Former Beauty Queen to Current Wife, Mom and Entrepreneur

"There is a lot to learn from a former beauty queen...," a former once said to me.

I started this journey of pageantry as a shy, soft-spoken girl. I was 10 when I was first introduced to pageants. My sister, Raysa, a talented, beautiful, athletic, intelligent 19 year-old entered her first local in our hometown of Lewistown, PA. She won the title of Miss Tri-County 1986 on her first try, and that was the start of a new passion for me.

From that point on I watched pageant videos and studied the contestants' walk. I memorized every talent and every production number. I could not wait until I was old enough to enter in my first Miss America system local and do exactly what the girls on the videos did.

So at 17, I entered my first pageant--the Miss Tri-County pageant, just like my sister 7 years before. I knew exactly what to do on stage since I knew the moves of every contestant from 1986 to 1993. However, since the interview was (and still is) a private portion of competition and I did not have video footage of anyone doing one, I didn't know how to interview. When it came to speaking I was painfully shy and scared. I was a winner on stage, but my interview was horrible--I didn't say much at all. In that area, I needed all the help I could get.

After 7 (count'em!) locals, my parents were frustrated at watching their daughter lose--I never even placed! But I was learning something. Even though to the outsider it looked like I was not progressing, I was. Against my parents' will, I continued to compete.

Since I had no clue what a good interview was like, and I was not much of a talker (but still a know-it-all, stubborn teenager), my sister intervened. "There is a lot to learn from a former beauty queen, so shut up and listen." So, I did.

Raysa helped me tremendously and told me what to do to win the judges over in the interview. That was the missing link...

I won.

It just took a little tweaking and I was able to accomplish one of my dreams. And that's why I created this site--in hopes that my visitors can find that little something (or everything) to help them win.

Now, I'm all grown up (ha!), a confident, strong-spoken mom, wife and entrepreneur. I am so pleased with the roads I have traveled so far in my life, and I look forward to what's to come. I live in Pittsburgh with my 3 unbeliveably adorable children, and most amazing, loving husband. I love what I do with Pageant-Girl.Com. I am excited to share all I have and know about pageants, success and life, and look forward to learning more along the way.

There is a lot to learn from this former beauty queen. You'll find it all right here.

Warmest Regards,

Mayra