One night in May 2009, I locked myself and my dog, Jovi, out of my apartment but luckily ran into one of my neighbors who invited me into her home while I found a way back into mine. The neighbor, Tami Farrell, is a sweet, petite, beautiful blonde. I had met her through mutual friends when I first moved to LA in 2008 and she later happened to move three doors down from my apartment.

Tami and I chatted for a while that night and she eventually mentioned that she had to get up really early the next morning for a TV interview. That incidental comment surprised me as I had no idea why Tami, literally the sweet “girl next door,” would be getting interviewed by a major TV show in a matter of hours.

Unbeknown to me, Tami was the first runner-up Miss California 2009 and, in a matter of a few hours from the time I spent in her apartment that night, would find herself in the line of fire in the most heated Miss California controversy in recent memory. As you may recall, Carrie Prejean, the winner of Miss California 2009 got into a heap of media trouble for her answer to a question regarding gay marriage posed to her by Perez Hilton during the 2009 Miss America Pageant.  

Prejean was later fired by Donald Trump for reasons supposedly unrelated to the media heat brought on by Perez and others, and it was Tami who was forced to step into the crown of Miss California amidst this chaos. And, wouldn’t you know–the Celeb Magnet would also find herself in the middle of all this, unwittingly.

Fast forward a year later. I recently sat down with Tami in a local Starbucks for my first official interview with a celebrity, and to find out how Tami fared in that whole controversy and what she has been doing since the end of her Miss California title a few months back. Tami, dressed in a plaid shirt and cut-off shorts, couldn’t have been more unassuming, charming and open with me during our chat, all the while sipping on her Frappucchino.

Tami, originally from a small town in Oregon, always wanted to play sports. She grew up a tomboy. But when health issues derailed her sports ambitions, she turned her focus to acting instead. Her parents wanted her to have a normal childhood, so, tried to veer her into something less time-consuming than acting. Tami says with a chuckle, “I don’t know why they thought this other route would be better, but we all ‘comprised’ and my parents let me pursue beauty pageants instead.” Tami did well -She became Miss Oregon Teen USA in 2002 and reigned until she won the Miss Congeniality AND the Miss Teen USA 2003 title in Palm Springs, California on August 12, 2003.

As a result of her 2003 win, the then 18 year-old small-town girl took her second flight ever the next day and landed in New York City. As if that wasn’t a shock in itself, on her second day in the Big Apple, New York City went completely dark as the result of the Great Blackout of 2003 which knocked out power in much of the Northeast for over a day and longer in some areas. A lot to take in for a teenager, but Tami was ready for the challenge and welcomed the opportunities which lay ahead: She started working with Donald Trump on various projects and shared a luxurious Manhattan apartment with Amelia Vega (Miss Universe 2003, of the Dominican Republic) and Susie Castillo (Miss USA, 2003, of Massachusetts). The three of them had so much fun living together that Tami suggested to Donald Trump that he make a reality show out of it.

Tami also enrolled in a six-week “Summer in the City” on scholarship to The School for Film and television in New York City. Most importantly, she got to fulfill one of her heart’s desires: Work on philanthropic projects including the American Heart Association and Sparrow Clubs USA (a national non-profit organization of teenagers assisting children in medical crisis) and raised an incredible $21million Dollars for these charities. When I asked Tami how she achieved such an awe-inspiring feat at such a young age, she was quick to respond: “We must live up to our own expectations and go after our dreams. There is a quote I live by: ‘We limit ourselves sometimes by believing the sky is the limit, when there are footprints on the moon.’ ”

I asked Tami to tell me something funny about her time in NY. She told me about a day when Donald Trump was in a bad mood, going over budget issues with key executives. In walks Tami, interrupting the bigwigs to deliver her home-baked brownies. The President of Miss Universe later told Tami that after Donald took a few bites out of a brownie, his mood changed completely and said, “She makes good brownies.”

Immediately after her year in New York, Tami moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career but reality hit her hard instead as she had to take on three simultaneous jobs just to make ends meet. She continued to study acting at night and auditioned during lunch breaks. She also saved her money so she could one day record a CD, but another health scare set her dreams back yet again. She grew very sick two years ago and doctors found tumors in her thyroid which required invasive surgery. Luckily, the tumors were benign, but the surgery took its toll on Tami and recuperation proved to be a hard road. One day, she received an unexpected call from the Miss Malibu Pageant to see if she wanted to run for Miss California as Malibu’s representative. Although she would have been honored to represent the State of California, Tami no longer had any interest in pageantry; she wanted to heal and continue with her acting career. She did not know what to do; she did not want to turn down this amazing offer without being absolutely certain.

So,Tami did the only thing she knew to do; she prayed to God and “challenged” him to show her the path she should take. After praying, she opened the Bible and pointed to a random section and found the Book of Esther. The story of Esther reads that the reigning King of the Persian Empire was looking for a wife and sent his guards to find the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. The winner of this first-ever beauty pageant, Esther, was a poor Jewish girl, a secret she kept from her new husband. Despite her apparent shortcomings, Esther eventually ended up saving the lives of all the Jewish people in the kingdom by convincing the King to set aside a decree meant to kill all the Jewish people. Tami further relied on Esther 4:14: “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Tami said the Story of Esther, along with this quote in particular, made her realize that even though a beauty pageant was not what she wanted, God was telling her that even though Tami could not see the reasons at the time, God had laid out His own road for Tami to take. As crazy as it sounds, the road included a trip through the Miss California Pageant. With that realization, Tami called the Ms. Malibu officials and accepted their invitation to represent Malibu in the Miss California Pageant.

As it turned out, the Miss California Pageant was exactly what Tami would need. It forced her to get her life back after a serious illness: She got back in shape, had something new to look forward to, and found herself again. She was no longer the girl who was sick; she was the girl who was focused and ready to take on the world. Although she did not end up winning the crown, and came in second to Carrie Prejean, Tami used the publicity she gained during her run for Miss California to promote her dearly-cherished charities and re-start her acting career.

One day in May 2009 while working at a Beverly Hills store, mopping the floor very much like Cinderella, she received a call from Billy Bush who asked her, “Did you watch the Miss USA Pageant?” Tami had not. Billy continued, “She’s gonna get fired.” The “she” Billy was speaking of was of course Carrie Prejean, the reigning Miss California. As soon as this call came in, so did the paparazzi. Every TV program wanted to interview Tami. The feeling was “weird”, especially when Donald Trump announced shortly thereafter that Prejean was keeping her title.

A month went by and while Tami was visiting family in Oregon in June, she received another call, this time from Keith Lewis, Executive Director of the Miss California Pageant. Keith wanted Tami to be in his office the next morning because Prejean was at last losing the title. Tami made the 10-hour trip back to Los Angeles via car, and received numerous calls from reporters during the trip.

She went in to the Miss California office, and while waiting in the reception area to meet with Keith Lewis, she saw herself on CNN, and already named as the new Miss California. After her title became official, she had the craziest day of her life, appearing at 28 interviews in a 24-hour period. The hardest part for her was being immediately put in a position to have to expose her beliefs on gay marriage, an issue which she had not chosen to advocate for either side. Tami said of course she has her own opinions on the topic, but she did not want to champion an issue she wasn’t passionate about or which would cause more negativity and division. Instead, she used the media spotlight and frenzy to focus on her own passions: the charities she holds close to her heart.

Since her title ended, she has re-focused her energies on her acting pursuits and has written a screenplay named, “Man Band.” Written with Will Ferrell in mind as the main character, “Man Band” is the story about a bunch of middle-aged musicians who want to reclaim their fame 20 years after they were members of the first-ever greatest boy band. Tami is holding out for Will Ferrell to read the screenplay and agree to play the main role, “Bobby.”

And Tami is doing all she can to get Will’s attention: She has pulled all of her “stalker” moves and even showed up at Will’s production company with a batch of cupcakes and the screenplay, attached to a picture of her as Miss California with a bubble that read, “Please read my script.” She left the screenplay with the receptionist and walked away, thinking, “He is so gonna call me today.” Nope. Will never called. But Tami is not giving up; she intends on making as many return trips as are necessary to get his attention and will go back with a CD of every boy band she can think of, one per week, until Will gives in and agrees to play the role of Bobby.

She has also finished a second screenplay, looking for acting representation, taking meetings with agents, and if that all isn’t enough, planning a 1940’s old Hollywood-themed wedding to her sweetheart of five years, Buddy. When all is said and done, Tami views her beauty pageant crowns, each as a double-edge sword: “The crown gets me in the door but then, I am held to a higher standard in auditions. The crown is not a magic wand that changed my life forever; I still have to pound the pavement every day and continue to chase my dreams.”

Tami, I wish you the best; someone as sweet as you, deserves her dreams; and if Will Ferrell is a smart man, he will call you back immediately.

You can see Tami on NBC’s Money Drop!