Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to MéShyia Bradshaw. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi MéShyia, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
At the start of my pageantry journey it was a habit of mine to surf through coaches/titleholders social media. Doing this simple task allowed me to focus on the tips and tricks they’d leave behind in videos or posts! However, when I was crowned Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2023 I soon realized that if I wanted to make substantial progress, I needed help. Luckily as a beauty queen turned model overnight, I was signed to an angency and set to work with multiple influential people! This ultimately prepared myself for a year in front of cameras, stage appearances and much more! Every skill I’ve learned has been beneficial to my everyday life, but one of the most crucial skills that I’ve acquired is patience. Not having a lot of patience was my obstacle, and I had to learn to take things slow. Especially in the world of pageantry and modeling when everything that comes to you is because of your hard work, dedication, and with that comes patience.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve always been a fan of pageantry, but I never imagined how much my life could change from winning a title. In February of 2023, I competed and won the honorary title of Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2023 becoming the 2nd African-American and first kinky haired contestant to capture the title in 42 years! With this title, I’ve been able to travel all over Kentucky inspiring kids of all ages and sharing my story. Not only was I able to create conversations with others, but I also had the amazing opportunity to represent Kentucky at Miss Teen USA in Reno, Nevada before passing down my title in May 2024.
Since then, I’ve focused on my education and modeling career. This Fall, I plan to attend the University of Kentucky to double Major in Journalism and Merchandising in hopes of hosting a television show or owning my own boutique! Along with that, I have a dream to one day come out with my own book of poetry and work with other modeling agencies hopefully elevating my career further to discover new opportunities.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Whenever I mention to others that I compete in pageants, I usually get one of two comments: “Those are rigged!” or “I couldn’t imagine the drama!”. In Fact, when I explain how pageants are the complete opposite they respond with surprised gasps. These kinds of reactions have never changed, even 3 years after getting started it would still deter me from going after what I wanted. When I learned about teamwork and how that was incorporated into a world of make-up and dresses, my views completely changed.
Growing up, my mother would place me in little girl pageants just for the fun of it and unfortunately the older I got, the more I distanced myself from the hobby. Among the COVID-19 surge, it was important that I found something new to keep my mind busy and after much research, I decided to give pageants another try and compete at my local county fair pageant in 2020. Being my first pageant, it was an eye opener but I didn’t expect the environment to be so accepting and warm. I happened to win the title and found a love in the hobby, even so that I started to compete in about ten pageants annually.
After competing so much I started to find similar patterns within the different systems, the most noticeable factor being teamwork. When entering a pageant it’s possible to compete against eighty different contestants and it’s easy to think of them all as such but that’s not the case. We all work together and provide for each other, whether it’d be helping another contestant with their hair or just simple words of advice. These girls and women are each working towards their own personal goals while helping and guiding others towards theirs as well. Because of this, I believe that both my mental health and experience soared.
It’s unbelievable how so much can be made of a simple interest and what It can be used for later in life. I’ve been able to incorporate the teamwork skills I’ve learned into community and state-wide projects. I would’ve never guessed that pageantry could transform an individual as it has me in such a way, but they have elevated me to work with others and communicate on a professional level.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
As a child I was relentlessly bullied for looking different than the other children around me. This was for a multitude of reasons because my hair was different and/ or because my skin was darker. Experiencing this motivates me to create inclusion in every room I walk in and in every workspace. That’s why when I go to share my story at a school or an event I make sure to tell them about how embracing myself lead me to be who I am today!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Theofficialmeshyia_b
- Other: Angency- NV Models & Talent
Image Credits
@edwinshaw
@richesandgloryphotography