Amanda Henry

I would attribute my success, one, to my parents. I grew up in a middle-class family. We didn't have everything, but the one thing I did have was mom and dad's love, and their belief that I can do whatever I set my mind to. And that's definitely served as a good foundation for, like, emotional intelligence and confidence. The second piece, again, would then be, like, that self-awareness, and so I'm very overly critical of my own faults and my own gifts, and I've taken calculated risks through my life to make sure, on the other side, I always at least be successful while I work on my areas of opportunity for growth on the back end. And then lastly, the faith. I am a bona fide church girl, as we would say. I grew up in the church, and as I've gotten older, have established my own, you know, relationship with the Creator. And so that has been a guiding light in how I morally show up, and has really played a factor in my success.

The best career advice I ever received was to make sure I exit as strong as I start. So often when we, you know, go into the job, we spend so much time making a really good first impression and doing great work, and I learned in my first internship at BET Networks how important it was to make sure that I closed out as strongly, to make sure that I keep, you know, a solid brand perception, and that folks would then want to keep those doors open for me to work there again in the future. So making sure I take my time to express gratitude to everyone who impacted my journey along the way, because again, you want to always exit as strong as you start.

For young women entering the pageantry industry, I have three pieces of advice. The first one is to have a broader vision for yourself. Meaning, what is it that you are looking to gain out of your experience? What skill set do you want to grow and develop? What new thing? You should have a specific thing that you're working on for yourself that this experience will help you do and achieve. The second piece is to have a vision for the impact you want to have, whether that's through your platforms, through your sister queens. There should be something that you're tangibly trying to make a better place because you were a part of this experience. And then lastly, the third one is to know that no matter the outcome of the competition aspect, it doesn't define your value and your worthiness of the crown. You were a queen before you worked in this industry, and you'll be one after. And as long as you're growing for yourself and leaving the impact you desire, aka number one and number two, then no matter the outcome of the competition, you've been successful during your time in this industry.

The biggest challenge is that the industry has evolved from its initial founding focused on women empowerment to now being more broadly focused on the glam and glitz, and the modeling contracts, and photoshoot opportunities, etc. And because of that, it has definitely changed the experience expectations of those who participate. The opportunity there is to actually go a little bit back to its roots of what these pageant organizations are formed for, and if indeed they are more so focused on the glam of the industry versus the impact of the industry. That's perfectly okay, but that should be communicated with candidates and be reflective in the system's values, and the judging and scoring accordingly, so that the ladies know what they're signing up for, and they can then sign up for the organization that's most aligned with what they want to get out of the experience.

One being self-awareness, so making sure that folks are mindful of how they show up, whether it's leaning into their strengths and leaning into their gifts and using that to help other folks and pay it forward, but also being mindful of their growth opportunities, you know, not trying to sugarcoat things. The other side of that really just comes down to honesty. You know, I want to be able to trust whoever it is that I'm interacting with from a personal or professional side of things, and that, you know, if they say something, that they mean it, and that they're going to follow through. And then community is a big one now, you know, now raising a child. Wanting to make sure that the folks that I surround myself with, that I surround him with, that they are well-intentioned, and that we're all trying to contribute to a better world and help each other grow. And then lastly, I would say probably abundance, acknowledging that, you know, what is for me is for me, what is for someone else is for someone else, and so it's never a scarcity mindset, but one of abundance in that there's always more than enough for everyone.