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. Should You Apply for the Miss/Teen USA Open Call?

    3D AGO

    Should You Apply for the Miss/Teen USA Open Call?

    High-performance pageant coaching, shared weekly. Trusted by 350+ titleholders in Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss America, and beyond. This isn’t theory. It’s what works. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe -- What’s the worst thing that could happen? Not in a vague, motivational-poster kind of way. Actually answer the question. You submit a headshot and don’t make it through?Okay. At least you tried. You make it through one round and get cut later?Still, you gave it a go. You make it all the way through and get picked?Then suddenly you’re preparing for Miss USA or Miss Teen USA in Miami during the 75th anniversary year. That is not exactly a tragic outcome. The bigger issue, in my opinion, is that a lot of contestants are trying to make this decision without first getting clear on what they actually want. * Do you want to win your specific state title? * Do you want to compete on the Miss USA stage? * Do you want more “at bats” before you age out? * Do you want the clean, traditional route, or do you want the opportunity that exists in front of you right now? Those are not always the same thing. And when contestants feel stuck, it’s usually because two values are colliding: loyalty, tradition, opportunity, timing, identity, public perception, fear of judgment, unfinished dreams. That’s why this isn’t just a pageant logistics conversation. It’s a values conversation. In this week’s video, I break down: * Why I’d tell most contestants to apply * The one major exception * Why Texas is the trickiest situation * The difference between your dream and your “blueprint” * Why waiting for the perfect path can quietly cost you opportunities * And why “what will people say?” is a terrible way to make life decisions Because the sentence that keeps people up at night usually isn’t: “I tried and it didn’t work.” It’s: “I wonder what would have happened if I had.” Watch the full video above. Especially if you’re sitting on the fence. 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

    31 min
  2. #344 EDEN RAINEY INTERVIEW: MISS WEST TENNESSEE VOLUNTEER 2026

    3D AGO

    #344 EDEN RAINEY INTERVIEW: MISS WEST TENNESSEE VOLUNTEER 2026

    High-performance pageant coaching, shared weekly. Trusted by 350+ titleholders in Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss America, and beyond. This isn’t theory. It’s what works. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe 👑 ABOUT EDEN RAINEY Eden Rainey is a graduate of Union University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology, and is a licensed cosmetologist specializing in pageant hair and makeup. Through her professional experience, she has had the opportunity to mentor young women, helping them build confidence and discover their true sense of self-worth. She currently holds the title of Miss West Tennessee Volunteer, where she actively serves through her platform, Empowerment Garden: Cultivating Healthy Lives and Building Strong Foundations by Planting Seeds of Change. Her platform focuses on empowering individuals through education as a foundation for success, while also supporting those in need by providing essential resources that equip them to thrive. With a unique blend of experience in science, beauty, leadership, and service, Eden is deeply committed to empowering others, promoting education, and making a meaningful impact in her community. 👉 FOLLOW EDEN RAINEY https://www.instagram.com/misswesttnvolunteer/ Looking to win your next pageant interview? We hold weekly mock interview sessions on Thursday evenings at 8pm ET. Sign up at: 👉 https://pageantmock.com 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

    51 min

  3. 4D AGO

    Pageant Horror Stories

    High-performance pageant coaching, shared weekly. Trusted by 350+ titleholders in Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss America, and beyond. This isn’t theory. It’s what works. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe We asked you to share your pageant horror stories, and you guys delivered. From wardrobe malfunctions to prison sentences, this episode really does have it all.--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/ 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: 👉 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

    1h 23m

  4. 5D AGO

    Learning to Stand Up for Yourself

    High-performance pageant coaching, shared weekly. Trusted by 350+ titleholders in Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss America, and beyond. This isn’t theory. It’s what works. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com It’s almost a guarantee that, at some point during your pageant journey, you’ll need to make a decision on whether to stand up for yourself, or to keep your head down and continue to roll with the punches. And it can be difficult to decide when to take Option A, and when to take Option B. For those who don’t know better, it might seem simpler than that - just do what’s expected of you, do the right thing, and everything will work out… right? Unfortunately, learning to navigate the world of pageantry often involves navigating around certain unspoken taboos, and running aground on them can derail your pageant career faster than a broken heel. -- 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: 👉 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

    1h 13m
  5. #343 RACHEL BETTERLEY INTERVIEW: MISS NORTH MINNESOTA USA 2026

    5D AGO

    #343 RACHEL BETTERLEY INTERVIEW: MISS NORTH MINNESOTA USA 2026

    High-performance pageant coaching, shared weekly. Trusted by 350+ titleholders in Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss America, and beyond. This isn’t theory. It’s what works. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe 👑 ABOUT RACHEL BETTERLEY Rachel Betterley is a multifaceted artist, award winning art educator, and influential voice in creative leadership. A Minnesota Teacher of the Year finalist, Rachel champions inclusive, choice based pedagogy and builds innovative programs, presentations, and coaching that inspire students and communities to create, connect, and grow. Driven by childhood adversity, she founded Sketchbooks for Kids — a healing arts project that has delivered sketchbook sets to thousands of youth across 25+ U.S. states and 12 countries. By equipping children facing trauma, abuse, financial hardship, or mental health challenges with tools to express themselves, Rachel and her partners foster emotional wellness, resilience, and hope through art. Rachel also leverages the pageant stage to amplify the transformative power of creative expression. Her “art of pageantry” mindset celebrates authenticity, confidence, community, and female led artistry — a journey that earned her multiple titles and most recently 1st Runner Up, Miss Minnesota USA 2025. Through storytelling filled with resilience, humor, and relatability, she reaches audiences across news outlets, podcasts, and social platforms. 👉 FOLLOW RACHEL BETTERLEY * https://www.instagram.com/rachelbetterley/ * https://www.instagram.com/sketchbooksforkids/ 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

    1h 18m
  6. #342 PAIGE GONOR INTERVIEW: MISS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ALL AMERICAN 2026

    5D AGO

    #342 PAIGE GONOR INTERVIEW: MISS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ALL AMERICAN 2026

    High-performance pageant coaching, shared weekly. Trusted by 350+ titleholders in Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss America, and beyond. This isn’t theory. It’s what works. Start your journey for free: 👉 https://thepageantproject.com/subscribe 👑 ABOUT PAIGE GONOR Paige Gonor is currently Miss Southern California All American and a rising junior at the University of San Diego studying Communication with a minor in Real Estate. She is passionate about media, connecting with people, and using her voice to make a meaningful impact.She began competing in pageants at just eight years old, growing up in an environment that shaped her confidence, discipline, and sense of self. Over the years, pageantry has played a huge role in helping her find her voice and step into leadership in her own way.Paige is also the founder of Turning the Paige, a platform focused on empowering the next generation of young female leaders to think different, be different, and act different so they can create change in their communities. Through school visits, mentorship, and empowerment seminars she shares mindset tools that help young women build confidence and believe in themselves.Outside of pageantry, Paige works in luxury hospitality, where she has developed a strong foundation in high level service and professionalism. She also has experience in runway, print, and promotional modeling. She has a passion for fitness, spending much of her time staying active or in the gym and focusing on a healthy lifestyle. As a certified Lagree instructor, she loves helping others feel strong and confident. Paige aspires to pursue a career in sports broadcasting, with the goal of becoming a sideline reporter. 👉 FOLLOW PAIGE GONOR https://www.instagram.com/paigegonor/ 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

    58 min
  7. Crown Inflation: What Is It and Why Should You Care?

    MAY 12

    Crown Inflation: What Is It and Why Should You Care?

    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 -- In this week’s video, I talked about a phenomenon I’ve been noticing more and more in pageantry over the last decade: crown inflation. Ten years ago, it would’ve been unthinkable for a single state pageant to crown five separate titleholders in one night. Today, it’s becoming normal. More systems. More appointed titles. More international crowns. But if the industry is shrinking… why are there suddenly more titles than ever? And perhaps more importantly: If everyone can win a crown, what actually still holds value? In this video, I break down: * What “crown inflation” is * Why I think it’s happening and * Why contestants need to become more selective than ever about the systems they enter Until next week. Adrian. -- Looking to win your next pageant interview? We hold weekly mock interview sessions on Thursday evenings at 8pm ET. Sign up at: 👉 https://pageantmock.com 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

    21 min
  8. The 3 Edicts of Title-Winning Pageant Paperwork 🏆

    MAY 5

    The 3 Edicts of Title-Winning Pageant Paperwork 🏆

    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 Must be pageant paperwork season. Recently, I’ve been getting so many requests from my private coaching clients asking me to take a look at their paperwork, I think they’ve all started blending into one. (Quick note: there’s a noticeable trend toward using introduction videos or sizzle reels to either complement or replace traditional pageant paperwork. The 3 Edicts we’re discussing here apply to both a video script and the more traditional paperwork.) Before you start working on any aspect of your pageant preparation or ask any external party for feedback, it’s a good idea to remind yourself of what your end goal is. The simplest example is the talent section. Many of you fall into the trap of thinking that the end goal of talent is to perform flawlessly, whereas I would argue that a better goal would be to get a standing ovation. The former is based on your need for perfection. The latter is based on forming an emotional connection with the audience. The former doesn’t affect your score. The latter very much does. In a similar vein, many of you think the goal of your paperwork or your introductory video is to impress. You cram in as many qualifications, achievements, miles travelled, dollars raised, and appearances made as possible into the meager word limit you’re allowed. Let me give you a different possibility. The goal of your paperwork should be to control your interview. Specifically, you know your paperwork is doing its job properly when you get asked the perfect questions in interview. That doesn’t mean you get asked easy questions by the way, it means that you get asked the perfect setup questions to show the judges why you’re their absolute best pick to be the next titleholder. Without further ado, here are The 3 Edicts of great pageant paperwork: * Only include things you’re excited to talk about. * Remove everything you’re NOT excited to talk about. * If there’s anything you DO want to talk about that’s not currently on your paperwork, find a way to include it! Most of you already have great paperwork that’s free from spelling and grammatical errors. That won’t win you a damn thing. But if you make just a few minor tweaks based on The 3 Edicts, you just might be surprised at how well your next interview goes, and that could win you the whole shebang. Until next week. Adrian. Looking to win your next pageant interview? We hold weekly mock interview sessions on Thursday evenings at 8pm ET. Sign up at: 👉 https://pageantmock.com 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

    23 min
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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
    556
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The Pageant Project
  • Show Website
    Confessions of a Pageant King

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