The Jeff Crilley Show

Jeff Crilley sits down with Rosemary Bennett, the reigning Ms. Texas Senior America 2026, to talk about reinvention, purpose, and refusing to slow down after 60. Rosemary spent most of her career as a self-described "corporate sales chick" before being forced into retirement during COVID — a disruption that unexpectedly led her back to her first love: vocal performance....

Show Notes

What happens when a corporate career ends abruptly and a completely different calling shows up?

Rosemary Bennett spent decades in sales leadership before COVID pushed her into involuntary retirement. Struggling to reinvent herself, she took a friend's offhand suggestion and entered the Miss Texas Senior America pageant — something she'd never heard of and had zero experience with. She placed second runner-up the first time, then came back and won the crown in November 2025.

In this conversation with Jeff Crilley, Rosemary talks about rediscovering her identity as a vocal performer after years away from music, what the pageant competition actually involves (interview, philosophy of life, and talent), and her concept of "TBD" — the Time Before Dignity — a case for why people over 60 should be doubling down on purpose and livelihood, not winding down. She also shares how performing with the Dallas Symphony Chorus and singing at community events like the Plano Police Department's honorary ceremony keep her grounded.

Rosemary heads to the national Miss Senior America competition in October 2025.

Learn more: https://misstexassenioramerica.org

What is The Jeff Crilley Show?

Jeff Crilley is a former news reporter, who spent more than 25 years in newsrooms across the country. He’s an Emmy Award winning journalist, who decided to make the jump from news in 2008, when he founded his own PR Firm, Real News Public Relations.

Today, the firm has more than 100 clients, and Jeff continues to tell the stories of interesting people he meets along the way.

These are those stories.

Coming up next on The Jeff Crilley Show, we're gonna learn the secrets to being forever young with the current Miss Texas Senior America. Her name is Rosemary Bennett. She's my friend, and she's gonna dish all the dirt. Next. Next. Many are predicting that the worst is yet to come, which is unfortunate, said one person here. Until now, they've enjoyed the reputation of being the nation's icebox. Watched a burglar in his home this morning by webcam. As a journalist of over twenty five years, stories are what make my world turn. Reporting live from The Dallas News from tonight, Jeff Crilley, Fox four news. But in 2008, I took the jump from my familiar life and started a PR firm from my home. We're talking about anyone with a camcorder like the one I'm using becomes a television network. We started slowly growing the company, and we now have over a 100 clients. And we've branched into the world of live digital broadcasting. I now own eight different TV studios and have a huge team. And the stories that I now get to share are sometimes the most important of my life. Life has a funny way of coming around full circle. This is The Jeff Crilley Show. Well, I don't know about you, but I never intend on getting old. I know I'm 62 and there's a lot of people my age who are winding down. They're semi retired. And I believe that if you don't have a purpose, if you don't wake up every day with a smile on your face looking forward to doing something, you're slowly dying. Rosemary Bennett is in the studio. She's the current miss senior, miss Texas senior America, and she is running for miss senior America That's right. In October. I am thrilled to have you on the show. Thank you so much. Thank you. What an honor to be here. Thank you, Jeff. It's never polite to ask a woman her age. I can tell you we're of similar ages and she looks amazing. So, I'm gonna have to get your skin care regime after after we're finished with this. But, you were telling me before the show that this was kind of a whim. Like, you you didn't grow up around pageants. It wasn't something that you were trying to do. No. Not at all. I have never been a pageant person. I've been a corporate chick. I mean, my goal was to be a corporate sales chick. I wanted to be the chief sales chick. I was in a couple of different companies. But, as you were saying, and by the way, I think you stole my platform. Talking about aging gracefully and aging with purpose. Know, I'd gotten to the point where I needed to reinvent myself. And I was struggling. And so I tried several different things, and a friend of mine from the church Christmas presentation said, you need to try for Miss Texas Scenery America. Now I had never heard of it, and I'd never done a pageant in my entire life. But I thought, you know, I looked at the mission, I saw what the purpose was, which is to advocate for seniors across the state. And thought, you know, if I could just give it a try, maybe I could be a spokesperson for seniors in Texas. And lo and behold, it happened. Okay. So, the first time you did it Yes. You didn't finish first. No. Finished second. I was second runner-up. Which is not bad. Which I was I was down with. But, as I came to know myself so much better and came to meet the women of the pageant and the leadership and to see just how much need there was in the community, I thought, you know, I see this as the most perfect unpaid position in the planet. Mhmm. And I decided to go for it. And, gratefully, it worked out. Alright. Tell us about the competition because when you say when you say the word pageant, people come up with their own ideas of what a pageant is. What is miss senior tech or Texas senior mean, know, pageants get they just get they have such a bad rap. It's really sad. I found it to be an amazing experience. There are categories you have to participate in compulsory. So there's an interview, which is really about getting to know the inner you. You can't you can't fake that. You you are who you are and that comes out in the interview. Second, you have to walk, talk, chew gum at the same time. Mhmm. And present your philosophy of life during that process. And then last, you do a talent. And I'm a vocal performer. I started out as that as a young woman before I became completely obsessed corporate chick and lost my life. And when I was forced into retirement against my will at COVID, I really began to rediscover that side of myself. And now I'm performing and speaking to groups and I just feel like I've got my sea legs back. Well, you're being humble because you do perform with the Dallas Symphony Chorus. I do. Which is a huge honor in that, your church. I do. What is it about music that lights your fire? Oh, goodness. Music is music is my soul. Music is a music is a place where you lose everything but the music. There's nothing to me like performing with a large chorus because you become one, and the music does not allow any other thought to enter your mind. You just stare in that moment. So, yeah. That's important to me. I love it. Your eyes light up when you talk about that. We're gonna scroll down the misstexassenioramerica.org website so you can kind of get a a sense of what we're talking about. When you went into this competition, was December? Is that right? It was November. November. Did you have a pretty good feeling? You know, I did. Mhmm. And I did because I had decided early on that I was only going to compete with myself. I wanted to go in and be my best Rosemary. And if I had not done that, I think I would have focused on the wrong things. And now you're competing for Miss Senior America. What is that? Now, you're facing some stiff competition. I mean, 50 different people just like you. Yep. I am. And I have the same philosophy. I can't be anyone but me. So my job is to just keep becoming the best me that I can. And that means I'm working. I'm working to hone my philosophy of life. I really wanted to be the true most authentic me it can be. I'm working on my talent, you know, getting better vocal coaching. Mhmm. I'm working in my posture, which ever since an accident I want to do this. So I'm just doing all the things to be my best me because I think that that's the only way that I could have an opportunity to represent America. I love that. We found we went on your Facebook and we found a really cool reel. Let's go ahead and roll that. And I want you to just kinda narrate this. Oh, it's wonderful. The you know, I've had an opportunity to speak to different groups, to sing the national anthem for some groups. In fact, I've got one coming up quickly with the Plano Police Department. They have an honorary ceremony every year to honor the fallen of their of their first responders. And so I'll be singing the national anthem there as well as America the Beautiful. So I'm excited about that. Well, you should. And and I will say one other thing. Yeah. You know, there are organizations that I will go, you know, sing at, perform at, speak to, that are seniors that have reached the point of what I call dignity. Mhmm. You know, they're they're they've slowed down. They need extra help. They're not hospice, but they need extra help. Right. And so I perform there, and it brings me immense joy. But I will tell you that what I'm all about is the TBD. And that's the time before dignity. You know, the time, our time Yes. Where it says, okay, yes, I hit that magic age of 60. Right. But I'm not even coming close to slowing down, I'm doubling down. And I think our economy needs us. So there's longevity that's required not just for volunteerism and contribution and purpose, but how about livelihood too every once in a while? I love that. Alright. Rosemary, we only have a couple of minutes left, so give us your philosophy on life. Okay. The philosophy of life for the pageant is called the age of elegance. So mine is, life is short. I know that bathroom mirror keeps reminding me. Life's also a gift, and I'm living my gift with a truly grateful heart. Nelson Mandela once said, we were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. Well, that glory isn't meant to be hidden. It's meant to shine through every season and every act of love. So today, I'm not slowing down. I'm doubling down to make this age of elegance my age of relevance. Mic drop moment. Thank you so much. We're gonna end with the website so you can get in touch with her. The website is misstexassenioramerica.org. The great Rosemary Bennett. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you. What a pleasure. Thank you. That's it for now. We'll see you next time.