by Mia Watkins
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama--A line of fans gathered on the first floor of the Van Maur store in Riverchase Galleria Saturday, March 8 to get some personal time with Miss Alabama USA 2014 Jessica Ahlberg and Miss USA 2013 Erin Brady. Brady and Ahlberg were on hand from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. for an appearance on behalf of the Chinese Laundry shoe brand, an official sponsor of the Miss USA pageant. “We here to model and show off the spring line for Chinese Laundry,” said Brady. Fans were able to meet and take pictures with the two. The first 100 in line also got a special gift from Chinese Laundry. DJ Rob Everette from 99.5 Vibe also spun tunes for the crowd during and before the meet and greet. Nine-year-old Janna Calhoun said she wanted to come to the event to meet the two. She said she enjoyed getting her picture taken with Ahlberg and Brady. “This was the first celebrity I was going to meet,” she said. Brady said her reign as Miss USA has been great.
“It’s been unbelievable,” she said. “I really didn’t know what to expect and it’s been everything I could have expected and more. I got to compete in Miss Universe and made it to the top 10. It’s crazy that the year’s almost over and I’m trying to figure out what’s next in my life.” She said she wants to get into hosting. “I’m hoping to get involved in some kind of hosting career,” she said. “I was a financial accountant before this so maybe tying in the finance aspect of my life too, but we’ll see I still have a couple more months left.” Ahlberg, who was crowned in November, said her time so far as Miss Alabama USA has been a fun experience. She will compete in the Miss USA pageant in the summer. “I’m still trying to get used to it, “she said. “I’m having so much fun and it’s been the coolest experience so far. Getting to hang out with Miss USA all weekend, I mean, and just getting to make an impact on our community and meeting all of the kids that I’ve been working with has been a really great time.” She hopes that appearances such as the Chinese Laundry event will encourage other young girls to think about the Miss Universe system.
“I really would like to get people involved, let people see us and learn about us and get more of a support system going and hopefully get those girls to want to compete,” she said. Olivia Stiznani, 8, is an example of one of the girls in the crowd Ahlberg hopes to inspire. She and her mother, Lisa, came across the event while shopping for pageant shoes. Ahlberg and Brady wished Olivia luck on her upcoming pageant and gave her an autograph. “I just thought it would be neat for her to see some role models like this,” Lisa said.
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.
(by Auburn University staff writers)
Jesica Ahlberg, Auburn alumna '12 in public relations, is Miss Alabama USA 2014.
Ahlberg was selected on November 16, 2013 in Montgomery at the state pageant competition featuring women from all over Alabama. More than 100 contestants were in Montgomery competing for the titles of Miss Alabama USA and Miss Teen Alabama USA, according to WSFA. The competition serves as a preliminary for the Miss USA pageant which will take place in Miami, Florida.
After graduation, Ahlberg has been acting and modeling and is represented by agencies in Atlanta, Nashville and Los Angeles.
Among her acting credits, Ahlberg has a role in the upcoming Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie, the second in the series. Jesica is also appearing in Spongebob Squarepants 2 in theaters soon.
