Meet Allie Gray

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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Allie Gray. Allie was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Kale Sudhoff.

Hi Allie, we’re so thrilled to have you sharing your story with us today. Maybe we can kick things off by having you introduce yourself to our readers? We’d love to have you go into your story and how you got to where you are today.
As a little girl I always had motivation to do “big” things. That is one thing that didn’t change about me as I grew up. Throughout my high school journey I have conquered many tasks. I gave myself motivation to be involved in as much as possible. Starting with making varsity cheer my freshmen year, then getting the title of junior class president, as well as National Honors Society President. All of these titles and tasks shaped me into the leader and role model I strived to be while growing up. My biggest accomplishment has been my journey through pageants. Starting my junior year of high school I decided to put myself out there and sign up for the Miss Lake Festival’s Teen pageant located in my hometown Celina, Ohio. I had no clue what to expect but wanted something that would push me to be an even better person. I was in absolute awe to find that I had won my first ever pageant Miss Lake Festival’s Teen. I spent my year with this title going into the schools in my district, being a big part of my community, in some cases even branching out to other communities, I taught sign language to preschoolers, spread my community service initiative, Be Real Not Perfect, and have overall learned so much about myself. Be Real Not Perfect has been what’s kept me going this past year. This promotes the importance of being confident in who you are as a person no matter your capabilities or characteristics. I spent this year promoting being real and knew the importance of it due to my title in a pageant which comes with its own opinions. Kale Sudhoff a children’s book author in my area saw I did sign language as my talent in pageants, and was interested in my community service initiative. He reached out in hopes to make a difference in the lives of many that have been affected by a disability. We both had the same values and created an organization called Silent Opportunities. This is another task that will change the lives of individuals who are struggling. Shortly after creating this organization and being Miss Lake Festival’s Teen, the next tasks was competing for Miss Ohio’s Teen. This was a huge opportunity to share who I am and my story. I competed against many other talented and strong Teens. This was yet another moment of awe as I was crowned the 2024 Miss Ohio’s Teen! This is by far my biggest accomplishment and I could not be more excited to promote what I stand for, not just for myself, but to many others that are affected by their personal opinion of themself. Instead of making a difference in just my community, I now get to make a difference statewide! Competing for Miss America’s Teen in January of 2025, I know I will put my best self forward and show America what myself, Allie Gray has to offer!

Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
I have always found myself a hardworking individual. I have worked previously at two nursing homes in my community and am currently employed at Flight Deck Gymnastics coaching preschoolers. I have always loved working with people and both of these jobs have gifted me with so many interactions. With my success as Miss Ohio’s Teen I would consider that a job as well. It is a very big tasks and takes a lot of priority and responsibility. When interviewing for Miss Ohio’s Teen I knew I was prepared for the job. Being ahead in academics was a huge bonus when being prepared. I have been taking college credit plus classes since my freshmen year of high school This gave me the opportunity to finish my high school graduating requirements my junior year of high school. This helped free my senior year for anything the Miss Ohio Program had to offer. Getting a head start on my future has always been important to me. While not being in school for my senior year I am still incredibly busy with coaching, appearances, creating events, Miss America prep, and new organizations that are in the making.

So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Kale Sudhoff and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with Kale.
Kale and I have recently started an organization called silent opportunities. Our goal is to change lives for anyone dealing with a disability. This is centered around deaf awareness but we both have a goal to change the lives of anyone with any sort of disability. Kale saw what I stood for as Miss Lake Festival’s Teen and now Miss Ohio’s Teen. My community service initiative Be Real Not Perfect was a similar example of what we both stood for. Many with disabilities don’t feel perfect, my personal goal is to show others to be confident in being different. I want to continue to stress that you are loved and valued no matter your capabilities or circumstance. Kale was also interested in my sign language background. At the time he was writing a children’s book about a deaf elephant, he knew I had experience with the deaf community and wanted to see if I had any opinions of his work. From there we both decided to work with one another to make a difference. We both found that our values aligned and thought this partnership would work hand in hand to make a difference in the lives of many.