Ujima Magazine had the opportunity to get behind the scenes information for potential candidates interested in the Texas Plus America Pageant.

We all see the end results of young women walking the runaway, participating in the interview portion, evening gown, and receiving the crown and sash. This is about how to become involved. This is a series of stories where you will hear from different women from the Executive Director to the reigning queen about their involvement in the Texas Plus America Pageant.

The interest meeting was held at a local restaurant. The reigning Mrs. Texas, Ashley Holmes-Lindley Mua, was open, friendly,and very well spoken. She made everyone who walked through the door feel comfortable. As the women were sitting quietly, Ashley answered questions and shared her journey.

Margie Ray Shaw is the recruiter for the Central Texas area which include the following counties, Buda, Kyle, Austin, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Killeen, Harker Heights, Cedar Park, Hutto, San Marcos and Lockhart.  Ray has been involved with the pageant since she won the Ms. Central Texas in 2010. In 2011, she was Ms. Williamson County and Ms. Texas Plus America.  So if you are in these counties and want to participate in a great organization, Ray wants to talk with you. You can visit their Facebook page as well here https://www.facebook.com/MTPAP.

The pageant offers a walk down the runway, but it offers new friendships, a sisterhood and a resume builder. Many long lasting relationships are built from encouraging one another, it forms a family like community that happens naturally. The Executive Director, Brianna Williams, explained the three categories of the pageant. They are:

1st- The interview portion. It is 50% of your score. The contestant goes before five to seven judges. The contestant will need to be prepared to discuss current events, questions about oneself and character based questions.

2nd-The elegant pant wear or cocktail party wear.

3rd- The evening gown.

The combined scores of the three categories will determine the winner. There is also an optional essay competition but it does not count in your final score.

There are three crown divisions as well. They are the Mrs category which consist of women who are married (20+), Ms. for 30+ contestants and the Miss (18-29) that have not been married.

The takeaway from the interest meeting is the Texas Plus America pageant can help a young women feel pretty, increase your self- esteem and a great way to make new friends and build a community.

If you think you will have to learn everything overnight, it is not true. All contestants will participate in a bootcamp where you will learn all the ends and outs of pageant life. Including vendors to purchase needed extras to make you look pretty and elegant.

The State pageant is coming up April 23-24 and the National pageant will be held June 29-July 2nd. So if you are interested in becoming a part of this great pageant, please contact Margie Ray Shaw at margie@margieray.com. She will be more than happy to help you through the process.

#embraceyourcommunity #behindthescenes #texasplusamericapageant #ujimamagazine2016 #beauty #selfesteem @meintheatx @paigeturna @marylinnen @lifemusicatx @jeanettewhill @damita_shanklin #margierayshaw

Damita Miller-Shanklin
Ujima Magazine