We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erica Ly a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Erica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I made the decision to compete in my very first pageant at 18 years old.

My decision was definitely a huge risk since had never had an interest in doing a pageant before. In fact I had some pretty negative assumptions going into my first pageant. At this point I was finishing up high school and I was getting ready for the next phase of life. Little did I know, this decision would ultimately shape my life for the foreseeable future.

I started my prep, realized I had no idea what I was doing, and ended up deciding to get a pageant coach. Like most sports, you need a coach to help guide you and help you get better. I had a lot to learn. I needed to learn to walk in heels, public speaking skills, and how to talk the talk interview. I spent many hours practicing and feeling like I wasn’t going to do well at this pageant, but I kept trying.

By the time I got to my first pageant, I was feeling unsure, a little nervous, but ready. I remember how much joy I had being onstage and the moment I had my make up done for the first time. I had told my mom: “I look like Miss Universe”, and it had been the first compliment I ever gave myself. I could finally see how beautiful I was on the outside, but also the inside. This pageant had made me realize how special and talented I was. All of the accomplishments I had made over the last decade of my life, I was proudly sharing with the judges.

Now I may not have walked away with the crown; in fact I was 1st runner up. I came out of that pageant with a new passion and I knew this was something I wanted to continue pursuing. I learned to celebrate myself and I was now on a mission to encourage others to do the same.

Erica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Erica Ly and I am the current Miss Mission USA 2024!

I represented the great state of Iowa at the 2024 Miss Mission USA national pageant in August and proudly won my title in August. I am looking forward to representing the USA in the Dominican Republic at Miss Mission International!

I currently reside in Iowa and I own an art studio in my hometown where I run and teach children and teens fine art classes. When I’m not teaching, I am an active volunteer in my community! My mission is to help end hunger and help spread awareness and share resources to help those struggling with food insecurity. I love to volunteer with local food pantries and organizations that help alleviate hunger such as HACAP and Feeding America. I believe that everyone should have access to healthy, nutritious food and that everyone deserves to be free from hunger!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My journey through pageantry has not always been easy. I have had way more losses than I have wins, but this has made me not only a stronger pageant competitor, but a stronger woman. Learning how to accept failure is apart of life. Growing up, I always felt an immense pressure to be perfect at something right away. I soon came to learn that becoming successful at something takes time. Like all the greatest athletes, you have to start somewhere. It’s the years of practice and dedication that make athletes so great. Their devotion towards becoming the champion they want to be is what makes them admirable, and that’s the kind of person I want to be remembered as. Once I learned the importance of seeing failure as a learning tool, I became a much stronger competitor and I would look back at my previous performances with the intention of improving myself for the next competition. In pageantry, my greatest competitor is myself, and I always strive to be the best version of myself as possible.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Before I became a business owner at 22, I had no idea what I wanted to do in life. I was in my senior year of high school when I really started to think about what I wanted to do for a career. I was very stuck on the idea that I couldn’t have a job that I enjoyed as much as my hobbies and make a decent living at the same time. It was well known I had a lot of talent in art and at that point I had so many people in my ear telling me I should go to art school. I was nervous about being unsuccessful in art school and I was not confident I would be able to make a living from my artwork at that time. I made the choice to try going to school for psychology and that would eventually change to a business degree after realizing that I didn’t intend to do anything in the field of psychology. Around that the time I started school, my mentor and art teacher reached out to me with an incredible offer. She asked me if I was interested in becoming the new Associate Director at the studio I had been training at since I was 12. I remember being apprehensive about taking the job because I had never worked with children let alone taught an art class. I took a chance and decided I would give it my best shot and once I started, I ended up loving the job! I realized this was my calling and that this is what I wanted to do with my life; I wanted to be an art teacher. With my mind made up, I made the decision to pull out of college and focus my time on building up my skills as an a teacher. 5 years later, I took over the art studio as a owner at age 22.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.misssmissionusa.com
• Instagram: miss mission USA
• Facebook: Miss Mission USA

Image Credits

Edina Jane Photography