Confessions of a Pageant King

I help pageant queens win in pageantry AND in life.
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Pageant coaching and a healthy dose of pageant tea with Adrian Kwan, Founder of The Pageant Project. Over the last decade, Adrian has coached titleholders from every major pageant system including: Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss America, as well as interviewing over 350 pageant contestants from around the world. He is a qualified Tony Robbins life-coach, serial entrepreneur, and an Amazon Best-Selling Author. Adrian is currently based in Sydney, Australia. www.thepageantproject.com

  1. 2 days ago

    Is Pageantry Still Worth It?

    Win at pageants. And at life. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe It feels like it’s the peak of pageant season madness at the moment, and so there’s a good chance you’ve just finished competing, or are about to compete very soon. And, unless you’re competing in an incredibly small pageant (or one where the winner is appointed), there’s probably more than a ninety percent chance you’re going to lose. (Yes, in this case any result other than winning is counted as losing.) The question I’ve been asking myself recently, after seeing some of my clients endure some very painful losses: Is pageantry still worth it? I know I might be in a minority of one here as far as pageant coaches go, but something doesn’t feel right about encouraging you to pour your blood, sweat, and tears into something that has such a high chance of not being worth it. And before you get on your high horse, I’m well aware that we often say it’s about the journey and not the destination, and in pageant terms that means we should be focussed on the personal growth and connections we make. But let’s say that you spend somewhere between five and ten thousand dollars in total on your next pageant: gown, costumes, hair, makeup, travel, coaching, training, etc. (That’s a conservative estimate, by the way.) In terms of the “opportunities” that pageants supposedly give us, are we really so sure that we couldn’t create more opportunities for ourselves by using that money in other ways? * Living expenses whilst you take an unpaid internship toward your dream job * Travelling to do missionary work * Legal expenses to start up your non-profit * A business coach or software expenses to start up your side hustle We’re not living in the 2000s anymore. Your ability to create opportunity for yourself, as an individual, is greater than at any other point in human history. Between the internet, social media, and AI, you could quite literally teach yourself anything you want to know, or start a multi-million-dollar business overnight. Against that backdrop, what is the ‘opportunity’ that pageantry can give you that you wouldn’t be able to give yourself better, faster, and probably cheaper? For myself, there are two and only two reasons that genuinely make pageantry worth it in today’s world, not the world of twenty to thirty years ago. I allude to them in this week’s video, but the point isn’t to copy my reasons. The point is to find your own. And if you haven’t found them yet, keep looking. Maybe outside of pageantry. Adrian. The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero: 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645070327 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thepageantproject.com/subscribe

    Is Pageantry Still Worth It?

  2. 3 days ago

    [EP 359] HOLLY HUBER INTERVIEW: MISS ALASKA USA 2026

    We show you how to win at pageants and at life. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe ABOUT HOLLY HUBER After competing for nearly eight years, Holly Huber brought home the Miss Alaska USA title on June 28, 2026. Hailing from Juneau, she’s the first woman from her hometown to ever don this title. Holly’s pageant journey began when she was just two years old, taking the stage at a Sunburst Pageant in Red Lodge, Montana. Since then, she’s competed her entire life, most notably as Miss Alaska Volunteer and now, Miss Alaska USA. Her platform, “Stay Another Day” was founded in 2016 after she came home to find her own mother had made an attempt on her life, and her efforts were proven relevant once more when, in 2020, her brother died by suicide. Holly’s efforts have been taken nationwide as she serves on the board of Directors for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She’s lobbied with both state and federal agencies to ensure that Americans get access to mental health resources freely and without judgement. Now, she prepares to take the Miss USA stage and show everyone just what the last frontier has to offer. FOLLOW HOLLY HUBER 👉 https://www.instagram.com/kurramaas/ 👉 https://tiktok.com/@kurramaas The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero: 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645070327 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thepageantproject.com/subscribe

    [EP 359] HOLLY HUBER INTERVIEW: MISS ALASKA USA 2026

  3. 21 July

    Stop Looking for Your Edge Inside Pageantry

    Win at pageants. And at life. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe Your edge probably isn’t where everyone else is looking If you have just finished competing and did not get the result you wanted, there is a good chance your brain is already doing the thing pageant brains do. Planning the return. Maybe you are giving yourself a week. Maybe a month. Maybe you are pretending you are taking a break while quietly scheming your next move. I can respect that. But if you are serious about coming back better next year, think carefully about how you are going to prepare. Because if your plan is simply to do the same prep for next year as everyone else, with the same coaches, same advice, same mocks, same walking lessons, and same recycled pageant wisdom, I have a question: Why would that make you stand out? Pageantry has changed. Has your prep? The world has changed dramatically in the past five years. Social media has changed. AI has changed. Branding has changed. Communication has changed. The way people build influence, tell stories, share ideas, and create opportunity has changed. Pageantry is not separate from that. So if you are still getting the same advice that was being handed out five, ten, or twenty years ago, you need to ask yourself whether that advice is still enough. Some of it may be. Good advice is good advice. But if your entire strategy is built around what everyone in the pageant ecosystem already knows, you are probably not building an edge. You are building sameness. Pageant problems do not always need pageant solutions Need better interview? Get an interview coach. Need better walk? Get a runway coach. Need better wardrobe? Get a stylist. And yes, those things can help. But they are not the only options, and they may not be where your biggest breakthroughs come from. If you want to get better at interview, why would you only practise pageant interview? Start a podcast. Do straight-to-camera videos. Go live. Take acting classes. Try improv. Do public speaking. Put yourself in situations where you have to communicate, think, adjust, recover, and hold attention in real time. That is interview training. You are training the skill UNDERNEATH the skill. Do the thing that makes the pageant skill easier A great pageant interview is not just about answering questions. It is presence. Warmth. Timing. Listening. Storytelling. Persuasion. Self-awareness. The ability to think under pressure without becoming a robot. You can develop those things in coaching. But you can also develop them by hosting conversations, speaking on camera, doing theatre, performing stand-up, or learning how to keep an audience engaged. Same with runway. If you want a stronger walk, pageant runway coaching may help. But so might modelling. Dance. Ballet. Salsa. Anything that builds body awareness, rhythm, confidence, and comfort being seen. If you want to become truly fluent in a language, you don’t just take one lesson a week and call it a plan. You go live in the country for twelve months. So why are you treating pageant prep differently? Your coach should not be your only practice This is where a lot of contestants get it wrong. They say they are practising because they see their coach once a week. That is not enough. Coaching is not a substitute for practice. Coaching should help you see what to work on, correct what is not working, and check whether you are improving. But the actual improvement happens in the reps you do outside coaching. If interview scares you, do not hide inside comfortable coaching sessions. Speak on camera. Go live. Answer questions under pressure. Watch yourself back. Learn what your face does. Learn what your voice does. Learn what happens when your heart is in your throat and you still need to communicate clearly. That is the REAL game. Create an overlap no one else has The goal is not to make your practice random for the sake of being different. The goal is to build a COMBINATION of experiences that makes you genuinely harder to compare. Pageantry plus podcasting. Pageantry plus modelling. Pageantry plus acting. Pageantry plus stand-up. Pageantry plus sport. Pageantry plus leadership, media, music, business, dance, advocacy, or whatever else you bring to the table. That overlap becomes your edge. Not because you can say, “I am unique,” which means almost nothing. But because your preparation, confidence, presence, and perspective are coming from places your competitors may not be looking. If you are brand new, learn the fundamentals. But if you are already competitive and looking for the next level, stop assuming the answer is more of the same. You will not find your edge by copying the same prep path as everyone you are trying to beat. Try something different. Then make it count. Adrian. The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero: 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645070327 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thepageantproject.com/subscribe

    Stop Looking for Your Edge Inside Pageantry

  4. 20 July

    [EP 358] JOSEPHINE BØTTGER INTERVIEW: MISS WORLD DENMARK 2026

    We show you how to win at pageants and at life. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe ABOUT JOSEPHINE BØTTGER Josephine Bøttger, 25, is a professional ballet dancer and childcare worker from Denmark. After moving abroad alone at 17 to pursue her ballet career, she graduated from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and later joined Junior Ballet Antwerp in Belgium. Born with a congenital heart condition, Josephine is passionate about supporting children and families living with heart disease through her work with the Danish Heart Foundation’s Children’s Club. As Miss World Denmark, she hopes to inspire others by proving that our greatest challenges can become our greatest strength. FOLLOW JOSEPHINE BØTTGER 👉 https://www.instagram.com/josephinebottger/ The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero: 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645070327 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thepageantproject.com/subscribe

    [EP 358] JOSEPHINE BØTTGER INTERVIEW: MISS WORLD DENMARK 2026

  5. 19 July

    [EP 357] BRITTANY BOLTINHOUSE INTERVIEW: MISS NORTH CAROLINA USA 2026

    We show you how to win at pageants and at life. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe ABOUT BRITTANY BOLTINHOUSE Brittany Alondra Boltinhouse is Miss North Carolina USA 2026, a proud Latina woman with Honduran roots, entrepreneur, and community advocate. As a business owner in the flooring and turf industry, she is passionate about inspiring women to step into leadership, build confidence, and pursue their dreams regardless of their age, background, or past. What makes Brittany’s journey unique is that she had never competed in a pageant before earning the title of Miss North Carolina USA. Her experience is proof that you don’t have to wait until you feel qualified to chase a dream. She hopes her story reminds others that your past does not define you, experience should never limit your potential, and with faith, hard work, and the courage to take the first step, anything is possible. FOLLOW BRITTANY BOLTINHOUSE 👉 https://www.instagram.com/Espino.Sosa/ The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero: 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645070327 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thepageantproject.com/subscribe

    [EP 357] BRITTANY BOLTINHOUSE INTERVIEW: MISS NORTH CAROLINA USA 2026

  6. 14 July

    Stop Asking Everyone What They Think

    Win at pageants. And at life. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe Stop collecting opinions It’s crunch time. For some of you, your pageant is days away. For others, it’s close enough that every tiny detail now feels bigger than it probably should. That is exactly why you need to be careful about who you let inside your head. The final stretch before your pageant is NOT the time to ask ten more people what they think of your walk, wardrobe, platform, interview, onstage answer, hair, makeup, talent, opening statement, or entire existence. At some point, more input stops helping. It becomes noise. And if you keep listening to noise this close to your pageant, don’t be surprised when you cannot hear yourself think. Advice has an expiry date I’m not saying advice is bad. Obviously. I’m a coach. People pay me for my opinion. But timing matters. If someone had serious concerns about your preparation, the time to raise them was months ago. Not the night before. Not the week of. Not when you are already nervous, tired, emotional, and trying to hold yourself together. People love saying, “I’m only trying to help.” Fine. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If your “help” puts doubt into someone’s head right before she needs to perform, you’re not helping. You’re hurting. Stop outsourcing your brain Here is the bigger problem. Some contestants get so used to asking everyone else what they think that they stop developing their own judgment. They ask their coach. Their mum. Their director. Their pageant friends. Random people online. Then, when you ask them what they think, they say: “I don’t know.” No. I don’t believe that. You probably do know. You’ve just trained yourself to believe your opinion doesn’t count until someone else validates it. That is dangerous. Because when you are onstage, no one can think for you. When you are in interview, no one can sit beside you and whisper the “right” answer. At some point, you need to be able to say: This is what I think. This is what I want. This is what I’m doing. That does not mean you ignore good advice. It means you stop treating every outside opinion as gospel. A coach can see things you cannot see. A coach can challenge you. A coach can sharpen your strategy, interview, delivery, mindset, and preparation. But your coach is not God. If you are dependent on someone else to tell you what to think, what to wear, what to say, how to feel, and whether you are doing well, that is not confidence. That is dependence. And dependence does not make a strong titleholder. Lock in The closer you get to your pageant, the more selective you need to become. Not everyone gets access to your head. Not every comment needs to be processed, analysed, defended, debated, or cried over. Some of it is just chatter. “You should have been Top 2.” “The judges had no idea what they were doing.” “Your dress should have been different.” “Your answer was too much.” Noise. The more attention you give to that, the more unfocused you become. Your job in the final stretch is not to become available to every opinion. Your job is to lock in. Know what you have worked on. Know what you bring to the table. Know what you want to show. Know what kind of woman you want to be when you walk into that room. Then use that as your compass. Decide what you want Before your pageant, ask yourself: * What do I want to show the judges? * What energy do I want to bring? * What have I worked on hardest to improve? * Which voices help me perform better? * Which voices make me spiral? Then act accordingly. Listen to the people who make you clearer, calmer, stronger, and more prepared. Block out the people who make you doubt yourself. And yes, that might include people who love you. Love does not automatically make someone useful in your final stretch. Final thought Pageantry is subjective. Different panel, different day, different result. That does not mean preparation doesn’t matter. But if your only measure of success is the crown, you are putting yourself in a fragile position. The better question is: Did I become better through this process? More self-aware. More disciplined. More courageous. More articulate. More capable of thinking for yourself. That is the part no judging panel can take from you. So stop asking everyone what they think. Ask yourself what you want. Then lock in and go get it. Adrian. The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero: 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645070327 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thepageantproject.com/subscribe

    Stop Asking Everyone What They Think

  7. 7 July

    Stop Catastrophizing Before You Sabotage Your Pageant

    Win at pageants. And at life. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe Stop turning one bad mock into a disaster I made this video because one of my private clients is competing in her dream pageant in roughly two weeks. She has worked hard for close to six months. She has practised. She has improved. She has put in the time. Then she had one mock interview that she felt went badly. And suddenly, in her mind, everything was falling apart. No. That is catastrophizing. One bad mock does not erase six months of work. But panicking over it can absolutely stop you from accessing the skills you have built. That is the real danger. You did not suddenly forget how to interview If you have genuinely worked on a skill for six months, you have improved. You may not perform perfectly every time. You may have an off day. You may get nervous. You may tighten up under pressure. But you did not suddenly lose the skill overnight. Unless you hit your head and developed retrograde amnesia, your interview ability is still there. The issue is not always skill. Sometimes the issue is that you are so far inside your own head that you can no longer access the skill. That happens in sport all the time. Athletes train brilliantly, then fall apart under pressure. The ability did not disappear. Their state changed. And if your performance suddenly gets worse two weeks before the pageant, that timing is not random. The pageant is closer. The stakes feel higher. You are making it bigger in your head. Stop making one bad performance mean everything A bad mock means you had a bad mock. That is it. It does not mean: * you are hopeless at interview * your preparation has failed * you are not ready * you have wasted six months * you are going to lose You are the one adding that meaning. And once you do, you create a much bigger problem. Now you are practising from fear. You are questioning everything. You are adding more talking points. You are trying to control every sentence. You are rehearsing harder while becoming less natural. Then you wonder why interview feels worse. You are allowed one freak-out. Cry. Rant. Complain. Be dramatic for five minutes. Then stop. Because catastrophizing is not preparation. It is emotional self-sabotage. More practice may make it worse Your first instinct will probably be: I need to practise more. Maybe you do. But if you have already been practising constantly, more of the same may be exactly what you do not need. If the problem is pressure, repeating more answers in a comfortable room will not fix it. If the problem is overthinking, adding more notes will not fix it. If the problem is exhaustion, another late-night practice session will not fix it. If the problem is that you have made the pageant feel like life or death, memorising another talking point will not fix it. Stop automatically assuming the answer is more work. You need to work on the right problem. Ask yourself: * Was I tired? * Was I distracted? * Did one question throw me off? * Was I trying to remember too much? * Have I practised only when I feel comfortable? * Have I made this pageant so important that I can no longer think properly? That is diagnosis. “I just need to practise harder” is not diagnosis. If pressure is the problem, practise pressure Once you understand the cause, do something specific. If pressure makes you freeze, introduce pressure into practice. If one type of question rattles you, practise that type of question. If you are too rehearsed, stop scripting and learn to talk. If you are distracted by something happening in your life, deal with it or learn to compartmentalise. If you are exhausted, fix your sleep, food, and recovery. Do not keep hammering away at interview mechanics when the real problem is psychological. This is why I keep saying pageantry is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics. Your talking points do not matter if panic stops you from accessing them. Your preparation does not matter if you convince yourself it has all been pointless. Your skill does not matter if you turn the interview into a threat. Interview is not life or death You cannot communicate well when you are treating every answer like a survival test. When your brain thinks you are under threat, it does not care about warmth, connection, humour, or persuasion. It wants to escape. That is why you freeze, rush, ramble, forget obvious things, or give answers that sound nothing like you. The contestants who interview best are not usually the ones trying hardest to be perfect. They are the ones who enjoy communicating. They prepare. They practise. They watch themselves back. They confront their weaknesses. But they do not walk into the room thinking the judges are there to execute them. They talk. They connect. They persuade. What to do now After a bad mock: * Stop catastrophizing. * Work out what actually went wrong. * Fix that specific problem. That is it. Do not turn one bad performance into your identity. Do not tell yourself the entire pageant is over. Do not spend the next two weeks panicking and call it preparation. The mock did not erase your ability. The panic might stop you from using it. The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero: 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645070327 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thepageantproject.com/subscribe

    Stop Catastrophizing Before You Sabotage Your Pageant

  8. 6 July

    Peyton's Miss Volunteer America Debrief

    Win at pageants and at life. Start your journey for free by clicking the button below: Peyton’s back from Miss Volunteer America 2026 where she placed second runner-up, and tells us all about her experience, including winning preliminary talent, and the lessons she learnt along the way. --Pageants & Tangents is an irreverential and honest take on modern-day pageantry, hosted by Adrian Kwan, Founder of The Pageant Project.Got a pageant issue or question you want us to discuss? Submit it here: 👉 https://pageantpod.com OUR CO-HOSTS: Morgan Morgan: 👉 https://www.instagram.com/morganmorganbonafide/ 👉 https://www.morganmorganfitness.com/ Peyton Christen: 👉 https://www.instagram.com/peytonkaynec/ 👉 https://www.instagram.com/missgavol/ Kenzie Hansley: 👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenziehansleyy/ 👉 https://www.instagram.com/kenzieleecoachingg/ Geanna Koulouris: 👉 https://www.instagram.com/geannakoulouris/ For all media and sponsorship enquiries: 👉 info@thepageantproject.com “The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry” - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thepageantproject.com/subscribe

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About

Pageant coaching and a healthy dose of pageant tea with Adrian Kwan, Founder of The Pageant Project. Over the last decade, Adrian has coached titleholders from every major pageant system including: Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss America, as well as interviewing over 350 pageant contestants from around the world. He is a qualified Tony Robbins life-coach, serial entrepreneur, and an Amazon Best-Selling Author. Adrian is currently based in Sydney, Australia. www.thepageantproject.com

Information

  • Creator
    I help pageant queens win in pageantry AND in life.
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    588
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The Pageant Project
  • Show Website
    Confessions of a Pageant King