Every little girl looks up to her mom so much - that's your first hero.

I have much more to offer than my physical appearance, and a hijab protects me against 'You're too skinny,' 'You're too thick,' 'Look at her hips,' 'Look at her thigh gap.' I don't have to worry about that.

Society puts so much pressure on girls to look a certain way.

My mom and grandma, growing up, one thing they emphasized was that you need to make sure that anything you put on your skin is also digestible by the body. For example, if something isn't safe for me to eat or consume, it's probably not good for your face. So I do a lot of natural remedies.

Moisturizing every night is important. When you're 50 or 60, it's going to show if you don't take care of it. You have to prepare when you're young, so you still have that healthy, glowing skin when you're 60 or 70.

Product-wise, I use a morning and night cleanser. I'm really not a brand person.

I feel like with anything you choose to do in this world, there are always gonna be people who disagree. But I've had a lot more supporters than critics.

I choose to focus on the positive.

A lot of people have the misconception that, as a Muslim woman, I am somehow against women wearing bikinis. No, I want women to feel comfortable and confident in whatever they wear.

My goal is to send a message to Muslim women and young women everywhere that it's okay to break stereotypes and be yourself.

There are so many Muslim women that feel like they don't fit society's standard of beauty. I just wanted to tell them it's OK to be different; being different is beautiful, too.

When I was younger, I didn't have that type of person that I could look up to and be like, 'OK, this is someone who dresses like me and I relate to.' I didn't have that growing up, so to give that opportunity to a younger generation of women - and not just Somali women, but anyone who feels different - that means a lot to me.

It's always been hard trying to find the right pieces that go together, but it's always been something that interests me - finding new ways to be fashionable and cute but still being modest.

You don't have to show a lot of skin to be beautiful.

What I do is I always try to educate myself about my neighbors, about the people I meet.

We all have different things that make us strong and weak, but if we communicate and we really open ourselves and open our hearts, you're going to be amazed by the things that you can learn.

A lot of people had a misconception that I would be the perfect poster child for Islam. So I got a lot of Instagram comments like, 'Oh, you don't have your neck covered, you're not a Muslim!' My thing is, stop judging women, especially if you're a man, because you don't know the responsibility that comes with wearing a hijab.

I know that for me, a lot of people will look at me and they'll think 'Somali' or 'outsider' instead of 'Minnesota.'

To be honest, before I joined the industry, I knew very little about the fashion world, and I hardly knew any name brands. Probably because the price tags were a little too high, and home girl needed to work.

I like shopping at retail places like JC Penney or Macy's, and maybe buying a top or a shirt, and then buying a skirt from Rue 21 or Forever 21 because they have the maxi skirts, which I appreciate so much, and then topping it off with something that I buy from a Somali shop.

People I looked up to a lot were, you know, Oprah because she had a rough childhood but overcame so many obstacles and broke barriers to become who she is. It was really eye opening to me: just because I had a rough childhood doesn't mean that I can't make something of myself.

What I have learned is that designers are willing to tell the world that they are here to empower women from all different backgrounds and different walks of life.

I love speaking at schools. That's always my favorite because I wish I'd had someone who was like me come speak at my school.

I think to be Miss U.S.A., first of all, you need to represent everybody, all of us here.

I made a lot of mistakes growing up, trying so hard to fit in. I got so lost trying to please everybody.

I think it's important to be diverse, and I hope we continue to see that as a trend in the fashion industry.

Shopping for hijabs has always been fun for me. I was so excited to begin wearing a headscarf. I had always looked up to my mother as she wore hers, and I was eager to emulate her beauty and the wonderful things she represented.

I feel best when I am modestly dressed. It's a choice I make and am proud of; for me, I don't think I have to show skin to be beautiful.

There is a misconception that young Muslim women are oppressed. That simply isn't the case. I choose to dress modestly and choose to cover my hair with a hijab; not all Muslim women make that choice, and that's okay. We are all different!

I never grew up seeing women that looked like me in magazines or on TV and didn't feel like I had a place in the world of fashion. I am honoured to be part of that change.

I think often the West does not understand the history and the privilege of wearing a hijab. They always think of oppression.

When you're a kid, to be honest, you could be in the worst situation ever, but you're still going to have ways to enjoy it.

It's important to remember all the millions of people that are starving.

I learned that when you stand up for what you believe in, you'll get a lot of support. But there are always going to be negative things said about you.

When I was younger, I got bullied for wearing my hijab.

I'm covered up, but I'm still getting these comments that say I shouldn't be. But the girls who wear the bikinis, they're being told they're too revealing! Enough. It's their body, their choice.

Wearing modest clothing is a belief, and I'm not going to say that every Muslim woman is in my shoes, but the majority of us do have a choice.

I don't just want to support only Muslim women. I want to inspire women across the board, and I'm hoping they won't allow things to get in the way.

Don't take yourself too seriously. Know when to laugh at yourself, and find a way to laugh at obstacles that inevitably present themselves.

Let me tell you something - being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life. No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory.

The times may have changed, but the people are still the same. We're still looking for love, and that will always be our struggle as human beings.

I spent a lot of time with a crown on my head.

Blackness is a state of mind, and I identify with the black community. Mainly, because I realized, early on, when I walk into a room, people see a black woman, they don't see a white woman. So out of that reason alone, I identify more with the black community.

I know that I will never find my father in any other man who comes into my life, because it is a void in my life that can only be filled by him.

When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner.

I'm done with men... I'm going to be alone. I have no luck with relationships. I don't think I'm made for marriage.

If you set out to do something and you give it your all and it doesn't work out, be willing to modify your goal slightly. Have the ability to look in another direction. A small shift could guide you to the real purposes of your life.

The man for me is the cherry on the pie. But I'm the pie and my pie is good all by itself. Even if I don't have a cherry.

If you're of multiple races, you have a different challenge, a unique challenge of embracing all of who you are but still finding a way to identify yourself and I think that's often hard for us to do.

I'll never get married again, and I always hate to say never to anything, but I will never marry again.