?Describe your event.
Miss American Charm is a traditional, non-profit beauty pageant.

What divisions and age ranges do you recognize?
Miss American Charm has five divisions: Little Miss, 4-6 years of age; Junior Miss, 7-9; Pre-teen, 10-13; Teen, 14-16; and Miss, 17-24.

How does someone qualify to compete?
We have an open enrollment. Contestants do not need to win any other pageants to participate in our national Miss American Charm pageant.

What are your judging criteria?
Judges scores are based on their evaluations in these areas: beauty, poise, self-representation, interviewing skills, and inner development.

Are there optional events?
Required competitions are Evening Gown, Beach Wear, Interview, Sportswear Photo judging, and State Representation. Talent and Cover Model events are optional.

What can delegates expect to learn through participation at your event?
They can expect to learn about themselves. We strive to help young ladies find their true inner beauty. Once a child learns how to love themself, she can truly shine. It’s about finding self-worth and striving to achieve goals. It’s about building momentum toward attaining goals. We have hired an inner-beauty coach to work with our girls during workshop time to help develop their real beauty within. All of our programs start with a workshop, where the girls simply have a blast. At this time, they make friendships that last forever; they learn the secrets to makeup and modeling; and they learn to laugh at themselves and accept themselves and their friends for the wonderful beings they were put on this earth to be. The most fun during the workshops is when we turn up the music at the end and watch the girls shine on the catwalk, having fun learning with one another.
We focus on how to interview, not only in the pageant world but also in the real world, too. For the younger girls, how to talk to your teachers is a topic of great interest, while for the girls getting ready for college or a job, they want to know how to shine during their interviews. We have a nutritionist who teaches our girls how not to diet, but rather to take healthy care of themselves. For us, it’s not about being thin and a magazine replica; it’s about simply finding your very best self and showing the world why it’s a great self. We believe every woman has a place in this world, and we want to help young ladies find that place.

Why do you feel competitive events are important for participants?
Competing at a young age gives young girls a cutting-edge advantage. When they become teenagers or young adults, they are able to have conversations with adults with ease, confidence in making friends, and perform or speak in front of a group of 12 (as in a work setting), an audience of 200 (as in a performance), or one-on-one confidently, until it becomes second nature for them.

Why do you enjoy being a part of the competition event industry?
The best part of this industry is simply touching hearts. In one of our recent state pageants, a young girl stated that she was honored to be beautiful and be herself — she is a basketball player, not a magazine cover model. I turned to look at my partner to see her crying. The young lady got it! She had accepted herself to be wonderful, and she was on a mission to show her fellow athletes that beauty comes in so many forms. It was great. For me, it’s all about setting a young lady on fire. The crown is really not what makes a winner. It’s the girl who walks away knowing what she needs to do next to make herself better inside and out. When someone can take the experience and grow from it — that’s what is so beautiful. We meet so so many gorgeous young ladies. I just love to see the girls grow into leaders in our world. This world is full of brilliant minds. If we can help uncover just a few of them, then we have done our jobs.