World Class Beauty Queens Magazine would like to welcome amazing Queen Tionna Kay Petramalo International Ms USA 2019.
Full name: Tionna Kay Petramalo
Title/Year: International Ms USA 2019
Pageant System: International Ms Pageant
Age: 28
Zodiac sign: Pisces
Hobbies: Starcycle, hiking being outdoors adventuring, traveling, modeling, decorating and arts/crafts
Platform: Women Empowerment, empowering women that no matter where they start from they can design a life they love
Years competed: One year
Countries visited: France
Likes: Tacos, Donuts, Goal setting, Starcycle, spending time with my babies and hanging out with my friends & family.
Dislikes: Celery
Status: Single mother of two
World Class Beauty Queens: Please tell us about yourself.
I am a single mom of two precious beautiful babies. My story is about six years ago after I had my first child, finances were tough. I so desperately wanted to stay home and raise my boy but finances wouldn't allow. At that time we had 10k in credit card debt, we were a single car family and there wasn't enough money in a month to even pay the bills much less buy food and diapers. We were on food stamps, WIC checks, and government support. Until, I remember a pivotal moment standing in the grocery line at checkout handing over my WIC checks and looking down at my baby boy in his car seat and I knew, he deserved a better life and I was going to create exactly that. My Liehm was my WHY at the time and sure enough with lots of hard work and prayer I found an opportunity to work from home, built an empire, paid off all of the credit card debt, as well as was able to go purchase my dream car in cash and from there built and designed my dream home. Which leads me to where I am today. I started with MultiLevelMarketing as the vehicle and that helped me begin my dream of owning Realestate and starting my very own rental property business called Petramalo Properties LLC. I am currently a multiple business owner starting them from the ground up and also just recently started my very own non profit called Bloom & Grace Project.
World Class Beauty Queens: What does women Empowerment means to you?
Women empowerment means to me women realizing their worth, their identity and stepping into their highest good. When we believe in ourselves we truly are unstoppable and can accomplish anything we set our mind too. I truly believe that what we believe, what we speak out into existence and what we manifest we create. The power of our words and mind are so powerful. We have within us amazing strengths and the power to rise up and accomplish incredible things.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your pageant history.
My pageant history consists of one year and one competition.
World Class Beauty Queens: What inspired you to do your first pageant?
What inspired me to do my first pageant was I went to Cornerstone Christian school and watched a friend of mine Katelyn Cox do pageants and I was inspired. Not to mention watching Miss. Congeniality I loved the idea of being the odd duck doing something that I have never done before, conquering fears, stepping out in bold faith and trying something new. So since middle school it was a dream of mine to compete, however at the time I was involved in so many other curricular activities pageants fell to the weigh side. Until a dear friend of mine Amanda Renee reached out to me asking if I had ever thought about doing pageants and that the International Ms Pageant was looking for a International Ms Oregon 2019, so I applied and was blessed and honored with that title. With that on my first pageant ever I was honored and crowned after competing in New York as, International Ms. USA.
World Class Beauty Queens: Why did you choose to compete for your current title?
I chose to compete for my current title because it was a childhood dream of mine and when I realized it wasn't too late and I wasn't too old I knew it was my time. So I applied for the title International Ms. Oregon 2019, and got the title. Then went on to compete in NewYork at my very first pageant. I gave it everything I had with this pageant system and it aligned with where I was at in life with business, success and starting with nothing and designing something. I lended up leaving with the title International Ms. USA. That will forever be a day I never forget.
World Class Beauty Queens: To those unfamiliar with your pageant system please tell us what is it about?
The International Ms system is connecting women of enterprise and elegance of the highest caliber in the world. It is the #1 ranked national/International pageant for Ms./Mrs contestants age 26-29 by pageant planet, the worlds most respected pageant resource.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are you being judged on during the competition?
During the competition we were judged on our enterprise, achievements, platform and mission all while competing and being rated on our intro video, multimedia, photogenic, interview, runway, resort wear, evening gown and on-stage question.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your experience during the competition.
My experience during the competition was one of the best experiences of my life. One being around such an incredible group of high caliber women who are not only beautiful on the outside but the inside as well and strong, smart & extremely self motivated. Not to mention the adventures you go on all together exploring and building such a sister hood bond. The competition in general is challenging, exhilarating and such a fun hard experience. Its one of those things I highly recommend every girl to do at least once in their life.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your platform or what cause do you volunteer for.
My platform is all about helping others dream, believe and achieve. Leading by example showing others no matter where you start from you can design a life you love. I was that girl who was at the checkout stand with WIC checks, food stamps and on government support with credit card debt and went from nothing to building empire businesses from the ground up. I currently work from home and have had full freedom of time and retired myself from corporate American at the young age of 21.
World Class Beauty Queens: What appearances have you done with your title?
Appearances I have done with my title thus far include but not limited to St. Paul Rodeo, Judged Miss Earth USA 2019 pageant in Vegas, Kentucky Derby at Portland International Raceway, served & volunteered with Girls Inc. as well as some walk/runs and planning to do more before the year is up.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are some of your achievements?
Some of my achievements throughout the year have been being awarded Best Female Cover Model 1st place enchanted anthologies 2018 awards, awarded with over 30 modeling book cover modeling covers, as well as am the founder and starter of my very own non profit, Bloom & Grace Project.
World Class Beauty Queens: What is your on stage strategy to win the judges over?
What my strategy was to win the judges over, in all honesty was to just fully be myself. To be yourself is to be so rooted in yourself that you love yourself flaws and all. I knew my story, where I came from and what I had created. I just couldn't wait to show up and share all that was me. I always say your superpower is that "You are you, and no one else is you." We are all beautiful and special in our own unique ways. But true beauty is when we recognize that we are unique, lose the comparison and just step up in confidence about all that we are, that there is no one other person who is like you. So I arrived and was just fully myself, confident, happy, strong and knowing that my story already has helped inspire others and that I was going to win so that my story could be even more of a testimony to inspire others both in business and life.
World Class Beauty Queens: What makes you stand out from all those other beautiful girls?
What made me stand out from all the other beautiful girls, was again that no one else is or was me. We all are queens, we all are beautiful, we all have a different journey and story. But when we truly embrace all that we are, I believe that is true rare beauty. I think its something so special you can even see about people in the way they hold themselves, talk and look. I call it their sparkle. The thing that made me stand out was my unconditional love for myself, confidence, strength, preparedness down to every last detail and lastly my sparkle.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about the moment your name was called out as the winner.
The moment my name was called, is and forever will be one of the best moments of my life. Here is the thing, I knew I was going to win and not for fame but for all the glory to be to God. I put everything I had into prepping and knew I was so ready and was giving it everything I had. Every detail of my clothing reflected my personality and was colorful, I even hired a pageant coach, Kristen Dalton with the Sparkle Effect to make sure I was fully prepared. So as I prepped for this pageant, I was claiming, manifesting and writing down that I was going to win. It was just a calling on my heart and I knew that it was my time to share my testimony and story with others in an even bigger way and this platform would help that. I didn't doubt it, I just trusted it and was myself just sparkling. I won't ever forget that feeling of being called into top ten, then top five, and then top three and then being crowned International Ms USA. I dropped to the floor in amazement of God and his love and pointed up to the sky to give him glory.
World Class Beauty Queens: What does it mean to you to be a Beauty Queen?
What it means to me to be a beauty queen honestly is less about outward appearance and has everything to do with inner beauty. Its all about the heart, being genuine, being yourself, being confident, loving yourself flaws and all, being strong & empowering and having that sparkle effect where people are drawn to your positivity, light and love.
World Class Beauty Queens: How did competing in pageants helped your life?
I have only competed in one pageant in my life but I can say it was an incredible experience and it impacted my life. So much goes into prepping for such an experience, you can't just possibly show up. Pageant prep takes a lot of hard work and dedication. You aren't just competing when you arrive its a whole process throughout the year during your reign, with community service & involvement. The International Pageant system specifically opened up new doors for me. I was awarded with new awards, built new friendships and even me as a dreamer already helped me to dream even bigger and achieve much larger things. Being apart of pageants helps you push even more forward and help foster goals and teach more discipline.
World Class Beauty Queens: How did pageants helped your self-esteem and body image?
How being apart of International Ms helped my self esteem and body image was it opened the door for me to dive in deeper of what it meant to fully love myself and be confident. I sought out pageant coaching with Kristen Dalton and it was incredible diving in the scripture together learning about how God loves each of us, how he designed us, building a more intimate relationship with Him, Spending more time with Him, being able to realize the truths and not listen to the lies and what it means to truly sparkle. Not to mention it was very empowering doing a pageant for the first time and stepping into the unknown and doing something I have never had experienced or done before.
World Class Beauty Queens: You are an inspiration to all the girls out there. How does it feel?
How it feels to be an inspiration to all girls out there is a huge honor I don’t take lightly. Its something I really value being able to show girl power, leadership and overcoming especially being a single mom.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for learning better pageant walk?
My tips for learning better pageant walk is to walk in front of a mirror. It helps to be able to see yourself, see how your body moves and find your favorite and most flattering angles. Plus have fun with it making it unique to you. It is even beneficial in order to get better at something to have someone who you look up too in pageantry give you advice or criticism or even hire someone. I personally had never walked for a pageant system before International Ms so I had my pageant coach Kristen Dalton FaceTime me and give me a few pointers and tips that worked well for me.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for choosing right pageant dress?
My tips for choosing the right pageant dress would be to really imagine yourself walking that stage. Think about how it feels, your surroundings and ask ourself what color do you see yourself in. From there look for dresses in that color that are most flattering to your body type whether that be strapless or off the shoulder or ball down whatever speaks to you and makes you feel beautiful. Have fun with it but when picking one find something that speaks to you and really showcases your personality.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for winning interview?
My tips for winning interview is too study prior. I Personally would go onto PageantPlanet on Instagram and their website & practice common questions they would ask. I also prepared with my pageant coach having her ask me mock questions so I could have an idea of what I would say and also practice how I would react if I was stumped. But I wrote down some clear thoughts and things I specifically wanted to mention and got very precise and clear so nothing would be a broad answer but very specific to me, my platform and mission.
World Class Beauty Queens: How did you prepare for your competition?
How I prepared for my competition was I actually started the moment I was honored with my first title of International Ms. Oregon. I immediately started working on my intro video, started planning what color theme my outfits would be and hired a pageant coach. A pageant competition takes a lot of preparation and it can be very obvious those who prepared and those who didn’t. I highly recommend in pageantry find those you look up too and watch what they do or find a coach you can connect with. Putting yourself around those will teach you and you can emulate how to be yourself but present your full package to the best of your ability.
World Class Beauty Queens: What is one mistake that you've done during competing you wish you could redo and fix it?
One mistake that I did during competition that I wish I could re-do and fix honestly wouldn’t be anything. I truly put my heart and soul into every piece of the competition and had fun while doing it. I came in fully prepared and even when just spending quality sister Queen time bonding with the other incredible ladies, I still was in full competition mode because you never know who is watching. The moment you step onto the airport you are in the public eye and it all begins. I wouldn’t have changed anything about my pageant competing experience.
World Class Beauty Queens: What other mistakes are made by girls during the contest?
Mistakes I saw other girls make during the contest was not being professional throughout the whole experience. It is very easy to be having a good time and get caught up taking pictures and selfies. But I had to remind myself at all times the public eye is watching us with our sashes on and we are a representation of International Ms Pageant system. Everyone did an incredible job just one mistake I would always encourage people to really be aware of is how often you have your phone out for pictures. Plus you never know when a judge has their eyes on you.
World Class Beauty Queens: Any modeling or acting experience?
Yes, I have both modeling and acting experience. As a child I did some musical theatre shows including; Charlie & the chocolate factory, Wizard of Oz, as well as Willy Wonka. In Middle school I was apart of a footloose musical production with multiple lead role parts including singing & dancing. As well as in Highshool I took a musical theatre acting class. As far as modeling this last year I really took on book cover modeling and sold around 25+ book covers and become an Internationally published book cover model. I was also awarded with an award, Best Female Book cover model 1st place by vote from Enchanted Anthologies.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your plans for 2019 as a Queen?
My plans to finish out my reign as International Ms USA 2019 is to really pour into my new non profit Bloom & Grace Project and really get its name out there with fundraising, workshops and looking for donations to really make an impact and reach out to others. My passion is to make a difference and leave a legacy behind, I have always dreamed of the ripple affect and having many people involved in showing & reminding others what they are capable of and of their worth. As well as continuing to do lots of my volunteer service with both kids and women based around my platform of self worth, confidence, dreaming and achieving goals in life being a testimony to no matter where you start from you can design a life you love and dream of.
World Class Beauty Queens: What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
A legacy I want to leave behind is when people hear my name they think of LOVE, HOPE, and GOD! I want to be a testimony that even through the darkest of days there is hope and that you are rare, valuable, loved, worthy, cherished and capable of big things. Thats what began my dream of beginning my non profit Bloom & Grace Project to be able to reach out to more people and have more people involved. Things are always better when you power together. I am so excited to see what more together we can do for the community and others helping people to dream, believe, achieve, sparkle, step into their highest good, see their worth, walk in faith and to realize those dreams they have on their heart are there for a reason & they have everything within them already to achieve it. I won’t stop living to leave a legacy for both my two babies who watch me everyday but also for helping others and making a difference in this world.
International Director: Laura Clark
National Director: Laura Clark
Your Local Director: Laura Clark
Pageant website: www.InternationalMsPageant.com World Class Beauty Queens Magazine would like to say thank you for this amazing interview.
Tionna Kay Petramalo International Ms USA 2019, World Class Beauty Queens Magazine, Photo by Bret Josephs Photography
Interview by Derek Tokarzewski Owner/Editor in Chief Mr United Nations 2018 Platform: Women Empowerment Ambassador to International Foundation for Orphans iffocares.org
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