People participate in pageants for different reasons. Some just want to have fun. Others contestants want to use pageants as a stepping stone more opportunities. Many need external events help motivate them to take action to accomplish specific goals. The more honest you are with your expectations and reasons for competing in a pageant, the more rewarding the experience will be.
Personally, I don’t believe in wasting time or money. I am more upset if my time is wasted than my money because I can never earn back my time. So my approach to pageantry is reflected in this personal value. Today I want to share a couple quick tips I’ve learned over my lifetime in the pageant world that will hopefully save you some time and money.
Start small. First, test the waters with a small free pageant to see if both you and your child like the pageant environment and the process. If you find yourselves constantly fighting with each other, stressed out, and annoyed with the type of people who are there, this hobby may not be for you. Keep in mind there are glitz pageants and natural pageants. The environments at the two types of pageants are completely different so if you tried one and had a bad experience, try the other. But when first starting out, keep your cash outlay to a minimum.
Timing is everything. People and life circumstances are always change. Some contestants only compete when they are children while others don’t start until late in adulthood. You can start and end at any time. Everyone peaks at different times. If it didn’t work at one time in your life, try it later.
One, possibly two, pageants a year is enough. This will prevent burnout and financial stress within the home. You don’t have to do a pageant every year either. Pageants are expensive. Fact is you will spend more than you will receive in gifts and winnings. Why do people do them then? Because they can be fun! Pageants can lead to opportunities. It is through the opportunities that rewards may come. Pageants can be also be used to develop your leadership and communication skills; but only if you associate with people and a coach who know how to use the pageant structure to develop these skills within you.
What is coaching? Coaching is help. It is insight, advice, tips, opinions, guidance, mentoring, answers, training, and a number of other descriptors people use to describe help. Some people don’t charge for their services, others do. Some are highly skilled and professionally trained while others are not. You need to do your homework to find the right coach for you and your needs.
There are the obvious questions contestants have about clothing, hair, makeup, modeling, interview, onstage introductions and photos; but there are additional coaching topics that go beyond these basic questions. Some of these important areas include:
- Identifying which pageants are the best fit for you;
- Logistics planning;
- Prioritized budgeting;
- How to schedule appearances;
- Time management;
- How to handle conflict and drama with people within the pageant world;
- Next steps after you have won the title you wanted.
When to seek out coaching? Seek out a professional coach only when both you and your child are serious about committing time and financial resources into achieving your desired results. My rule of thumb is to invest as much in high quality coaching equal to the amount of money you spend on your competition gown. Most serious contestants spend around $500 for a dress so use that amount as a beginning guide. If you spent $100 on your dress, set aside $100 for coaching.
If your only purpose of competing in a pageant is for the fun of it, you don’t need coaching. Paid professional coaching is only needed when you want to experience specific goals and you’ve tried on your own with limited to no success. If you are a person who is purpose driven and goal oriented, the sooner you find a coach, the better. It depends on what you want to accomplish.
Results based coaching takes time. Coaching is just as much for the parent as it is for the contestant. I find I spend more time answering questions and concerns the parents have than I do working with the contestants. If I’m working with an adult contestant, I still have to cover both the logistical aspects of the pageant, and the preparation skills. All involve my time. That’s why I won’t answer isolated questions. To achieve the best results, I need to have the whole picture.
The most time you will spend in the coaching relationship is in the beginning. Once you get a solid foundation, you may only need a session here and there. Professional pageant coaching does not have to break your budget. You will need different people at different times in your life. What will help you most is learning how to identify what you need, then finding the best person to fill that need.
Pageantry, when kept in its proper perspective, can be a very rewarding and beneficial experience.
