Taking unexpected opportunities can lead to new, unimagined heights. We hear the inspirational message and, too often, write it off.
Miss Louisiana 2018 Holli' Conway is living proof.
Holli' didn't think she would be interested in pageants. She didn't grow up dreaming of wearing the crown and sash.
She competed in track and field and thought of herself as a tomboy, even though she was majoring in theater with an emphasis on musical theater.
While attending Northwestern State University, Holli' sang during the Miss Northwestern Lady of the Bracelet competition as entertainment between competitions.
She wasn't a competitor and didn't plan to be.
"After the pageant, everyone came up to me. Miss Louisiana, the board, the judges, the local directors, all of them were like 'You need to do a pageant. You need to do a pageant.' I'm just like, 'I'm an athlete, I don't do pageants. I don't know what you mean. I don't know how to do a pageant. I'm just not—' Long story short, they were just really persistent," she laughed.
That was four years ago. She first competed in and won Miss Taste of the Twin Cities 2015.
"I knew absolutely nothing about pageants. You would be surprised about how little I knew, but I think it helps with the authenticity. I just wanted to be myself, and from what people told me about the organization, it was about promoting confidence, self-love and encouraging others to be a real as they can," Holli' said.
"That's what I tried to bring to the pageant. I didn't want to change myself... I just wanted to have fun. And win some scholarship money."
As Miss Heart of Pilot 2016, she was first runner-up.
Then Holli' didn't compete in 2017 because she thought she was done.
"I graduated, time to get a job. I got a job, and I went away to work, and I had no intention of coming back until I came to watch the 2017 competition. And, as I watched Laryssa (Bonacquisti) win, something in me — I just felt led. I was supposed to be back on that stage," she said.
Miss Heart of Pilot was the first pageant coming up, and it would be over three days before she went back to work as a a playlist production vocalist for Carnival cruise lines.
"I competed, and I said 'If it's for me, then it will happen.' I competed, and I won that pageant, so I've been promoting my organization and my platform from the ocean for eight months. And then I came back and got here," she said.
She didn't want to walk away from the stage without doing everything she could to become Miss Louisiana.
On Saturday night, she took the crown.
Holli' said she's shocked and grateful she's been part of the organization for a few years before reaching this point, and she appreciates her friends and family who have supported her on this journey, and she's excited for the year to come.
On Sunday morning, her parents, Hollis and Charlotte Conway, were wearing shirts tied to Holli's platform: Inspihigher. (She has two sisters, Tarvia and Angelique.)
"I spelled it that way because I have a message that combines higher thinking and inspired actions to encourage others to follow their dreams and give them a good foundation to get there," she said.
People love an inspirational speech or song, but emotions fade and people need a solid foundation to reach their goals. Seven thousand students drop out of school every day, she said, and 2,500 young people get arrested daily. She said suicide rates are also high.
"Having a passion, finding your passion can pull you out of a bad situation, so I created my platform to help people find that passion and to help them reach it," she said.
Her father is an inspirational speaker and two-time Olympic medalist. Hollis jokes that he competed in individual synchronized swimming. "I was one with myself," he swanned.
Actually, his medals are in high jump. He took silver at the 1988 games in Seoul and bronze in 1992 at Barcelona. He works as the assistant director for diversity, leadership and education for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette athletics department.
Holli' followed her father's footsteps and competed in track and field. She also carries threads of his work in her platform while making the message her own.
She said some of the new Miss Louisiana competitors this year got discouraged, but she was their personal cheering section.
"It was important to me for them to believe in themselves and know that it doesn't matter if it's your first year. It doesn't matter if your talent didn't go perfect in rehearsal, you can go on that stage and be your best self, and the outcome will always be great if you've done that," she said.
She's going to take her social reach to the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. The pageant is slated for Sept. 9, her birthday.
"It's why we chose it," Hollis deadpanned.
With changes to the competition, Holli' said she's not sure how to prepare for Miss America this year, but she's looking forward to the challenge because she's a performer. She takes what's on paper and makes the role her own.
"I get to interpret it however I like to," she said.
She anticipates the challenge that lies ahead of her.
"I'm not coming back," she said with a smile and a laugh.
