Meet Mrs. American Heidi Stephens, Who Took Over the Crown from Ballerina Farm's Hannah Neeleman

Heidi Stephens was crowned the new Mrs. American at the pageant on Aug. 27

Heidi Stephens is the new Mrs. American 2024!

At the Mrs. America Pageant at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on Aug. 27, Heidi – who previously won Mrs. Washington American – took over the crown from Ballerina Farm's Hannah Neeleman, who served as Mrs. American 2023.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the 37-year-old winner said she prepared for the Mrs. American Pageant for "over a year" after finding out about the organization "out of the blue" on Instagram.

The former ER nurse added that she had a sweet interaction with her Mrs. American predecessor before officially getting crowned, as Hannah recalled a conversation she had with a judge during the 2023 pageant.

"[Hannah and the judge] didn't talk about the platform and, 'Why do you want to be Mrs. American?' and these traditional pageant questions," Heidi explained. "But it really instilled in her this idea that people just want to be seen. They just want to have a normal conversation. So Hannah's always just been really big on not overthinking it, just trusting your gut and your intuition, and being authentic with who you are. So that was on my mind all night. I didn't want to overthink anything."

Heidi also revealed on her Instagram Stories on Aug. 19 that she wanted to use her platform "to encourage people to lead longer and healthier lives.”

“I can’t tell you how many heartbreaking moments I have seen in the ER from people not prioritizing their health or not understanding how to,” she explained. “Our country as a whole has a great deal of work to do, but luckily the work is very simple!"

Read on to learn more about the new Mrs. American.

She’s from Washington

Heidi is a Washington state native from Poulsbo, a town about an hour away from Seattle. She went to school at the University of Washington and studied nursing at Seattle University. Heidi currently lives on Bainbridge Island with her family.

She previously worked as a nurse

Heidi studied nursing at Seattle University and worked as an emergency room nurse at the Seattle Veterans Hospital. In an Instagram post on March 13, 2023, she announced that she “came home full time” and left her job.

In the post, she explained that “my heart has always been at home. I take great pride in the work I do for our family and our home” and called it her “greatest calling.”

“Working as an Emergency Department Nurse throughout the pandemic will always be something I hold dear,” she continued. “It will always be a defining part of my life.”

Back in April, Heidi revealed in an Instagram Stories that she would be renewing her Certified Emergency Nurse credentials and said it’s “one of the accolades she’s most proud of.” She also explained that the "process demonstrates that you are upholding the standards of the board” and that “ongoing accredited education is a requirement to keeping your certification.”

Her husband is a Southeast Alaska cruise pilot

Heidi's husband Jeff previously served as a Merchant Marine and now works as a Southeast Alaska cruise pilot.

Heidi told PEOPLE that shortly before her Mrs. American interview, she wasn't sure if her husband would be able to attend the pageant. "He called me and said, 'Babe, I can't come. I am not going to be able to make it,'" she recalled. "And it was really hard to hear, but I just thought, 'You know what? It's okay. I have to just handle this. I'm going to set it aside. I know you love me. I love you.'"

While she was "disappointed" by the news at first, she said he called her two hours after her interview revealing he would be able to make it after all. "I'm so glad my husband was here," she added.

She's a mom to two kids

Heidi and her husband Jeff have an 8-year-old son named Julian and a 7-year-old daughter named Inez. On her Instagram, she has shared several photos and videos of the siblings helping her in the garden and their "sweet friendship."

The family regularly supports Julian at his basketball games and Inez participates in her local Girl Scout troop.

She loves to garden

Heidi loves to show off her gardening skills with her followers on Instagram. Every month, Heidi donates the harvest from her garden to Helpline House, a local food bank in her community.

In an Instagram Reel shared in June 2023, Heidi explained that she donates her harvest as a part of the food bank’s “Plant A Row program” that “encourages gardeners to grow extra and donate their produce."

“Several years ago I was told that I wasn’t allowed to have a farm stand at the end of our road,” she added. “That disappointing news turned into a blessing, as it inspired me to donate more of my harvest to Helpline House.”

She decided to compete in the Mrs. American pageant on a plane

Heidi told PEOPLE that she first learned about the Mrs. American pageant before a flight home with her family.

"I refused to pay the $8 for Wi-Fi on the flight so I was going to put my phone on airplane mode when Instagram popped up and my Explore page was a former Mrs. American [contestant]," she explained.

"She was championing her platform and just being really involved in her community. I took a screenshot of it and I turned my phone off and I just sat with this possibility for the entire five-hour flight on airplane mode," she continued. "And by the time we landed, I just knew, 'I'm going to do this.'"

Heidi added that the day before she saw the Mrs. American post on Instagram, she had told her husband she was looking for a way to "volunteer as a nurse and still give back." She elaborated in her Instagram Stories on Aug, 19 that once they landed, she “knew she had to try” and that “this was how I would use my nursing background for good.” 

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