Hooters waitress succeeds at international swimsuit pageant

As she prepared to fly to Las Vegas for the Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant this summer, Rachel Swartz of Phenix City took a detour.

Swartz was warned that her blind and bedridden paternal grandmother might not be alive when she arrived, but she still drove the nine hours to south Florida.

Click here to see Rachel Swartz' swimsuit photos.

"She hadn't been eating at all, but while I was there, she ended up eating with me, and we were talking and she seemed to have a lot more energy," Swartz said. "I was hopeful that maybe this wasn't it."

Swartz fought back tears and continued.

"She knew who I was all the time," she said. "It was wonderful."

It was her five final days with the woman who taught her how to cook and to cherish listening to books on tape. Swartz brought her puppy to love on her grandmother. She helped the nurses care for her. And she told her about the pageant while she made her dress and costume for the competition.

Swartz also promised she would return as soon as the pageant was finished.

During pageant week in Las Vegas, three days before competition night, Swartz was shopping at a mall when her cellphone rang.

Her father was calling. She was excited to update him on all her activities. Instead, he told her that her grandmother had died that morning.

"I realized he was crying," she said, "and I'd never seen or heard my dad cry before. I wanted nothing more to be with him and tell him how much I love him because it was his mom."

Fortunately, her grandmother's memorial service was scheduled for after the competition, so Rachel didn't have to decide whether to drop out of the pageant.

"My grandma had just such a passion and zest for life, and I was on an adventure, and she would want me to be as involved as I could possibly be," she said. "She was always amazing to me, because 75 percent of your perceived happiness is visual, and she had none of that, and she was just so joyful all of the time. It just makes me reevaluate all the time I need to be grateful and appreciate all of my experiences, and she instilled that passion in me."

Swartz, a waitress at the Hooters in Columbus, finished as a top 10 finalist out of 100 contestants at the 19th annual pageant June 24 in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

When she heard her name called, she said, "It was kind of like quiet in my head for a second. 'Oh, my goodness. This is me. I'm going to be up there.' It was so cool."

More than 18,000 women serve wings and beer in Hooters' 430-plus locations worldwide, and Swartz is considered among the best.

"She is what a Hooters girl is supposed to be," said Katman Jacobus, general manager of the Hoosters in Columbus. "That's the bottom line -- not just pretty but she actually works. She does her part. She's a good waitress."

Change of plans

Swartz, 28, graduated from Timber Creek High School in Orlando in 2005. After earning an associate's degree in sign language interpretation from Valencia Community College in Orlando, she planned to major in speech pathology at the University of South Florida, where she met her husband-to-be, Matt, but she changed course to pursue an adventure, traveling around the world as a stewardess and chef on private yachts for four years.

Her plans changed again three years ago, when her husband, Matt, a captain in the U.S. Air Force, was stationed at Fort Benning as an air liaison officer. She decided to work as a waitress because the hours are flexible and enable her to be home and cook for Matt as often as possible.

Her husband recommended she work at Hooters.

"In college, Matt had a motorcycle -- all of our friends did -- and we would ride to the different bike nights in Tampa, and Hooters always had a great bike night," she said. "When we traveled with the Air Force, Hooters was always a place we'd go to. It's consistent across the board. It's always fun. We just loved it."

Swartz said her husband told her, "You'll make a lot of friends, and I bet you'll have a lot of fun.' And he was so right."

Jamie Gunnels, a former waitress at the Hooters in Columbus, told Swartz about the pageants, in which Gunnels was named Hooters 2012 Miss Photogenic and also qualified for the 2013 international pageant.

"I saw all of her success and how much fun she was having, and I just asked her about it," Swartz said. "She was so open and inviting and just walked me through the path that she took and was kind of my guiding big sister through the contest and calendar shoots."

After reaching the regional finals in 2013, Swartz placed second in the region last year to qualify for the international contest, where she wasn't among the top 10. This year, she won the local and regional competitions and was named Miss Hooters for Georgia out of 27 participants in May.

"When they called us all on stage to announce the finalists for Las Vegas, I didn't hear my name," she said. "I took a deep breath, and I said, 'Oh, boy. I hope I make it. I had so much fun last year, and I've worked so hard to be here. I really want this adventure to continue.'

"So then there was one name left, and they called my name, and my smile couldn't be any bigger. I was so excited."

Swartz was included in the 2015 Hooters Calendar as one of the Miss August girls. The selections for the 2016 calendar will be revealed in October. Regardless, she continues to enjoy making an impact in the restaurant.

'Positive light'

Swartz recalled when a couple of little girls came up to her in the restaurant and told her they want to be just like her. She told them, "You can. I'll show you how. We are role models, so we get to be that positive light in someone's day."

For example, one day, a soldier came in for dinner with his father and stepfather. Swartz sensed they were a bit awkward, so she loosened them up with her charm.

The next day, she received from them a letter that said, in part, "You made what could have been a really uncomfortable situation for our family so wonderful, and we really got to see past each other's differences and grow together."

"It was special to me," she said. "My parents divorced when I was younger, and I feel very fortunate because I gained additional loving parents, but I know that's not always the case."

Swartz admits not all customers are so pleasant. She has heard inappropriate comments.

"I don't think I have the personality that people think that's OK to say," she said. " If I have, I'll say, 'That hurts my feelings. I'd appreciate it if you didn't say that.'"

Asked for an example, she declined to be specific and said, "Sometimes people are just not polite."

Swartz objects to folks who object to the low-cut tank top and tight shorts the Hooters waitresses wear.

"We're absolutely a family-type restaurant," she declared. "We're all daughters, moms, wives. We're all here to have a fun time and make sure that you have the best meal experience that you can.

"We're that elegant, classy American girl next door. We all have dreams and passions that we're pursuing, and this is something that's part of it. You might as well have fun while you're reaching your goals."

Swartz's goal is to work for Hooters as long as she can.

"I hope this is a company that's in my life for the long run," she said, "whether I'm waitressing or not."

Hooters offers promotional opportunities for waitresses to become managers.

"I'm passionate about this place," she said. "I love it."

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Hooters waitress succeeds at international swimsuit pageant."