Scheana took a seat at the judge's table for the Miss USA pageant and Lala came to support-- and Rachel is so glad they did!
Find out her thoughts on why this was so important, how it really felt to sit on the other side of the stage, and what changes in the world of pageantry still need to be made.
This is Rachel Go's Rogue.
Welcome back to another episode of Rachel Goes Rogue. This is your host Rachel Savannah Levis, and today I am giving you guys a debrief from my experience judging the Miss Grand Usa competition in Miami. You probably have seen me posting some stuff online.
It's important for me.
To continue to break the stigma and some misconceptions that people have on pageant girls, because I feel like it's heavily stereotyped.
And not all of the assumptions are true.
I just wanted to give you guys a little insight into my experience judging the Miss Grand Usa pageant. This was my first time judging, and it was very cool being on the other side of this experience. It was a lot less stressful and a little bit more enjoyable that way, So I do see myself judging again. I only have experience with the USI system and the Miss Grand Usa was a completely different experience. The women that I got to meet during this experience were phenomenal and all blew me away, and so judging it was very difficult because I fell in love with so many of them very very quickly, and I could see them really going far internationally. Cutting it down to that top five was probably the hardest, most painful thing during that whole weekend. But one of the highlights was the karaoke competition, and it was pretty intimidating because they had these studio lights and this stage and a room full of people that bought tickets to just like tent and watch this show. And we were debriefed as judges that the contestants aren't being judged on their karaoke performance by any means, but they're highly encouraged to participate and take note if somebody didn't participate. Going into that night, I was like, oh yeah, I'll definitely do karaoke too. Come to get there and the studio lights were so bright and it was just so intense and intimidating. I was like, oh no, like, I'm not going up there. There's no freaking way. But every single woman competing went up there, whether or not they had vocal training or you know, they were just kind of on a whim doing their best and having fun while doing it. I really come and the women for doing that, because it was very intimidating, and I feel like it was set up to be an intimidating experience.
So that was cool.
I did get the judges to get up on the stage with me to sing for Delicious. That was probably one of the highlights of the whole weekend. It was really fun. Okay, So I did get some comments, and I knew this would happen. As soon as Sheena announced that she was judging the Miss USA pageant.
I was like, Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?
I just bought my plane ticket to go to Miami the day before they made this announcement, and so I was like, great, because the Miss USA Pageant is before Miss Grand USA, people are going to think that I'm just trying to maybe one up Sheena or like try to get on this bandwagon and copy her in some sort of way, which was not the case at all, because I was already in communication with Rachel, the pageant director of Miss Grand USA, before Sina made that announcement. So I think that is one misconception that I would like to dispel now. Although I do think it's interesting that Sina did decide to judge. I hope that the cast members that did go to watch Miss USA got to see, like, how rigorous of a competition, competing for a pageant is and got to see, like on the national stage, these women really take seriously this title at they won from their state competition and this dedication that they've committed to themselves and to the cause that they're passionate about to win that national title. And it's very apparent when you're in a room full of these women, And I just hope that that was an eye opening experience for all of them, because I also know that La La went as well, and they've kind of boxed me and labeled me as pageant girl, and so now it's just kind of funny that they are supporting the Miss USA system and that is the system that I chose to compete in when I was sixteen.
It kind of is full circle.
And hey, thanks Gena for going to judge, because now we're just making pageants more relevant and more of a topic to talk about.
So it's kind of perfect.
So this pageant weekend, I really did kind of feel in my element because I have obviously have pageant experience, but also it's like the dressing up and feeling confident in what you're wearing and people that you get to meet along the way, like I've met so many cool women through this judging experience because the judges had time to get to know each other, and it's almost like this next level of professionalism in the pageant world. And I feel like with competing and pageants in the past, I've met incredible young women who are, you know, just starting to build their own business or just starting to get situated. Especially as a teenager, you are aspiring to be something professional, and then in the missystem, most people are just like just getting started in their professional career. But on the judges side, it's like everyone is established, everyone has a successful career that they've embarked on, and like extreme knowledge and experience in that specific field. So it was it was just very cool being on that side, like oh wow, like these these now are my peers, and it really did feel like an up level in the way that that was reflected back to me.
So that was super cool.
And I just feel like I've like consistently you meet incredible women through this experience, and the judges that I've befriended this weekend, I know I will continue to be friends with them on social media and reach out whenever we're in the same area and definitely hang out because they're really cool and they've got great personalities and we've we really did bond through the weekend. As a judge, my eyes have been open to some of the things that I would like to see changed in pageantry. Right now, we're in a very strange time in pageantry with the Miss USA system. Before they just crowned the new title holder, their miss resigned with only two months left of her reign, and then the teen followed shortly after, and they weren't able to be very forthright with the reason for giving up their title and resigning, but it had something to do with a level of exploitation and not being compensated for their time. And I would want to see that women who are taking.
The title of the.
National competition or even international competition are getting compensated for the value that they bring to the table, because I hate hearing that people are being taken advantage of and getting like a smaller percentage of what they should be entitled to. So there are some issues that need to be worked out, and hopefully with the new titleholders they'll be able to kind of like pave that way for the people in the future. But I think that's the biggest thing right now. Also, one thing that I really did appreciate about rachel Slawson's pagant was the fact that she had on set mental health advisors at all times. That's something that I've been advocating for on set for unscripted TV series and also scripted TV series are all having mental health advocates on set and licensed counselors on set, and so really taking a look at like this is a rigorous competition, and as much as I encourage the women to like relax and just be in your power, the reality of the situation is there's a lot being put into the time, energy and effort in competing in a pageant and the kind of like extreme pressure that you feel you're more susceptible to breaking point, and so having those resources available to the women who are competing is so so important. And not only that, but like after the pageant as well, because that's when you know the reality of the situation sets in and there really can only be one title holder, and so a lot of these girls are coping with the fact that they haven't won, and there's a lot of heavy feelings that come with that. So just making sure that everyone's taken care of mentally through that process. So my mindset going into judging this past weekend, you know, I knew that I was chosen to be a judge for a reason, and I've been very consistent with my messaging through my podcast, and obviously I have experience with pageants, so I've been in the same shoes that these women.
Are in when they're on stage.
So for me, I knew that just me showing up is enough, and that's obviously a newer mindset that I have adopted into my life, like I am enough and there's a reason why I was chosen to be here.
I have an area of.
Expertise that is unique and like very exceptional for the job that I now have as a judge. So I just felt very like I felt like I was right for this role. I just wanted to have open ears and an open mind and really hear what the women had to say and just choose who I felt was best in my heart, and it's all so subjective, and also like knowing that other people on the panel may be gravitating towards somebody else and that's okay too. I did notice that some of the judges would go harder on the women competing, especially an interview. They would ask those hard hitting questions just to see if they could handle answering in a way that was diplomatic and was authentic to who that woman is. There was a judge that would ask about, what is a moral dilemma that you've had to face and how did you handle it?
And that's a hard question to answer for sure.
And then another judge who was a former Miss Grand USA title holder, was asking the women how they would handle the international competition because it's thirty days of brutal rehearsals and competition and all of that. She knows because she's done it, and so she was just really trying to make sure that the next titleholder was prepared mentally and physically for the strain of an international competition. For me, I obviously have empathy for the women competing because I have been in their position, but like I also wanted it to be like a good experience for them, So I guess I would be more of like a kind judge, Like if they were being asked some pretty heavy questions in interview, I would gravitate towards asking them something about like what their personal style means to them if they had something very fashion forward that they were wearing in the interview room, you know, just.
Making it a little bit more lighthearted.
But then also I was asking things about like how are they taking care of their mental health?
And obviously that's something.
That I care a lot about, so seeing if they are also people that prioritize their mental wellbeing was important for me when judging too. So overall, judging Miss grand Usa was an incredible experience and I definitely want to judge another pageant in the future.
I told Rachel, like.
Hey, if you want me to judge again next year, I am all for it. So I remember when I was first raising money to compete in my first pageant, going into the judges panel and feeling intimidated by the judges asking me all of these questions about myself when I'm just you know, discovering who I am as a person. I think it's really cool and it's really full circle to be in this place that I'm at now, because I always admired those judges and I always wanted to to be in that position. I feel like the goal was ultimately, I mean, besides winning a pageant, Obviously, you don't compete unless you unless the goal is to win the competition. But I think for me, like seeing those judges and knowing that they were hand selected and qualified to judge this pageant and select the next titleholder was very inspiring to me, and I feel like ultimately that was the goal, like to get to the level where I could be one of those judges in that position making that big decision. And here we are, We did it. Thank you so much for listening to Rachel Goesgrogue. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok for exclusive video content at Rachel thos Route Podcast