at the end of, you know, end of April, beginning of May. And like we're going to have to do this. And they're like, okay. And every Sunday I would get I would, you know, go to the to the class, to the confirmation classes.

00;20;39;28 - 00;21;13;26
Abby Mansolillo
And then we'd all go to church together at 1030 Mass. And that was really special because sometimes when people make their confirmation, it doesn't really mean anything. You're in high school, you know, you go because you have to go and you know, your parents say you have to go be an adult in the Catholic Church. But for me, getting confirmed on this campus that just developed this relationship, I have not only with my faith but with with Providence College, you know, with Father Dom, my sponsor, Erica, she is we call her like my godmother, because she just you know, I call her and she talked me off a ledge in seconds.

00;21;14;03 - 00;21;28;20
Abby Mansolillo
And so, again, those relationships that you that I forged are I hate to use the word special again. I've used it so many times, but they're meaningful. And that was the best I remember that day. It was beautiful, I think was like Earth Day, too. I think I had an event for.

00;21;28;20 - 00;21;31;05
Abby Mansolillo
The I don't even know, maybe it's an alumni association.

00;21;31;16 - 00;21;40;20
Abby Mansolillo
I was also on the Residence Hall Association when I was a freshman, so it might have been that too. But I remember being at an event that day. It was a beautiful day. I'll never forget it. It was awesome.

00;21;41;16 - 00;21;43;05
Liz Kay
But it was definitely a conscious choice for you.

00;21;43;07 - 00;22;11;06
Abby Mansolillo
It was. It was. I felt like something was missing. I couldn't figure out what was missing. And then as soon as I walked in, it was like the basement of the church. As soon as I sat down, I was like, That's it. That's what was missing. And, you know, getting ashes here was was special. And I think that's what makes Providence College unique, where you can say, oh, you know, I go to a Catholic school, I go to a, you know, a college that has deeply rooted values in in faith.

00;22;11;23 - 00;22;25;19
Abby Mansolillo
But it's totally another to really feel that and to have this environment where students feel like they can go and talk to the the priest on campus, they can go and talk to the many nuns who are just, oh, my gosh, sister.

00;22;25;19 - 00;22;28;24
Abby Mansolillo
And Francis was my favorite people in the whole world. I still see her every.

00;22;28;24 - 00;22;32;10
Abby Mansolillo
Once in a while if I'm ever here. She's the coolest. I love them.

00;22;33;17 - 00;22;40;25
Liz Kay
This is a great segue to talk about Women's History Month, and I just wondered if you could tell us a little bit about some of the influential women in your life.

00;22;42;02 - 00;22;57;21
Abby Mansolillo
I got to ask you how much time we have, because there's a lot. So first of all, you know, my and everyone says their mom, but I'm going to say my mom just to start because she was so influential in so many ways. Again, her going to law school, I think she was one who's like, listen, I knew you end up going, I just couldn't tell you.

00;22;57;21 - 00;23;17;00
Abby Mansolillo
You're going to end up going Clyde to figure it out for myself. And I did. She was also the the reason why I created my social impact initiative, Trust Your Gut, which is all about health advocacy, all about, you know, knowing your body inside now and knowing how to have those conversations with your doctors. Because no one likes the doctor, no one wants to go have the tests done, but you have to for your own health.

00;23;17;19 - 00;23;47;03
Abby Mansolillo
So there's there's that portion. Erica Weller is was so influential in so many ways. I've mentioned her already not only as my sponsor, but also just as another, you know, really powerful, really independent woman that I actually look up to. Even Arlene Violet when I met her, she I was actually starstruck because it was just so incredible to have this woman who paved the way for women in politics, women in law in the state of Rhode Island, in front of me.

00;23;47;03 - 00;24;03;28
Abby Mansolillo
And she actually gave me her book called Convictions, and she signed it for me. And it was just and in that book, she said something interesting that stuck with me. And she said that someone had mentioned to her, oh, well, you know, why do you want to be in politics? You're women don't belong in politics. It's messy. It's not good, it's not clean.

00;24;04;22 - 00;24;22;06
Abby Mansolillo
And I'm sure she wrote that. She said, well, I think that's exactly why I should be in it. And I think being Women's History Month, that quotation stuck with me in so many ways because life is messy politics, messy the world, you know, any field you go into is going to have its problems. It's going to have, you know, a caveat.

00;24;23;01 - 00;24;40;26
Abby Mansolillo
But if someone like Arlene Violet can just flip a switch and really pave the way for other women and she can say no, I think that's why need to be in here. It's messy. That's why I have to be sitting at this table, at this boardroom, in this courtroom, and the Miss America stage. I think I can do that, too.

00;24;41;22 - 00;24;42;09
Abby Mansolillo
Definitely.

00;24;42;16 - 00;24;47;02
Liz Kay
You alluded to your social impact initiative. You tell us how you chose yours.

00;24;47;05 - 00;25;06;12
Abby Mansolillo
Sure. So my social impact initiative is called Trust Your Gut, Be your own health advocate. And it's twofold. So it looks at health advocacy as a whole, but it focuses on encouraging patients to have those conversations with their doctors, especially high school and college students. Because when you're in high school, you're going to college. It's kind of the first time you're away from home.

00;25;06;18 - 00;25;21;03
Abby Mansolillo
Mom and dad are, you know, on your shoulder saying, hey, you know, have you have you got this checked? Have you taken your medication? Do you know what's going on? So you're away from home for the first time. And so I it was my mission at times around to talk to high schoolers and say, listen, when you leave, this is what you need to know.

00;25;21;03 - 00;25;39;04
Abby Mansolillo
Here's how to have conversations with your doctors and let's talk about the disparities in health care. And why is that a concern? The other side of it, too, with also educating future health care providers about how to have this conversations with their patients. And again, looking at health care disparities, who gets what care and why. So I don't pretend to be a doctor.

00;25;39;04 - 00;25;40;22
Abby Mansolillo
I am not at all.

00;25;40;22 - 00;25;42;05
Abby Mansolillo
The sight of blood makes me a little.

00;25;42;13 - 00;26;01;25
Abby Mansolillo
Well, but what I do know is there is much work to be done. And I know that future doctors, as long as they can have that open relationship and that open conversation with their patients, it's a two way street that the doctor has to know the patient, but the patient also has to be open enough to say this isn't getting better.

00;26;02;14 - 00;26;22;11
Abby Mansolillo
So I created it because my mom had a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, so about five times fast removed in 2019. And we're grateful that she is, you know, three years cancer free and she's doing very well. But it was because she worked with her doctors and she said, no, this is not I know that I don't feel well. And, you know, we're very grateful that she had that conversation.

00;26;22;11 - 00;26;42;19
Abby Mansolillo
Her doctors were like, okay, if that's what you're feeling, then then we need to observe further. We need to know what's what's going on. And so when it came to the social impact portion, I knew that that was something that I had to do, not only as Ms.. Rowlett, but also as her daughter. And it's been rewarding because during this year I've spoken to high school students, I've spoken to students at Brown University about clinical trials.

00;26;43;07 - 00;27;05;24
Abby Mansolillo
I worked with Brown University over the summer right after I won about antibiotic resistance, the antibiotic crisis that was really, really great. And just to talk to people and have them say, listen, this didn't happen to me, but this happened to, you know, someone I know some of my family, you know, thank you for having this conversation. I know this affects so many people and that's a much bigger conversation.

00;27;06;03 - 00;27;24;08
Abby Mansolillo
And if I can start having that that openness with people and they can know that they have to go talk to the doctor because of whatever concern they may have or they have to push a family member to go do that, then I know that I was at least successful a little bit like I did something helpful for somebody.

00;27;25;12 - 00;27;31;27
Liz Kay
But it it makes a lot of sense. But in order to do like encouraging people to advocate for themselves.

00;27;31;28 - 00;27;53;22
Abby Mansolillo
Yes, exactly. And that's that's in and out of the doctor's office. That's, you know, wherever you are. But unfortunately, when you have those 15 minutes in the doctor's office, it is so easy to just gloss over things that you don't want to talk about. And that's where problems come about. Again, I'm not a doctor, but I do know that I worked with or I partnered with a nonprofit down in D.C. called the National Patient Advocate Foundation.

00;27;54;09 - 00;28;13;18
Abby Mansolillo
And they look at they really focus on patient centered care. And they do they do podcast. They encourage people to know their bodies, talk to their doctors, and they point people to resources should they need them in the health care field. So again, it's knowing there are so many resources available should you need specific health care, should you have a question but you don't know who to ask?

00;28;14;10 - 00;28;21;11
Abby Mansolillo
There are resources and it's not just limited to your one, to your one doctor. And again, your primary care should be someone that you trust completely.

00;28;23;03 - 00;28;25;18
Liz Kay
Well, Abbie, it's been so great talking to you. Thanks so much for joining us.

00;28;25;18 - 00;28;26;13
Abby Mansolillo
Thank you for having me.

00;28;27;17 - 00;28;44;16
Liz Kay
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