Survivor: Island of the Idols has arrived! Every week, Parade.com’s Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the castaway most recently voted off of the island.

As long as she can remember, Noura Salman prided herself on her uniqueness. She had lived her life as “nouramal” as possible in her day-to-day, and she was looking to continue that on the island. “We all want to fit in the world,” she told me preseason, “and we’re going to see a lot of that in the game. You want to fit in, but you want to stand out. In our daily lives, we’re conditioned to behave a certain way with a certain routine. It will be so cool to say, ‘Forget all that!'” And though the entrepreneur certainly had her highs and lows in the game, her connections and a series of impressive Immunity Challenge wins got her to the final Tribal Council, where she was able to make her pitch to the jury.

Noura took a two-pronged approach to her game from the get-go: Be honest and loyal, and contribute around camp. The former found he a close ally in Jason Linden, while the latter earned her ire when she confronted her other tribe members about their work ethic. Because of that, she nearly became the first person voted out of Vokai, had a plan not emerged to get rid of “Vokai queen” Molly Byman. After surviving, Noura cautiously eyed Jamal Shipman for targeting her. And Vokai was still cautiously eyeing her, especially when she attempted to convince them to make her a caller in the next Immunity Challenge. Even when she was swapped into a majority on Lairo, she approached Dean Kowalski about keeping him in favor of Jamal. But despite all the animosity, Noura put an arm around Jamal at Tribal Council and chalked it up to different personalities. Jamal in kind returned with playing an idol on her.

When the merge hit, Noura elected to target Dan Spilo due to his unwanted touching of female contestants. And though that vote put her in the minority, she took the target off her back while simultaneously putting on two Immunity Challenge wins. Though her position was sweeter than a peanut butter and jelly feast she would never enjoy, it became prevalent that she was being seen as a “goat” for the end, as well as at the bottom of the majority. When she wasn’t picked for the loved one’s reward, Noura let loose, telling the former Lairos that she would vote with them next round. And despite running numbers the entire afternoon, the whole thing cracked open when Dean revealed the plan to Tommy, a moment that put a schism between her and “Pretty Dean” until a surprisingly romantic meal in the finale. Noura got the opportunity to make one of the last decisions in the game in winning the final Immunity Challenge. She used her power to take a shot at Lauren Beck, the biggest threat in the game, earning her ire in the process. And though Noura talked up her accolades at the final Tribal Council, her transparent demeanor did not earn the jury’s favor, ending in a third-place finish.

Minutes after the season’s reunion, Noura talks with Parade about her final Tribal Council performance, creating a “Noura Society,” and how Survivor taught her to say, “No” more often.

After the rain cleared and the unspoken was spoken at final Tribal Council, what did you think your chances were on taking it all?

When it was over, I felt in my gut that I didn’t deliver. I told you in the preseason that if I believed I could do it, I could do it. And in the final Tribal Council, I didn’t believe I deserved it. The problem was I didn’t speak to how well I was in all these areas. The jury controlled the questions and the narrative. It got out of hand. People had their own personal closure they were looking for, and it became all of that. It should have been an opening argument, a closing argument, and how we did with “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.”

If you look at it, I was the best at “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.” I won the most individual Immunity Challenges out there. I had an idol played for me. I helped find an idol; I did everything around camp while others did nothing. I was socially in with everyone and knew what was going on. I only had one wrong vote, and that was against Dan, which was for an ethical standpoint to protect women. But I really didn’t deliberate on that. The game I played was so much “I’m just pretty, fun Noura. I’m goofy and I’m doing my thing.” People more so respected the guys saying, “Hee hee hee, I did this and that.” Survivor has evolved where you want the strategist. They don’t give a [expletive] about camp life, or the idols and the Immunity Challenges. The Rick Devens of our season was out in Lauren, so they were looking for who that was after that. And I don’t play like that.

I saw a secret scene at the merge of you creating a “Noura Society,” mentioning that you need to make people like you before you can beat them. How much was that a part of your game?

Tommy did it in such a better way. Instead of showing himself as a smart, strategic guy, he was like, “Hey guys! I’m just a fourth-grade teacher.” It was endearing and warm, and it made everyone feel good. Every single person felt they were in with Tommy. His social game was so much better. My social game was saying, “I’m not a threat! I’m not going to tell you how intelligent I am. I’m not going to tell you I have an immense IQ. I’m not going to tell you what I did in college. I’m not going to tell you my first word was ‘grapefruit’–”

I’m surprised it wasn’t “watermelon”!

(Laughs.) But hey, it was a fruit! My social game was great in that I had a real, true, candid connection with each person. They thought they trusted me, feeling I would always be authentic. With Aaron, for example, that was my push. I didn’t even realize it came out that way. But he told me during the split Tribal Council, “Okay, it’s Janet tonight.” And I said, “No, you may want to talk to everyone.”

To that point, you said during the season that you were honest and loyal to a fault. Did you ever think of changing your gameplay as the season went?

Me being me is loyal. You saw that with Lauren. I was loyal to her, but I still let her know what I thought. I feel Tommy emulated my story by saying that he was a giver. I’m a giver too. My job in life is to give others what they need. In this case, I needed to give myself what I needed. I didn’t press that selfish button until the end. I was more like a server to everyone else, serving their games. That’s why they kept me around. If I play again, I need to do a better job of saying, “This is my move; this is my move.” That’s the way Survivor evolved. Even though I was in with everyone, that’s not a strategic game. It’s not enough.

After not getting picked for the loved ones’ visit, you committed to flipping on the Vokais, only for Dean to reveal the plan to Tommy at Tribal Council. Did you intend actually to vote out Tommy?

You’ve got to wait to get somewhere to respond. You can’t be static in a variable world. I knew how I felt going into that Tribal. I wanted to make a big move. But the issue is if you assemble with the goats and make that move happen, can you pull them back together and make another move? I felt I could have worked my way back in with the Vokais. But as soon as it unraveled, I realized I couldn’t do this. I could change my vote and make a tie, but then you don’t get much credit for that. And I always said I didn’t trust Dean. I said it in my final Tribal; he follows the numbers. Why didn’t he use his trinkets? Because he never had to, and everyone else who used them had to. I was willing to make that move. But the people I was going to do it with didn’t want to. I also said Elaine had an idol because I wanted to take her out next. I was going to continue with my alliance through what we originally had planned. And I messed up.

At the Final Four, you talked about being a natural people pleaser, and taking this moment to do something for yourself. Is this an attitude you’ve taken with you outside of the game?

It’s the game of life. And I have done that. It feels so good because you don’t feel drained all the time. When you know your value and worth, you’re not so desperate to show people your work and drain yourself. You actually step back and do a little “DK Chillin.” You sit in your value and say no. The power of saying no is incredible. I’m continuing to do that, and it feels amazing. It’s a new way of living for me, and I hope it continues.