Platform 101: Part 1
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”- Mahatma Gandhi
It is no secret that the driving force behind my desire to do the job of Miss South Carolina was always service. The process of competing for me was completely steered by platform development, but I never realized how vital this would eventually become to my life. I can say with complete confidence that I would not be the person I am today or on the way to making all of my dreams come true, had I not found the Miss America Organization and engaged with it in that way that I did.
God’s timing is crazy, y’all, because when I got to Miss America (on my third try), I came to the realization that there was a purpose for this door opening for me how and when it did. I was handpicked for the 2018 class in order to be surrounded by women who shared that commitment and vision. It would be impossible for you to convince me that my Miss America class was not the most service oriented of all time because these women are nothing short of AMAZING. I was inspired beyond words and justified in my pursuit in the most life changing way. I will always be grateful for those two weeks and for my forever sisters who hold me accountable to put others first and never lose focus on changing the world for the better just by being who they are.
I have been so positively impacted by my journey because of the mindset of letting service lead and I want to share more about it. Over the next few months, I will be writing several different blogs about my platform, about the purpose driven process of competing and about the lessons I’ve learned through my platform work and doing this job. My goal is that my transparency would allow my state to understand my heart and mind, that every girl who competes would have their life enriched just as much if not more than I have, that young women would be inspired to become involved with the Miss America Organization and that the world would see how genuine and incredible the women who choose this method of personal development are.
I whole heartedly believe that you are living your life to the fullest when your passions, skills and opportunities align themselves. For me this happened through the process of developing my platform. If done correctly this could happen for everyone, however there are a few harsh realities that we have to keep in mind.
It isn’t going to happen on its own and you can’t rely on anyone to do it for you.
It will require true commitment, hard work and sacrifice.
It requires a great deal of vulnerability and honesty with yourself and others.
But on the bright side:
IT’S SO WORTH IT.
So… let’s take this thing from the top. How does one even go about choosing a platform in the first place? There are so many issues facing our society and so many people in need. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed and like it was almost irresponsible to narrow it down to just one. I, of course, turned to my mother for advice… always a solid move.
*Side note: She is going to be mortified that I’m sharing this, but my mom had competed as a Mrs contestant when I was a child and had developed an INCREDIBLE program called “Right From The Start” with the goal of reducing rates of childhood obesity. I’m not kidding y’all, she killed the platform game. *
She reminded me how when I was a child watching her do all of this, I’d vowed to stand up for Dalmations one day on a pageant stage because I was so disturbed by their high rates of blindness leading to aggression. Clearly, I’ve always been quite the researcher (because why in the world would a child know to worry about such a thing) but unfortunately it seemed as if being a spotted dog advocate would lead me down quite a difficult road to (probably not ever) Miss America.
As we brainstormed, it seemed that the most vital part of my life story was my ballet career and thus my platform should be arts related- duh! For the first year of my journey I focused on helping children to become more exposed to the arts through community resources via my own nonprofit organization, The stART Initiative. While I still hold true to the fact that the arts played a huge role in making me the person I am today and I accomplished a lot through my program from setting up chapters nationwide to raising over $30,000, it never really hit home for me for some reason… until one day…
I was preparing for the kick off meeting for my hometown chapter’s summer program at a local community center. I had visited the beautiful, brand new facility before, but that day God must have been playing games with my phone’s GPS because I certainly was not familiar with the neighborhood it had me weaving through. What I didn’t know at the time was that community centers are often placed in areas of town with a relatively lower socioeconomic status. Also prior to that specific day, this was an environment that completely terrified me. I didn’t understand poverty and why should I if I had never experienced it myself? As uncomfortable as I was, I noticed some children playing in what I assumed to be an extremely dangerous street judging by the surroundings… and something compelled me to stop the car. I got out and went to talk to the children, I told them that I was having an event down the road and that there were cookies; bribery obviously. I’m ashamed to admit that at the time I would have told you I was just trying to get more bodies in the room so it would look good in pictures, but now I know my heart was doing something that my brain wasn’t even aware of yet.
Those particular children ended up being the most attentive and appreciative of all the kids that I had the pleasure of getting to know that summer. I may have thought that my prior accomplishments or experiences made me the woman I am today, but in actuality I believe that moment was the most pivotal in my life because that group of kids was responsible for opening my eyes and making my heart vulnerable to all that was to come. I never knew myself before I knew them.
Needless to say, I abandoned the arts in pursuit of what really pulled at my heart strings- advocating for children who were in less than perfect situations. I decided to stop pursuing what “made the most sense” or “looked the best on paper” and truly let my heart lead me. I understand this isn’t always easy to identify, but it certainly makes the process to follow much easier and more fulfilling. Simply finding what pulls at your heart strings isn’t enough to establish a platform, though, so here’s my Cliff’s Notes Guide to Step 1: Creating a Platform.
Now that you’ve identified what you’re passionate about, it’s time to LEARN. Learning will always be an integral part of this process and should continue throughout. So let’s call this phase Discovery. Here are some questions you need to answer for yourself to lead this phase:
What exactly is the problem(s)?
Who is impacted by this issue?
Why does it need to change?
How are you connected the the issue? (doesn’t mean you have to be personally impacted)
What is currently being done to combat the issue?
Once you’ve thoroughly answered these questions through research and introspection you should find yourself with some more opportunities to learn. My suggestion is to reach out to some of the organizations in your area who are already doing something to create positive change. While it may seem redundant or cheesy to align yourself with already functioning programs, it is the most realistic way to be successful in actually creating change. This was the best move I ever made because I became involved with Children’s Trust of South Carolina. Sure, I got lucky to find an organization that offered me endless opportunities to learn, get involved and make connections, but there are ways to ensure the likelihood of that happening for you as well. DO YOUR RESEARCH. When you request a meeting with these organizations or advocacy groups, have a desired outcome in mind. Either you want to do something for them or you want them to do something for you, but have a good grasp on that before you show up to talk to whoever it may be. You have to keep in mind that you are battling that “beauty queen” persona that would lead most in the nonprofit sector to believe you’re just looking for a photo op.
Some tips on choosing who to align with:
Make sure they’re reputable and noncontroversial (to begin with at least.)
Choose at least one organization with a national affiliate… you want a national level job don’t you?
You don’t have to limit yourself to just one organization if there are multiple facets to your platform, but make sure that they are not in contradiction to each other.
Once you choose one or multiple organization(s) to work with, take that learning curve by storm. Embrace every opportunity to learn from them through experience and research. Read every piece of online or printed literature they can provide you, go to every event you can of theirs and have meaningful conversations about the issues with the staff and affiliates of that organization.
* The more you know about your platform issue the easier it is to figure out how to use your skills to do something about it. The more you do about it, the easier it is to talk about in an interview. The better you are able to talk about it, the higher likelihood you will be seen as genuine. Judges like genuine and they can spot a faker from a mile away… seriously.
** Even if you don’t win a pageant, you’ve created extremely meaningful connections that could land you a career that encompasses your passion. How cool is that?
You are not ready to start working until you can say:
The issue I am passionate about is:
It is an issue because:
It is important to me because:
The people who are impacted by this issue are:
I would define positive progress on this issue as:
The things that are currently being done to improve the issue are:
I can help to solve the issue by aligning myself with:
My overall goal and measure of success on this issue is:
Once you can vocalize those things, you’re well on your way to being #aForceNotaFace… more soon on the next steps of identifying goals and communication strategies!