Over the last decade, while I was raising my kids, I made it a point to turn inward and discover what it is that makes me happy outside of being a mom, daughter, friend, and hopefully one day again, a wife.
They say the things that are meant for you or are matching your thoughts, a.k.a vibrations, you will begin to attract. For me, the things I loved in my younger days started to come back around to me. In 2011, I had the privilege to be a judge for the Miss Massachusetts USA & Miss Massachusetts Teen USA pageant.
Let’s rewind to the late 1980s when “yours truly” competed in the Miss Massachusetts Teen USA pageant. Although I did not win and that would be the only pageant I did, I have carried with me all of the things I learned and how I felt about myself that weekend of healthy competition perfectly blended with mutual respect and camaraderie.
If I could sum it up in one word, it would be Empowering. The Clemente Organization has welcomed me with open arms to their pageant community. Through the years I have had the privilege of choosing who will represent the states of Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire and who will go on to compete in The National Miss USA & Miss Teen USA Pageants.
What the pageant weekends leave me with is a renewed sense of beauty and confidence. The girls I have had the honor to interview and watch compete make me want to stand taller and be my best self; because to win a title, you must know how to represent yourself and all the strength, intelligence, and beauty you have within. This is why the Miss USA slogan has become “Confidently Beautiful.”
Today I have the pleasure of sharing my pageant experiences with young ladies as they get ready to compete in the Miss USA state pageants. I have joined forces with another boss babe by the name of Maria Wood.
Maria is the founder and owner of the Fearless Focus Program and also the Powerhouse Program based out of the south shore. I have helped Maria over the years instruct at her summer and school break camps, lent a hand at their fashion shows, stepped in to do photography, and now I have the privilege of becoming a pageant coach and mentor for her empowerment program. I am so fortunate and excited to be working one on one with the girls to help them with their confidence, interview skills, posture, wardrobe, public speaking skills, and all of the other tools they will need to become “Confidently Beautiful!”
Now, back to me today and what I’ve discovered over the past ten years about myself. The one question we all should ask ourselves is, “What would you do if you could do anything at all?”
I have struggled my entire life trying to answer this. Finally, I have begun to connect the dots. I can’t be a princess and devote my life to charity. I think that ship has sailed, and sadly, Megan Markle has made it nearly impossible for a Royal ever to marry an outsider again. ( Lol! I swear I’m not bitter!)
But being allowed to help another human being comfortably struggle to grow and learn and become her best self is enough for me. That is what I would choose to do, and that is what I have begun to do. This new decade has gifted me with clarity as to what it all means. Push through the days when nothing feels right or makes sense because one day, it will just click. Trust the process.
