Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Whitney Cardo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Whitney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Absolutely. I often feel the most mischaracterized when I mention my life as a pageant girl. Although I generally receive positive reactions, I also receive negative commentary which is driven by false stereotypes. The most common comment I hear is “oh, so you do beauty pageants.”. Hearing this almost feels like an insult. Yes, we are gorgeous on stage and at events, but we are so much more than that. Some of the most successful women I’ve ever seen are pageant women.

Miss USA 2019, Cheslie Kryst, was a complex civil litigation attorney and used her platform to speak against injustice.

Miss America 2020, Camille Schrier, is a Naloxone trainer and advocate for “Mind Your Meds: Drug Safety and Abuse Prevention from Pediatrics to Geriatrics”.

Mrs. South Dakota American 2022, Jennifer Stanga, is a licensed social worker and an advocate for domestic violence victims.

The list goes on. Rather than assume we compete for beauty, ask us why we joined. I guarantee you’ll learn something new.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Let me preface this by saying I was an Army B.R.A.T. for 18 years. I was born in Heidelberg, Germany, lived in the U.S. for eight years, in Japan for five years, and returned to the U.S. for five years as of January 2023. Although my nationality is German/American, my nationality is Cuban/Italian and I speak English, Japanese, and some Spanish.

My full-time occupation consists of answering emergency calls as a 9-1-1 call taker. Aside from my main source of income, I am also a makeup artist, princess performer, CEO of EVWC Vending, an activist for modern sustainability, and a pageant title holder. Though it seems like a lot, most of these hobbies are not on a set day of the week, such as every Saturday.

I love what I do and am beyond blessed and grateful to have such a unique and beautiful life.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Gaining a friend/connection from most if not every state and some countries. I love the community we have built and continue to build through pageants. Making friends has always been a huge struggle for me, so it’s nice to finally belong.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Back in 2021, I made the biggest and scariest pivot of my life, which was dropping out of college. This was such a big deal to me because I grew up expecting to live the college dream life.

College was nothing like I imagined. In fact, I dreaded going to classes and struggled to find anyone to help me with understanding the assignments. Additionally, I had no idea what I wanted to do after college. My major was business because I knew I could do almost anything with a business degree. Unfortunately, I only passed my business classes and failed most of the other subjects required to graduate.

Finally, after three years in college, I stopped attending due to academic suspension. I remember crying all the time and lying to everyone about attending college. My fear was that I would never be successful without a degree. Eventually, my guilt got the best of me, and I confronted my family. They were disappointed, but not because I dropped out. My family was upset that I lied to them. We had a great conversation about what success is and what it means to be successful.

Needless to say, success is what you make it. To be successful means living life to the fullest with little to no regret. Since then, I’ve become happier and accomplished more than I could dream. Nothing holds me back from living my best life.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whitney.cardo/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100073797920976

Image Credits
Main Photo – N/A Photos 1-3 N/A Photos 4&5 – Lyssa Barrow Photo 6 – Adrienne Walton Photo 7 & 8 – Mashay Rose