Fmr. Miss America talks anorexia, strives to help women nationwide

By Darlene Hill

From magazines to models, society has an image of what they think pretty is. "I think that being thin in this culture is highly glamorized, and the truth is, that to be on a diet all of the time, to be obsessed with food and weight loss, is not a way to live," said Kirsten Haglund, Former Miss America of 2008. Haglund struggled with an eating disorder at an early age. She was a 12 year ballet dancer who thought she was too fat.Three years later, Haglund's parents discovered her secret: she was anorexic. "That was my life, but my parents showed me that I was deteriorating not only my physical health but my mental health as well. I was depressed. I pushed my friends and family away and I was just a totally different person," Haglund said.When Haglund received her crown in 2008, she made ‘Eating Disorder Awareness' her passion and platform. 

Haglund travels all around the country, talking to women ages 18 to 24 about eating disorders and body images. The Former Miss America said that parents everywhere should listen if the topic comes up. She also said to watch your child's eating habits because eating too much or not enough will tell you something.
"Some of the signs to look for are [an] obsession with calories and [an] obsession of weight loss method. [Also] over exercising, frequent trips to the bathroom after eating, hiding food or hoarding food, eating in private or avoiding situations that involve food," said Haglund.

Lavetta Schneider is crowned 2014 Mrs. Nevada America

By Robin Leach

Congratulations to Lavetta Schneider, who won Sunday night’s 2014 Mrs. Nevada America Pageant at Sam’s Town. Lavetta is a hair artisan at Michael Boychuck’s salon Color at Caesars Palace. Lavetta has worked on hairstyling for Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian, Jenny McCarthy and Nicole Scherzinger, plus, music videos for Billy Ray Cyrus, Terry Fator and Kid Rock. Lavetta’s husband of 18 months, Stephan, is general manager of Wet Republic at MGM Grand. She arrived at the Mirage in 2007 from Los Angeles and has worked for Michael since 2011. “The Strip has become my home, and that was why I represented the unincorporated town of Paradise in Clark County,” she told me. “It was my very first pageant,” she laughed. “The 2011 winner encouraged me to give it a shot.

“My husband said that he would support me fully if I gave it all my heart to win. I still can’t believe it happened, even though I worked really hard. It’s still a dream the morning after; I am still in a state of shock.” Lavetta now represents Nevada at the 2014 Mrs. America Pageant in Tucson in August. Lavetta’s platform is anti-bullying, and she promotes the organization Nevada People Empowering People. Lavetta also is an educational director of the online Michael Boychuck Hair Academy and appears in his videos. Michael has become a fixture in the pageant community and helped with many Nevada pageant winners, including Jill Barnhart, Mrs. Nevada United States 2013; Lauren Hudman, Miss Nevada Teen USA 2008; Georgina Vaughan, Miss Nevada USA 2009; Kristie Gulia-Jelinsky, Mrs. Nevada America 2012; and Amanda Kouretas, Mrs. Nevada America 2011. Michael also is a sponsor of the Miss Nevada USA Pageant, working with executive director Shanna Moakler and winners Jade Kelsall and Chelsea Caswell. As a judge of the Miss California USA Pageant in 2011, he helped select Alyssa Campanella, who won and went on to become Miss USA.

Miss Alabama USA 2014 Jesica Ahlberg on Katherine Webb, her movie cameos and her new title

By Mia Watkins

Jesica Ahlberg may have acted next to Ryan Reynolds and may call Katherine Webb a friend, but that’s not the coolest thing she’s done recently. The 24-year-old began her official reign as Miss Alabama USA 2014 Saturday, Nov. 16. “It was just the most overwhelming feeling,” she said. “It’s so hard to describe, maybe a mixture of just shock and joy. I couldn’t believe it. It’s something I’ve wanted for so long.” She began her pageant career in Florida as a teenager.

“I was never a pageant girl,” she said. “I was asked by a friend to do one of the local preliminary pageants. I did it for fun, I wore my prom dress and I ended up winning,” she said. She was eventually named the second runner-up in last year's Miss Alabama USA pageant. Throughout her journeys in the Miss USA pageant network and her most recent competition, she said she made plenty of friends who also celebrated her win along with almost 30 of her loved ones. “The greatest feeling of the night, though, was after I’d won and they crowned me I just remember turning around and then seeing all of the new friends that I had made running towards me and jumping all over me. That was the coolest thing ever,” she said. One of those pageant friends includes fellow Auburn grad and Miss Alabama USA 2012 Katherine Webb. Ahlberg calls her a good friend. “She helped me a lot along the way,” she said. “She helped me pick out wardrobe; she let me borrow a lot of her jewelry.” Ahlberg said she admires how her friend has handled sudden fame. “She’s a really good person,”she said.” I see some of the things that people tweet at her and write on her Instagram and it hurts my feelings for her because she really does have a good heart and she’s not trying to ride the coattails of the football team.” In addition to her newest role as beauty queen, Ahlberg also maintains a career as an actress and a model.

Ahlberg ‘s career began in a very 21st century, internet-savvy way: through Google. “I didn’t know anything about it, but I’ve always wanted to do it,” she said. “I took it upon myself to Google and figure out everything myself.” She dove into the acting world by reading books on acting and working with UAB’s Artplay. She began with a job as an extra on the show “Drop Dead Gorgeous.” She soon followed up with parts on “Necessary Roughness” with John Stamos and “Banshee” on Cinemax. She also has a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and a part in the newest “Spongebob Squarepants” movie. On the modeling side, she is currently the “Sleeping Face” for Delta Airline’s Business Elite class. “Acting is just what I absolutely love to do, so I hope that keeps growing,” she said.
When she’s not acting or fulfilling her Miss Alabama USA duties, she volunteers with the Better Basics program in Birmingham to promote literacy. Ahlberg works with a class at Hayes K-8 School to motivate students to read. She said reading has always been important to her. “It’s a great way to further yourself in life and it’s very important to education,” she said. In the meantime, she said she will continue all of her endeavors while working with trainers and sponsors to prepare for next year’s Miss USA pageant. “It’s such an honor to be chosen to represent the state at the Miss USA pageant,” she said.

Colombe Akiwacu Crowned Miss World Rwanda 2014

Colombe Akiwacu was crowned Miss Rwanda 2014 at the conclusion of the pageant held on February 22 2014 at the Petit Stade in the capital Kigali. The 20-year-old student from the Eastern Province stands 1.75 m. Colombe will represent Rwanda for the first time ever in the Miss World 2014 pageant, scheduled for November in London, England.

Miss USA Erin Brady on Pageant Fashion: ‘It’s Definitely Modernizing’

BY MEGHAN BLALOCK

Beauty pageants aren’t exactly a hotbed for forecasting the next season’s big runway trends, but it is true that more and more pageant contestants (and winners!) are opting to forego the traditionally sparkly, sequin pageant dresses for more high-fashion runway (and sometimes, even couture) looks. Miss USA Erin Brady wore a custom-made Sherri Hill dress (a brand loved by celebrities like Selena Gomez,Bella Thorne, and more) for her big win last June (below), so she knows this better than anyone.

“Pageant dresses are a lot of glitz, glam, and beading, and I think that’s great, but I love that runway is couture,” Brady told StyleCaster at the launch party for Richard Chai’s collaboration with leather designer Andrew Marc at Scoop in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. “You can stand out in a different way that catches somebody’s eye without having all the glitz and glam.” “I’m actually happy to see that pageants are transitioning more into red carpet looks rather than that stereotypical pageant look,” she added. “It’s great to see that people are really looking at the styles and the different influences of each season and really trying to incorporate that into their looks more. It’s more couture and high-fashion, and it’s modernizing, which I think is great. It makes people look at pageants in a different light, and they get more attention from the fashion industry when they see things like that.”

So will we be seeing more and more couture on the stage at events like Miss USA and Miss Universe? Brady tells StyleCaster that she loved many of the dresses from Zang Toi’s glamorous Fall 2014 lineup, so keep your eyes peeled come June when she hosts the big competition!