Sometimes people will ask me which is true: does my job as a reporter help me with pageants, or do pageants help me with my job? Well, considering that one came before the other (I started competing regularly in pageants in 2017, while I did not start working at JMC until two years later), it is natural to assume that the latter is true.
However, it is not quite that simple, at least not in my mind. The two really go hand in hand.
I am often told that I do extremely well in the private interview portion of competitions. The same people who tell me that also suggest that it is because I conduct interviews for a living. However, there is a significant difference in sitting in the interviewee chair versus being the interviewer.
The truth is that while working as a reporter has helped improve my speech, I genuinely enjoy talking to people. This enjoyment is part of the reason that I got involved in pageants in the first place.
I have found that another key to success in private interview is to be genuine about the subject. For example, because I am a reporter, judges often ask me questions relating to the media. Easy enough, I experience it every day!
In addition, I am passionate about the Miss Georgia Scholarship Organization and my Social Impact Initiative “From Shelter to Forever”. When judges ask me questions relating to one of these topics, I have to remind myself to STOP talking rather than worry about thinking of something to say.
I like to approach my private interviews with pageant judges like I do with any interview source: it is just me and them having a conversation. I find that going into an interview confident with this mindset helps relax me and the pressure melts away.
