“That’s it!” When I saw the title of this book, I had one of those “aha” moments. The answer to why some contestants never move beyond a certain level in pageantry is found in those eight simple words- what got you here, won’t get you there. Not only do I see it in so many contestants’ pageant lives; but at one time, it was present in my life as well.
You see, prior to getting married and having children, I had won every pageant I had competed in.So when I decided to compete in the Mrs. Ohio America pageant for the first time, I thought, “No problem. I’ve done this so many times before. I know what to do and in a couple months, I’ll be on the beaches of Hawaii competing for Mrs. America.”
Flash forward to the Mrs. Ohio pageant. After the tenth name was called, all feeling left my body. Completely numb, I remembered thinking to myself, “They missed my name. I didn’t hear my name. This can’t be happening. There must be a mistake.” I was devastated. My three little girls were screaming “go mommy”, my family had traveled 1000 miles to watch me, my friends were in the audience and I didn’t even make the first cut.
Some people would have given up after that, but it dawned on me: If I really wanted to win the title of Mrs. Ohio, then my current knowledge base and four previous titles were not going to be enough. To make the next vertical jump, I was going to have to make some changes.
Change is never easy. It involves time, money and ego. But when I humbled myself and became teachable to reputable people who really cared about my success, things started to happen. I didn’t change who I was as a person. Instead, I polished my outer appearance and communicated to the judges what made me unique.
With the exception of the national Mrs. America pageant, for the next 5 years, I always placed in the top 5 in every pageant I competed in. Each time I competed, I would make a change here and there until finally the formula was complete and I was crowned Mrs. Ohio America. The key is I enjoyed the entire process. I loved challenging myself and learning new things.
Perhaps you’re stuck at a particular level of competition right now. Maybe you’ve won local titles but haven’t won a state title. Or you win state titles, but that national title just dangles like a carrot in front of you. Maybe you just want to hear your name called for any title.
If that’s where you are, realize if you really want to move forward, it will involve making some changes. That might mean you’ll need to invest more time into your pageant preparation, or maybe a larger monetary investment into your wardrobe and training, or more importantly a shift in your attitude.
