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Stop turning one bad mock into a disaster

I made this video because one of my private clients is competing in her dream pageant in roughly two weeks.

She has worked hard for close to six months. She has practised. She has improved. She has put in the time.

Then she had one mock interview that she felt went badly.

And suddenly, in her mind, everything was falling apart.

No.

That is catastrophizing.

One bad mock does not erase six months of work. But panicking over it can absolutely stop you from accessing the skills you have built.

That is the real danger.

You did not suddenly forget how to interview

If you have genuinely worked on a skill for six months, you have improved.

You may not perform perfectly every time. You may have an off day. You may get nervous. You may tighten up under pressure.

But you did not suddenly lose the skill overnight.

Unless you hit your head and developed retrograde amnesia, your interview ability is still there.

The issue is not always skill.

Sometimes the issue is that you are so far inside your own head that you can no longer access the skill.

That happens in sport all the time. Athletes train brilliantly, then fall apart under pressure. The ability did not disappear. Their state changed.

And if your performance suddenly gets worse two weeks before the pageant, that timing is not random.

The pageant is closer.

The stakes feel higher.

You are making it bigger in your head.

Stop making one bad performance mean everything

A bad mock means you had a bad mock.

That is it.

It does not mean:

• you are hopeless at interview

• your preparation has failed

• you are not ready

• you have wasted six months

• you are going to lose

You are the one adding that meaning.

And once you do, you create a much bigger problem.

Now you are practising from fear. You are questioning everything. You are adding more talking points. You are trying to control every sentence. You are rehearsing harder while becoming less natural.

Then you wonder why interview feels worse.

You are allowed one freak-out.

Cry. Rant. Complain. Be dramatic for five minutes.

Then stop.

Because catastrophizing is not preparation. It is emotional self-sabotage.

More practice may make it worse

Your first instinct will probably be:

I need to practise more.

Maybe you do.

But if you have already been practising constantly, more of the same may be exactly what you do not need.

If the problem is pressure, repeating more answers in a comfortable room will not fix it.

If the problem is overthinking, adding more notes will not fix it.

If the problem is exhaustion, another late-night practice session will not fix it.

If the problem is that you have made the pageant feel like life or death, memorising another talking point will not fix it.

Stop automatically assuming the answer is more work.

You need to work on the right problem.

Ask yourself:

• Was I tired?

• Was I distracted?

• Did one question throw me off?

• Was I trying to remember too much?

• Have I practised only when I feel comfortable?

• Have I made this pageant so important that I can no longer think properly?

That is diagnosis.

“I just need to practise harder” is not diagnosis.

If pressure is the problem, practise pressure

Once you understand the cause, do something specific.

If pressure makes you freeze, introduce pressure into practice.

If one type of question rattles you, practise that type of question.

If you are too rehearsed, stop scripting and learn to talk.

If you are distracted by something happening in your life, deal with it or learn to compartmentalise.

If you are exhausted, fix your sleep, food, and recovery.

Do not keep hammering away at interview mechanics when the real problem is psychological.

This is why I keep saying pageantry is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics.

Your talking points do not matter if panic stops you from accessing them.

Your preparation does not matter if you convince yourself it has all been pointless.

Your skill does not matter if you turn the interview into a threat.

Interview is not life or death

You cannot communicate well when you are treating every answer like a survival test.

When your brain thinks you are under threat, it does not care about warmth, connection, humour, or persuasion.

It wants to escape.

That is why you freeze, rush, ramble, forget obvious things, or give answers that sound nothing like you.

The contestants who interview best are not usually the ones trying hardest to be perfect.

They are the ones who enjoy communicating.

They prepare. They practise. They watch themselves back. They confront their weaknesses.

But they do not walk into the room thinking the judges are there to execute them.

They talk.

They connect.

They persuade.

What to do now

After a bad mock:

1. Stop catastrophizing.

2. Work out what actually went wrong.

3. Fix that specific problem.

That is it.

Do not turn one bad performance into your identity.

Do not tell yourself the entire pageant is over.

Do not spend the next two weeks panicking and call it preparation.

The mock did not erase your ability.

The panic might stop you from using it.

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

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Peyton’s back from Miss Volunteer America 2026 where she placed second runner-up, and tells us all about her experience, including winning preliminary talent, and the lessons she learnt along the way.

--

Pageants & Tangents is an irreverential and honest take on modern-day pageantry, hosted by Adrian Kwan, Founder of The Pageant Project.

Got a pageant issue or question you want us to discuss? Submit it here:

👉 https://pageantpod.com

OUR CO-HOSTS:

Morgan Morgan:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/morganmorganbonafide/

👉 https://www.morganmorganfitness.com/

Peyton Christen:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/peytonkaynec/

👉 https://www.instagram.com/missgavol/

Kenzie Hansley:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenziehansleyy/

👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenzieleecoachingg/

Geanna Koulouris:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/geannakoulouris/

For all media and sponsorship enquiries:

👉 info@thepageantproject.com

“The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry” - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

Get it on Amazon

To book your spot, go to pageantmock.com and enter the code at checkout.

pageantmock.com

Session Details

• Date: Thursday 9 July 2026

• Time: 8 pm ET · 7 pm CT · 6 pm MT · 5 pm PT

• Australia: Friday 10 July, 10am AEST

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ABOUT NOELIA VELAZQUEZ

Noelia Velazquez of Greenville, North Carolina is the reigning Miss Teen All American. She is currently a rising Junior at High Point University, where she is pursuing a Bachelors degree in Entrepreneurship. On campus, she serves as a the Vice President for the Class of 2028, Social Media Ambassador, Director of Social Media for Alpha Gamma Delta, 2024 CoHort representative for the LIFT Fellowship Program, and an anchor for HPU Vision, the university’s student-led news program.

Noelia began her community work at just 11 years old, helping hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, which has now evolved into her now internationally recognized platform, Girl Strong by Noe. Through this initiative, she has led over 50 workshops locally, nationally, and internationally, encouraging young girls to lead with confidence, compassion, and resilience.

With strengths in public speaking, storytelling, and leadership, Noelia brings energy, empathy, and impact to every project she takes on. She is especially passionate about mental health advocacy, female empowerment, and using her social media platform as a tool for change.

Outside of the spotlight, Noelia loves fashion, traveling, connecting with new people, and filming podcast episodes with empowering women of all backgrounds for her Instagram series, “Girl Talk by Noe.” Her ultimate goal is to own her own Couture Dress Store.

FOLLOW NOELIA VELAZQUEZ

👉 https://www.instagram.com/iam_noeliavelazquez/

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

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AI generated pageant headshots are officially here and making waves. In this episode we’re discussing our thoughts on this and other AI-related pageant matters.

--

Pageants & Tangents is an irreverential and honest take on modern-day pageantry, hosted by Adrian Kwan, Founder of The Pageant Project.

Got a pageant issue or question you want us to discuss? Submit it here:

👉 https://pageantpod.com

OUR CO-HOSTS:

Morgan Morgan:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/morganmorganbonafide/

👉 https://www.morganmorganfitness.com/

Peyton Christen:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/peytonkaynec/

👉 https://www.instagram.com/missgavol/

Kenzie Hansley:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenziehansleyy/

👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenzieleecoachingg/

Geanna Koulouris:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/geannakoulouris/

For all media and sponsorship enquiries:

👉 info@thepageantproject.com

“The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry” - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

Get it on Amazon

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The AI conversation pageant girls need to have

I wanted to talk about AI this week because it has been popping up again in the pageant space, most recently around AI-generated pageant headshots.

And, as expected, people have opinions.

Some of those opinions are thoughtful. Some are not. But what worries me is that much of the conversation seems to stop at the most obvious, surface-level question: Are AI pageant headshots good or bad?

That is a valid question. But it is also a very narrow one.

Because the bigger issue is not whether one contestant should or should not use an AI-generated headshot. The bigger issue is whether pageant girls are actually learning how to use AI intelligently, or whether they are dismissing it before they understand it.

And that, I think, is a much more important conversation.

You are probably already using AI

One of the strange things about the AI debate is that many people talk about AI as though it is some completely separate, futuristic, morally suspicious thing that only exists inside ChatGPT.

But if you use GPS, you are using AI. If your phone unlocks with your face, you are using AI. If you use FaceTune, skin smoothing, Instagram filters, background removal, auto captions, or many of the tools already sitting inside your phone, you are using some version of AI.

So the question is not really whether pageant girls should use AI.

The better question is:

How can pageant girls use AI well?

That distinction matters, because “AI bad” is not a serious strategy. Neither is “AI good.” Both are lazy positions. The real skill is learning what the tool is good for, what it is not good for, where the ethical lines are, and how to use it in a way that actually improves the quality of what you are doing.

The headshot debate is not as simple as people want it to be

For the record, I do not think AI-generated headshots should be used for photogenic awards. If contestants are being judged on a headshot, and the headshot is not actually a real photo of them, then I think that creates an obvious fairness issue.

But this is where the conversation gets more complicated.

If the argument is that AI headshots are bad because they are “not real,” then we need to be honest about how much of pageantry already involves altering appearance.

Heavily edited photos are not exactly “real” either. Neither is FaceTune. Neither is aggressive Photoshop. Neither is contouring that changes the structure of someone’s face. Neither are certain cosmetic procedures.

That does not mean all of those things are the same. They are not. But it does mean the conversation requires more nuance than pretending there is a clean line between “real” and “fake.”

In pageantry, as in most of life, the line is often messier than people want to admit.

The real risk is refusing to learn

My concern is not that every contestant needs to start using AI for everything. Please do not use AI to turn yourself into a generic pageant robot. We already have enough of those.

My concern is that a lot of smart, capable, ambitious young women are going to leave an incredibly powerful tool on the table because they have decided, often without much experience, that AI is bad.

And I think that is a mistake.

AI is going to affect almost every industry. Business. Marketing. Media. Medicine. Law. Education. Coaching. Content creation. Your platform. Your career. Your future business.

Whatever direction you go in, you are going to be competing with people who know how to use AI. And the danger is not that they will “cheat.” The danger is that they will move faster, create better, learn quicker, communicate more effectively, and build things that you still think are impossible.

That is why I think the real risk is not using AI badly.

The real risk is refusing to learn it.

Using AI well is still a skill

One of the laziest criticisms of AI is that using it is lazy.

And yes, it can be.

But that is true of almost any tool. A contestant can use AI badly. A business owner can use AI badly. A coach can use AI badly. A creator can use AI to churn out generic rubbish that no one asked for.

But using AI well is different.

You still need taste. You still need judgment. You still need to know what good looks like. You still need to know what you are trying to say, who you are trying to serve, and what kind of output is actually useful.

AI does not magically make someone excellent.

It magnifies what is already there.

That is why someone with real skill who learns how to use AI properly is going to become very difficult to compete with. Not because the AI replaces their ability, but because it allows them to extend it.

Why this matters beyond pageants

Pageantry is not separate from the real world. The same skills that help you succeed in pageantry often help you succeed in life: communication, confidence, leadership, personal branding, storytelling, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and the ability to learn quickly.

AI can help with a lot of that.

Not by replacing your personality. Not by writing fake answers for you. Not by giving you some soulless script to memorize. But by helping you practice better, organize your thoughts, sharpen your message, develop your platform, build your story bank, and get feedback when you would otherwise be sitting alone in your own head.

That is the opportunity here.

The point is not to become dependent on AI.

The point is to become more capable because you know how to use the tools available to you.

Free resource: interact with my pageant book

In the video, I show you how to use NotebookLM to interact with my pageant book.

Instead of reading the entire book from start to finish, you can ask questions and get answers based on the material inside it. For example, you could ask what I say about pageant interview, stage presence, onstage question, psychology, mindset, or the biggest mistakes contestants make.

This is completely free to use.

The book itself is not free, but I am giving you access to the NotebookLM version so you can explore the ideas in a more interactive way.

Link:

👉 https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/ee31985c-2814-435f-9eb5-3d1c5a02afa7

Final thought

You do not need to agree with every use of AI. I certainly do not.

But please do not make the mistake of refusing to learn it.

The contestants, coaches, creators, business owners, and leaders who learn how to use this properly are going to have an enormous advantage. Not because AI makes them good, but because they are already good, and AI helps them move faster.

So watch the video, try the free NotebookLM resource, and ask yourself honestly:

Where am I dismissing AI because I do not understand it yet?

Adrian.

Paid subscriber bonus: onstage question practice prompt

For paid subscribers, I have also included a copy-and-paste AI prompt you can use to practice onstage questions.

This is not a generic “ask me pageant questions” prompt. It is designed to act more like an onstage question coach. It will ask difficult questions, keep you within the kind of pressure you would feel onstage, and help you if you get stuck.

Fair warning: it is hard.

Get it here:

👉 https://www.thepageantproject.com/p/paid-subscriber-bonus-onstage-question

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

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Your job is not just to ask me random pageant questions. Your job is to help me build the deeper skill underneath strong onstage answers: self-awareness, values clarity, critical thinking, and the ability to explain what I believe under pressure.

Please work with me in this format:

1. Ask me one ons…

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ABOUT JODIE WHITEHEAD

Jodie Whitehead is the current Miss Lincolnshire International. She is preparing to compete in Miss International UK in July, and has competed for the title a few times, coming first runner-up last year. Jodie has lots of hobbies and talents and wants to inspire the women around her to never settle on their goals and dreams.

FOLLOW JODIE WHITEHEAD

👉 https://www.instagram.com/Jodiewhitehead16/

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

Get it on Amazon

A lot of you are deep in prep at the moment.

Not casual prep.

Not “I’ll get around to it” prep.

I mean the kind where you are waking up early, recording answers, watching videos back, going to the gym, overthinking your wardrobe, questioning your walk, questioning your interview, questioning your ent…

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To book your spot, go to pageantmock.com and enter the code at checkout.

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Session Details

• Date: Thursday 2 July 2026

• Time: 8 pm ET · 7 pm CT · 6 pm MT · 5 pm PT

• Australia: Friday 3 July, 10am AEST

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We are well and truly in pageant season.

Which means somewhere, right now, there is a contestant practising her walk for the 487th time, panicking about whether her interview dress says “future titleholder” or “real estate agent with excellent posture,” and wondering if she should change her entire platform three days before competition.

You know. Normal behaviour.

And look, I get it.

Strategy matters.

You need to know how to interview. You need to know how to walk. You need to know how to communicate your platform without sounding like you were assembled in a lab by three former titleholders and a ring light.

But strategy is not always the problem.

Sometimes the problem is the story underneath it.

This week’s coaching video is about the three S’s I look at when working with contestants:

State. Strategy. Story.

Most pageant prep starts with strategy.

• What should I say?

• How should I stand?

• How do I answer political questions?

• How do I make my platform sound impressive?

• How do I make the judges like me without looking like I’m trying to make the judges like me?

Fair questions.

Then there’s state.

Are you walking into interview calm, grounded and confident? Or are you walking in like your entire nervous system has been put in a blender and someone forgot to put the lid on?

Again, important.

But the missing piece, the piece most contestants never really look at, is story.

What does pageantry mean to you?

What does winning mean to you?

And perhaps more importantly:

What would it mean if you didn’t win?

Because if your story is:

“If I win, it proves I’m worthy.”

That is going to affect how you perform.

If your story is:

“If I don’t win, this was all a giant waste of time.”

That is going to affect how you perform.

If your story is:

“I need this crown to feel validated, successful, beautiful, important, chosen, enough...”

Well, congratulations. You’ve just placed the emotional weight of your entire self-worth onto five strangers and a scoring sheet you may never see.

Which, as life plans go, is not exactly bulletproof.

This is why some contestants become so tight.

They care so much that they stop performing freely.

They stop connecting.

They stop enjoying the room.

They stop being themselves and start trying to drag the crown toward them with the sheer force of their desperation.

Which, weirdly enough, is rarely the most magnetic version of a person.

The strange thing is, if you really want to win, you may actually need to care a bit less.

Not stop caring.

Not become lazy.

Not float into competition weekend with the energy of someone who wandered into the ballroom looking for the breakfast buffet.

But care less in the sense that your identity is not on the line.

Your future is not on the line.

Your worth is not on the line.

Because pageantry can be a brilliant tool for growth. It can sharpen your interview skills, stretch your confidence, expand your network, push your advocacy and force you to become a more disciplined version of yourself.

But it is a terrible place to outsource your self-worth.

In this week’s coaching video, I break down why story matters so much, how it affects your state and strategy, and why the story you’re carrying into the room might be the very thing making pageantry heavier than it needs to be.

So before your next pageant, ask yourself:

What story am I bringing with me?

And is that story helping me?

Or is it slowly strangling the life out of me while smiling beautifully in a crown?

Adrian.

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

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We were originally going to be discussing our pageant icks this episode, but with all of us being knee-deep in pageant season at the moment, let’s just say we went with it.

For me personally, I would say this is my first proper ‘pageant season’ as a coach, and all I can say is that it’s truly been a WILD ride.

--

Pageants & Tangents is an irreverential and honest take on modern-day pageantry, hosted by Adrian Kwan, Founder of The Pageant Project.

Got a pageant issue or question you want us to discuss? Submit it here:

👉 https://pageantpod.com

OUR CO-HOSTS:

Morgan Morgan:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/morganmorganbonafide/

👉 https://www.morganmorganfitness.com/

Peyton Christen:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/peytonkaynec/

👉 https://www.instagram.com/missgavol/

Kenzie Hansley:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenziehansleyy/

👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenzieleecoachingg/

Geanna Koulouris:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/geannakoulouris/

For all media and sponsorship enquiries:

👉 info@thepageantproject.com

“The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry” - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

Get it on Amazon

Subscribe now

ABOUT LYNDSEY LOCKLEAR

Lyndsey Locklear is originally from Lumberton, North Carolina, and is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where she earned both a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She now resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she works as a traveling neonatal ICU nurse. In August, Lyndsey will begin pursuing her Master’s degree to become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, continuing her commitment to improving outcomes for infants and families.

A former Miss Lumbee, Lyndsey is currently representing the Queen City and will compete for the title of Miss North Carolina USA. As a proud member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, she hopes to become the first Indigenous woman crowned Miss North Carolina USA and to go on to represent the state at the Miss USA competition, inspiring young people to dream boldly and embrace their unique identities.

Lyndsey has been dancing since the age of two and is trained in tap dance, a lifelong passion that has shaped her creativity and discipline. Outside of her career, she enjoys cooking, playing golf, creating new coffee recipes, and spending time in the gym.

She is also deeply passionate about mental health advocacy and preserving her Indigenous culture. This passion inspired her to implement traditional Indigenous talking circles as a tool for emotional healing, creating safe spaces that encourage connection, vulnerability, and community.

FOLLOW LYNDSEY LOCKLEAR

👉 https://www.instagram.com/LyndseyLocky/

👉 https://www.tiktok.com/@LyndseyLocky

👉 https://www.facebook.com/lyndsey.locklear

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

Get it on Amazon

To book your spot, go to pageantmock.com and enter the code at checkout.

pageantmock.com

Session Details

• Date: Thursday 25 June 2026

• Time: 8 pm ET · 7 pm CT · 6 pm MT · 5 pm PT

• Australia: Friday 26 June, 10am AEST

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We are right in the middle of pageant season.

• Miss USA state pageants.

• Miss America state pageants.

• Miss Volunteer America.

• Last-minute prep.

• Last-minute panic.

• Last-minute “what if I forget everything?”

So here is the reminder I think some of you need more than another mock interview question:

Your mindset is not optional.

And I don’t mean that in the vague, fluffy, “just believe in yourself” way.

I mean mindset in the competitive sense.

Can you still perform when the pressure hits?

Because there is a very specific kind of heartbreak in pageantry.

It’s not losing.

It’s knowing you were better than what you showed.

It’s walking out of interview thinking:

I answered that so much better in practice.

It’s stepping off stage thinking:

I nailed that walk last week.

It’s getting back to your hotel room and realizing:

That wasn’t me at my best.

That feeling is awful.

And most of the time, it is not a mechanics problem.

It is a psychology problem.

Recently, I worked with a young golfer in the United States.

Not a pageant contestant.

A golfer.

I do not play golf. My entire understanding of golf is basically: hit the ball, make it go in the hole.

So no, I did not magically fix her golf swing.

But I do understand performance. I understand pressure. I understand what happens when someone has the ability to do something, but their psychology gets in the way.

When we worked together, I didn’t want another polite conversation on the couch about “confidence.”

I asked her to take me onto the golf course over video call while she was actually hitting balls.

Why?

Because that is where the real work happens.

• It’s easy to talk about mindset when nothing is happening.

• It’s easy to sound calm when you’re sitting in your house.

• It’s easy to say, “I just need to stay positive,” when there are no judges, no scorecard, no audience, no lights, no pressure.

But the breakthrough usually happens in the moment.

• When the bad shot happens.

• When the answer goes sideways.

• When your brain goes blank.

• When your body starts panicking.

For this golfer, the pattern was frustration.

She would hit one bad shot, get angry with herself, and that anger would affect the next shot.

Then the next.

Then the next.

And this is where pageant contestants need to pay attention.

The mistake is not always the problem.

Your reaction to the mistake is often the problem.

• One interview answer goes badly, and suddenly you mentally leave the room.

• One turn feels off, and suddenly you start walking like you are apologizing for existing.

• One unexpected question comes up, and suddenly you are no longer listening. You are panicking.

That is not preparation failing.

That is state failing.

With the golfer, the shift was simple.

Instead of getting angry, get curious.

Not:

I suck.
I can’t believe I did that.
What is wrong with me?

But:

What happened?
What can I adjust?
What do I need to do next?

Anger locks you into the mistake.

Curiosity moves you toward the solution.

A week later, I heard she had played her best round and lowered her personal best by six strokes over nine holes.

That is not small.

And again, I did not fix her golf mechanics.

The change was psychological.

Which brings me back to pageantry.

Most contestants spend almost all their prep time on mechanics.

• How do I structure my answer?

• How do I introduce myself?

• How do I sound less robotic?

• How do I walk?

• How do I pose?

• How do I talk about my platform?

All of those things matter.

Of course they matter.

But mechanics only help you if you can still access them under pressure.

That is the part most contestants forget.

• You can have beautiful interview answers in practice.

• You can have a great walk in rehearsal.

• You can know your platform inside out.

But when pressure hits, your nervous system takes over.

• You rush.

• You ramble.

• You freeze.

• You stop listening.

• You try to remember a rehearsed answer instead of answering the actual question.

That is why so many contestants sound robotic.

Not because they don’t care.

Usually, they care too much.

But instead of being in conversation, they are in retrieval mode.

They are searching their mental filing cabinet for the memorized answer that seems closest.

And that is a dangerous place to be in interview.

Because pageant interview is not a recital.

It is a conversation under pressure.

When I coached tennis, we had a phrase for certain players:

Practice-court players.

They looked amazing in practice.

• Beautiful strokes.

• Great timing.

• Clean technique.

• No pressure.

• No score.

• No consequences.

But put them in a match, and suddenly they became a different player.

Then there were the rare ones who seemed to get better when the pressure increased.

That is what you want to become in pageantry.

Not the contestant who is brilliant in the practice room.

Not the contestant who gives a great answer only when she knows the question is coming.

Not the contestant who looks incredible when the ballroom is empty.

The contestant who can still be present when the room is real.

• Real judges.

• Real stakes.

• Real nerves.

• Real pressure.

That is the skill.

And it is trainable.

Before an athlete competes, they warm up.

They don’t sit slumped in a chair for forty minutes, watching everyone else compete, absorbing everyone else’s anxiety, and then expect to explode into peak performance the second their name is called.

Yet that is exactly what many pageant contestants do before interview.

• They sit outside the room.

• They watch other contestants walk in.

• They watch them walk out.

• They try to decode every facial expression.

• They listen to whispers.

• They let everyone else’s energy get into their head.

Then they wonder why they feel flat, frozen, or frantic when their name is called.

You need an interview warm-up.

A real one.

• Move your body.

• Get your blood flowing.

• Stand up.

• Pace if you have to.

• Get outside into the sunlight if you can.

• Put your headphones in.

• Listen to something that gets you into the right state.

• Run a few practice questions with someone.

• Use ChatGPT voice mode if you need to.

• Get your brain answering before you enter the room.

Because if your interview is two or three minutes long, you do not have the luxury of using the first two questions to warm up.

You need to hit the ground running.

And this is where I think a lot of contestants are underprepared.

They train their body.

They train their walk.

They train their answers.

They train their styling.

But they do not train their nervous system.

Then pageant weekend arrives, pressure hits, and they expect confidence to magically appear.

It won’t.

You train confidence the same way you train anything else.

Through reps.

Through discomfort.

Through doing things that safely raise your heart rate and teach your body:

I can feel pressure and still function.

So here is one simple practice:

Do something uncomfortable every day.

Not something dangerous.

Not something reckless.

Something safe, productive, and uncomfortable.

• A cold shower at the end of your normal shower.

• Going live on Instagram for two minutes.

• Answering a question you have not prepared for.

• Filming yourself and watching it back.

• Practicing without a script.

• Asking someone to throw you questions you do not get to pre-approve.

These things work because they train the muscle most contestants avoid training:

Staying present when discomfort appears.

The more you practice discomfort, the less shocking discomfort becomes.

And when discomfort is no longer shocking, pressure loses some of its power.

That is when you become dangerous.

Because while everyone else is spiraling, you are steady.

While everyone else is panicking because the interview is five minutes instead of three, you are adjusting.

While everyone else is trying to remember the perfect rehearsed line, you are actually listening.

That is titleholder energy.

Not because you are pretending to be calm.

Because you have trained yourself to handle pressure.

This is why I do not want you to be a practice-room contestant.

I do not want you to be the contestant who only feels confident when everything goes perfectly.

I do not want you to be the contestant who needs ideal conditions to perform.

I do not want you to be the contestant who says afterwards:

I know I could have done better.

I want you to be the contestant who walks into the room already warmed up.

The contestant who can make a mistake and stay curious.

The contestant who can feel nerves and still communicate.

The contestant who can handle a change in schedule, a weird question, a quiet judging panel, a narrow stage, a long day, a bad night of sleep, and still access her best.

Because pageantry will test your mechanics.

But pressure will test your psychology.

And very often, that is where the crown is won.

So before your next mock interview, ask yourself:

Am I practicing answers?

Or am I practicing pressure?

Adrian.

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

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ABOUT CHRISTELL FOOTE

Christell Foote is the reigning Miss Cosmo U.S. Virgin Islands and a pageant competitor who has earned Top 5 placements at three different national pageants before taking her journey to the international stage. Passionate about empowering young people through education, Christell advocates for youth to pursue their dreams and academic goals. She is currently earning her MBA while balancing a professional career and leading her footwear company, Footewear, which was founded to help women stand tall with confidence.

FOLLOW CHRISTELL FOOTE

👉 https://www.instagram.com/christell.foote/

👉 https://footewear.store/

👉 https://www.instagram.com/misscosmousvi/

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

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Most pageant fans are great. But we all know some of them cross the line from supportive to downright creepy (and then some).

In this episode we’re discussing our pageant fan horror stories, together with some pointers to make sure you don’t end up getting kicked out, dragged out, or arrested (if you know, you know).

--

Pageants & Tangents is an irreverential and honest take on modern-day pageantry, hosted by Adrian Kwan, Founder of The Pageant Project.

Got a pageant issue or question you want us to discuss? Submit it here:

👉 https://pageantpod.com

OUR CO-HOSTS:

Morgan Morgan:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/morganmorganbonafide/

👉 https://www.morganmorganfitness.com/

Peyton Christen:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/peytonkaynec/

👉 https://www.instagram.com/missgavol/

Kenzie Hansley:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenziehansleyy/

👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenzieleecoachingg/

Geanna Koulouris:

👉 https://www.instagram.com/geannakoulouris/

For all media and sponsorship enquiries:

👉 info@thepageantproject.com

“The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry” - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

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To book your spot, go to pageantmock.com and enter the code at checkout.

pageantmock.com

Session Details

• Date: Thursday 18 June 2026

• Time: 8 pm ET · 7 pm CT · 6 pm MT · 5 pm PT

• Australia: Friday 19 June, 10am AEST

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ABOUT MYKALA DONLON

Mykala Donlon is a dancer, student leader, and advocate passionate about empowering young women through authenticity and service. As the founder of the “Girl in the Mirror” initiative, she encourages girls to embrace self-worth beyond appearance and social pressure.

A dedicated member and leader in HOSA, Mykala has spent her high school career volunteering through blood drives and community service projects. She will continue her education at the University of Miami, where she plans to study microbiology and immunology on the pre-med track.

Through pageantry, dance, and leadership, Mykala hopes to inspire others to lead with compassion, resilience, and purpose.

FOLLOW MYKALA DONLON

👉 https://www.instagram.com/mykaladonlon/

👉 https://www.tiktok.com/@mykaladonlon/

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

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There is a certain type of coach who likes you to believe they possess secrets.

Not experience.

Not expertise.

Secrets.

Knowledge so rare and valuable that it must be guarded carefully, lest another coach discover it and the entire competitive advantage disappear overnight.

I have encountered this mentality in tennis coaching, life coaching and now pageant coaching.

And honestly?

I don’t buy it.

That doesn’t mean every coach is equally skilled. Some coaches are considerably better than others. Nor does it mean specialised knowledge has no value.

Someone who competed in your exact pageant last year may know things about the director, schedule or judging environment that an outsider would not.

But that’s insider knowledge.

It’s not necessarily coaching ability.

And it usually has a much shorter shelf life than people care to admit.

Pageantry has changed dramatically over the past decade. Social media changed it. COVID changed it. The expectations placed on titleholders changed. The way contestants build platforms, communicate with audiences and handle public scrutiny changed.

Winning a title years ago may give someone valuable experience.

It does not automatically mean they know how to coach you.

What worked for them, may not work for you.

In this week’s video, I unpack what I believe creates those rare coaching moments where someone tells you something you genuinely had not considered before.

And it’s not because they possess some closely guarded pageant secret.

It’s because they bring together knowledge from several different worlds.

• Sport.

• Business.

• Communication.

• Psychology.

• Life experience.

Pageantry may be one piece of the puzzle, but it should not be the entire puzzle.

That matters when you are choosing a coach.

It also matters when you are developing yourself as a contestant.

Your biggest competitive advantage may not come from doing another mock interview, taking another walking lesson or memorising another “winning” answer.

It may come from building a more interesting life outside pageantry.

• Studying something difficult.

• Starting a business.

• Coaching a sport.

• Recovering from failure.

• Speaking to people whose lives look nothing like yours.

Those experiences give you something no pageant formula can manufacture.

Perspective.

I’ve said it before:

The best way to succeed in pageantry is to create an amazing life outside of it.

I believe the same principle applies to coaching.

The best coach for you may not be the person with the most impressive former title.

It may be the person who can see connections you cannot yet see for yourself.

In this week’s video, I explain why I am sceptical of anyone selling “secrets,” what past pageant success can and cannot tell you about a coach, and what I would look for instead.

Adrian.

The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:

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