Chelsea Hardin was a tomboy growing up. Most days, she chose flats over heels and ponytails over elegant up-dos. In college, she cared more about perfecting her volleyball game than dressing up or entering beauty pageants.
Chelsea Hardin was a tomboy growing up. Most days, she chose flats over heels and ponytails over elegant up-dos. In college, she cared more about perfecting her volleyball game than dressing up or entering beauty pageants.
So last summer, when Hardin first learned of the Miss Hawaii USA competition from a friend, she was on the fence.
“I didn’t know much about it, but she told me about it and how it’s more than just what the common person sees on the exterior,” Hardin told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. “She said you should do it. So I said, ‘Why not?’ You really have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I wanted to better myself.”
Life for the the 24-year-old Oahu native has since changed. After what she calls a whirlwind year filled with a strict nutrition and fitness regime, rigorous pageant coaching and hours of preparation, Hardin was crowned 2016 Miss Hawaii USA last November.
And just last month, she competed in the 2016 Miss USA pageant and placed first runner-up. That’s the farthest a Hawaii contestant has made it in the competition — which culminates at the Miss Universe title — in nearly 20 years.
On Tuesday, Hardin was in Hilo sharing her success story with more than a dozen Big Island girls and young women, many planning to compete next month in the 2016 Miss Hawaii Island USA pageant — a newly added, official preliminary to the state pageant in November.
Organizers hoped Hardin’s success story would encourage local girls to participate in the new pageant — even those with little to no previous experience.
“I think she’s refreshing in a way, because she shows girls you don’t have to compete in pageants your whole life to do this,” said Alicia Michioka, a former Miss USA contestant and state executive director for the Hawaii USA program. “She’s a total tomboy, she barely wears heels and makeup. So hopefully it inspires girls that they don’t have to fit this beauty queen model that they think they need to compete — just be yourself.”
The Hawaii Island USA pageant features two divisions — Hawaii Island Teen USA for girls ages 14 to 18 and the Hawaii Island USA for women 18 to 26. It will take place Aug. 13, immediately after the third-year Tropical Island Beauty Pageant, the sister program for girls ages 5 to 13.
But earning a title isn’t required to advance to Miss Hawaii USA, which is open to anyone who meets basic eligibility requirements. Organizers are hoping the new Hilo pageant will help ramp up neighbor island participation in state pageants, which historically has drawn many Oahu contestants.
“Myself being born and raised on the island of Kauai, I know what it’s like to be a contestant from the outer islands with less resources and maybe less support,” Michioka said. “And I feel like sometimes some of the best talent is hidden on the outer islands. I feel like these preliminary pageants are really going to open the doors for girls to come out and put their best foot forward with the support of a local director.”
On Tuesday, the nerves were evident in the room filled with crowns, sashes and pageant dresses. Among those with butterflies was 20-year-old Tiana Enos-Dano, a University of Hawaii at Hilo student who said she was lured to register, in part, by the idea of scholarship money for school.
Enos-Dano said she isn’t normally a “pageant girl.” She’s a waitress at a local restaurant, eyeing a future career in pharmacy. But since committing she’s already making pageant preparations. Recently, she purchased a gown on Oahu.
“I wasn’t nervous until maybe today,” she said with a laugh. “Because now it feels a little more real. Before it was kind of just an idea and I thought it would just be fun, but now it’s like, ‘No this is real.’”
Fourteen-year-old Kona resident Kyra Alcoran, who’s planning to compete for the teen title, said she felt like a seasoned veteran. Kyra said she participated in a Tropical Island Beauty pageant once before which helped her feel more comfortable.
“It’s a great experience,” Kyra said. “I learned to have more confidence and be more poised.”
Hardin told the girls she’s also gleaned confidence in her pageant experience. Not long ago, she said, she shied away even from giving a short speech in front of family and friends. These days, she said she’d be comfortable hosting an entire event.
“I think the biggest thing I learned was confidence and being comfortable,” she told Tuesday’s attendees. “I’m comfortable in my own skin. People ask me, ‘What do you say to these pageant girls on the fence?’ And I just say, ‘Do it.’ You have nothing to lose and everything to gain and I think I’m a testament of really just everything to gain. And it’s a fun experience.”