The veteran of nearly 20 years of running pageants will take 13 young women under her wing this week in the leadup to Saturday night's competition final.
The women, 12 from the North Island and one from the South Island, have a packed schedule this week during their stay in Wellington, with dance lessons, hair and makeup workshops and a series of parades on the agenda before the winner is crowned on Saturday.
"We're more than pretty faces," says Miss East Auckland Danijela Unkovich, a Bachelor of Science student.
She's among a number of contestants who will be studying after hours this week, while one will sit an exam.
It goes to show women entering beauty pageants today need to be intelligent, savvy and goal-oriented, Mrs Lott says.
"Years ago, 40-50 years ago, even 30, it was just about pretty girls entering a pageant and then getting married and having children."
Miss Hutt Valley Mary Cooper says she entered to break the stereotype about women from her region.
"There are women in my home town that have goals and that we're just not the typical what everybody says that we are."
That's a goal shared by Miss Horowhenua-Kapiti Candace Trewhitt, whose goal is to "let people know that we do have brains".
But not one of the contestants identifies as being a feminist, and the term elicits an "ergh, no!" from Mrs Lott.
Miss Manawatu Trudy Leslie says the contestants "take aspects of feminism but it's not a total belief," to murmurs of agreement from the other contestants.
"We all believe in equal rights for women and men but we like to encompass a whole range of beliefs. We still like to be ladylike."
They still "like men to hold the door open", Mrs Lott adds.
"To me, feminism is, I'm thinking back in the 60s where there was a lot of nastiness and they were quite rude about pageants and I thought 'we don't comment on how you want to live and what you do, so why would you comment on us'?
"There was a stage when I think women in general got quite rude to men, especially younger girls, and men, young guys, were saying to me 'I'm not holding the door open for them' ... I just don't like that at all. Men and women, no matter what sex you are, you should be respected."
She adds, "I don't think girls that are real feminists enter pageants."
Though the popularity of beauty pageants had waned in recent years, they are now experiencing a resurgence, Mrs Lott says.
After a drop in the number of regional franchise holders in New Zealand (meaning some entrants represent a sponsor rather than a region, with the South Island represented solely by Miss Nelson Lena Walsh) budding franchise holders are now on the horizon, Mrs Lott says.
"I actually didn't want to be the national director -- I've been a franchise holder for 17 years and I was ready to retire, then the opportunity arose and I thought 'I can't bear to think of all this falling away after all these years'.
"So now my big job is to get people interested again ... You've got to have a passion for young women. And where it started with me is seeing what young women get out of it."
Scandal in the American branch of Miss Universe, which is part-owned by billionaire property developer Donald Trump, has helped in boosting the popularity of pageants.
Last year's Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean was stripped of her Miss California USA title after repeatedly breaching her contract, while this year's Miss USA Rima Fakih had her win overshadowed by revelations she had previously won a pole-dancing competition.
Mrs Lott doesn't expect any scandal to come from this year's Miss Universe New Zealand competition, however.
And while the current round of contestants may be better educated and more career-oriented than in years past, looks are still all important -- after all, it's called a beauty pageant.
"Let's face it," says Mrs Lott. "If you can't catch a rugby ball you're not going to make the All Blacks, it's as simple as that."
* The next Miss Universe New Zealand will be chosen at Wellington's Duxton Hotel on Saturday night
