Road to the Crown

If you know me, you know I am passionate about setting an example for young women. I want women everywhere to feel like they can be innovative professionals in STEM and still fully embrace their femininity!

At first glance, you might not peg me as the pageant type. After all, most of my professional career has centered around building my name in technology and mentoring young people to do the same.

Frankly, joining the pageant community was way out of my comfort zone. However, I know that trying new things takes courage. If I want to encourage women like myself to have the confidence to step out of their comfort zone, then I need to practice what I preach!

So, I took the leap. I joined the most supportive community of other women in the pageant world by competing in Miss Texas Plus America.

Miss Texas Plus focuses on giving plus-sized women a platform to promote causes close to their hearts. The Miss Plus America pageant is a supportive network of women throughout the USA who are looking to make a positive change by using pageantry to reach more people who can help their cause of choice.

I was honored to earn the title of Mrs. Heart of Texas Plus America & Mrs. Austin Plus America 2022! Joining this uplifting community of other plus-size superwomen has boosted my confidence and strengthened my support network more than I could have imagined. I have met so many powerful women who I am lucky to now call friends!

Though I didn’t win the title of Mrs. Texas Plus America, I am over-the-moon excited for the winner Nikki Levario-Canchola , an amazing woman who I am blessed to know!

I was blown away to be recognized and invited to compete on a national level in the Miss Plus America pageant coming up this July. I cannot wait to take a swing at a national pageant and spread my platform #STEM4UandMe to more women and young people everywhere!

The pageant community means so much more to me than a reason to get all glammed up (although that’s a lot of fun, too)!

It’s a community where I can broaden my goal of getting more young people and women curious about STEM. It’s a stage where I can reach young women everywhere who may be looking for a female role model in STEM. Representation is so important - and showing young women they can be feminine and still successful in STEM is my end goal!

My experience in pageants has allowed me to spread my message further and also opened doors for volunteering and community engagement. I love getting involved with local STEM initiatives where I can make real change in young people’s lives. Recently, I was able to represent Miss Plus America pageant at Girlstart’s conference for Girls in STEM 2022! Opportunities like this are what it’s all about. It was a dream come true to be able to meet and share with so many women who are also passionate about making STEM more accessible for women.

As I look forward to the Miss Plus America national pageant in July 2022, I hope you will follow me on my journey and support my mission of supporting Robots and Rhinestones!