What’s Next After Pageants?

I have been competing in pageants for over 21 years. And pageants are always the craziest in the summer time. There were times as a teenager I would attend 3 pageants in one weekend, or compete week after week. Especially because most national pageant competitions were held where I grew up in Orlando, Florida.

It’s crazy when I say I’ve done pageants for so long, people may expect me to be a pro or front runner in competitions. But on the contrary, it took me eight years to win the pageant title Miss Nation of States last year. Years prior I had created vision boards for what I wanted to do as a titleholder, and I was so excited I could finally put those things into fruition. It’s a bit reflective, because exactly one year ago two of my biggest dreams came true – modeling at New York Fashion Week and representing Teens Go Green at the United Nations.

I gave up my title one month ago, and it was pretty nerve-wracking people asking me “what’s next?” What’s the next pageant I’ll compete in? What’s the next chapter of my life? I honestly have no idea. I think my focus really is on building out my business and ensuring myself I do everything I felt limited to do when I worked my corporate job. There has been so many changes in different pageant systems, I do not know if this is the time I would really want to invest in it unless it can open doors for me to grow Lashes and Sashes or Digit-Eli.

I don’t think I will ever retire from pageants because I love it so much, but I need to make sure that I have more sense of stability before I go back into it. But I want to feel the same passion and determination I have for competing in pageants that I have for my entrepreneurial era. My biggest enemy has been my imposter syndrome, but I have been handling it much better than I had when I first started.

This feeling reminds me of my identity crisis after my last year at Miss Florida USA. I was terrified of the unknown. But in a way, I’m glad I had that experience then because the second time around when I actually won Nation of States but passed down my crown I was no where near as scared. I think it’s very common for high achieving pageant girls to feel lost when they wrap up their pageant career, because so much time has been invested into it.

But at the end of the day, that is why I started Lashes and Sashes, to ensure pageantry is not the end-all be-all, but the stepping stone to whatever you want to do with your life. I can confidently say I have won without the crown in more ways than I could count. All the blessings I have gained through the skills I have developed in pageants holds more value to me than almost any title. I signed with my dream modeling agency, traveled the world, filmed a TV reality series with my family, became a TEDx speaker, and so much more.