How John Robert Powers took a diamond in the rough and shaped her into Miss Teen California.
Wearing a borrowed suit, 17-year old Elizabeth Akhparyan (left) held her head high and breezed through the pageant preliminaries. Remembering her coach’s words, “pretend the crown is already on your head,” Akhparyan demonstrated the poise and confidence that helped her to become Miss Teen California 2003. In preparing for the pageant, Akhparyan also learned important life lessons.
Lesson 1 – Be Persistent
Born in Armenia, Akhparyan moved to Southern California when she was five. During high school, she decided to enter the competitive world of pageantry. Akhparyan knew she needed a sponsor, so she called John Robert Powers in Beverly Hills, California where she left several messages before the manager, Dave Merrill, agreed to sponsor her. “Elizabeth was already very lovely when she came to us,” said Merrill, “but there were a few things she needed to learn to give her an edge to win the pageant.” Merrill gave fearless Akhparyan private lessons under the tutelage of JRP’s premier instructor, model Lisa Dean.
Lesson 2 – Be Confident
Ms. Dean taught Akhparyan how to develop greater confidence and poise to allow her true beauty and radiance to shine through. “I always felt like a little girl playing dress-up, Akhparyan said. “I learned how to fit better in my clothes with my posture. I have become a very different individual.”...
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Wearing a borrowed suit, 17-year old 
