Should I let my interviewer know that I had failed the NCLEX twice before passing?

Yesterday, I sat down for my first interview for an RN position. I had actually graduated with my BSN back in May of 2013 and passed the NCLEX in February of this year. To explain the gap between my graduation and licensing, I let my interviewers know that time was spent working full time in retail and volunteering at a non-profit community art space. I wanted them to see the passion I had for the arts because the organization I was interviewing for encouraged creativity and innovation. I was also able to tie in that my experiences allowed me to hone my organizational, time-management and communication skills. Unfortunately, the administrator who was interviewing me expressed that he was concerned about the gap and that I had chosen a different career path for a couple of years. He said he wasn't sure if I really wanted to even be a nurse.

That really hurt because I've been working SO hard for SO many years to make this my career. However, I can understand how he could interpret it that way based on my resume/cover letter. The truth is, I had actually taken the NCLEX the September after I had graduated, but I was devastated to learn that I had failed. I spent the following months searching for jobs, hoping someone would take in a new BSN grad to work as a CNA or a care partner just so I could earn some sort of income and gain experience while I prepared to retake the exam. Sadly, no dice. Still jobless, I retook the exam the following February. I used more exam-prep resources and studied more intensely, but sadly, I had failed again. By that time, I was desperate to get some sort of income, so I began applying for anything and found a full-time retail job. The summer months were incredibly busy because I work at a travel office, but during the winter, I worked fewer hours and found myself able to study productively again. I retook the exam in February 2015 and passed!

I was ready to start looking for jobs and start my career, but just a couple of weeks later, I hit black ice and totaled my car. I spent the next few months trying to find normalcy again, and now that the busy summer season at work is over, I've finally started my first job search as an RN.

If you're still with me, thank you for reading the whole backstory. Now, my question is, should I stick to highlighting the positives of working retail and volunteering in the music community at the risk of sounding like I wasn't fully committed to my nursing career? Or should I lay out the history of my NCLEX failures to show my determination in passing and starting my career? I'm afraid that admitting my failures will automatically take me out of consideration for positions, but I would also hate to have a repeat of my recent interview. Any advice? Thanks for reading, everyone.