DRIVEN TO HELP
SIERA BEARCHELL DRAWS ON HER OWN PERSONAL SUCCESS TO HELP MANY OTHERS
Siera Bearchell draws on her own experiences to help others.
After losing her home to a fire as a teenager, she became an advocate for the Red Cross, which was instrumental in her own family getting back on its feet. After experiencing online harassment and body shaming during her run to becoming Miss Universe Canada, Bearchell has become a vocal anti-bullying advocate, speaking to young people about loving who they are and respecting others.
“That has been the most rewarding, speaking to young people,” Bearchell says.
With her reign as Miss Universe Canada over, Bearchell is now focused on finishing her law degree, with a specialization in Indigenous law. Here too Bearchell, who is Metis, hopes to help others and be an advocate for those who aren’t able to speak for themselves.
“Siera is a leader. She doesn’t follow anyone,” Karrie Jameson, who taught Bearchell in high school, says.
Bearchell continues to travel and speak, even as she completes her law studies. Wherever her professional career goes, she says she will continue to try to inspire others with her story.
“As long as I can share my story with others and identify with them, that’s something I’ll always be involved with,” she says.
grew up in Moose Jaw. “It’s still home. It will always be home,” she says.
She says living in a smaller city instilled “small town values” in her. It also meant that, as she worked her way toward the world stage in pageants, she felt a real sense of the community rallying around her.
“If I grew up in a bigger city like Calgary or Toronto I wouldn’t have had that same support,” Bearchell says.
Her first foray into advocacy started with a scary incident on a cold February night. Bearchell, who was 16 at the time, was awakened around midnight by a fire alarm going off. She says she didn’t take it seriously at first — there had been false alarms before — but she went downstairs to be sure.
“I found my mom trying to put out a fire at the end of the couch,” Bearchell says.
more’ Me sharing my story turned into public speaking. I spoke at a couple schools, then they asked me to speak at events and it just kind of snowballed. — Bearchell
It didn’t look too serious at first, but Bearchell went and got her phone to call 911. By the time the call was done the fire had spread, blocking one of the exits from the home. She and her mother scrambled to get the family dog before getting out safe. She remembers running out into thigh-high snow.
“Everything ended up being fine in terms of us and our health, but of course seeing your home and all your things literally burned to a crisp is a really weird experience,” she says.
Bearchell says the Red Cross was incredibly helpful in the aftermath of the fire. She and her family were put up in a hotel and provided with short-term essentials. The community also helped out, raising money for essential furniture once the family had settled into a new place.
“It made us appreciate family, friends, community just that much more,” she says.
Bearchell appreciated the help from the Red Cross so much that she became a spokesperson. She travelled the province talking to people about emergency preparedness and the importance of the non-profit organization.
“My main goal going in was, ‘How can I use my experience to help others going through the same thing?’ ” she says.
It was also her first real experience with public speaking.
“It kind of worked naturally. Me sharing my story turned into public speaking. I spoke at a couple schools, then they asked me to speak at more events and it just kind of snowballed,” she says.
She had a background as a dancer, so was comfortable in front of crowds, but she says learning to connect with audiences became invaluable once she began her pageant career.
Her former teacher Jameson says the move to advocacy was a natural one for Bearchell. Jameson says Bearchell was always driven to make the world a better place.
“She just kind of focused on, I know this is going to sound cliché, but on changing the world and being a better person,” Jameson says.
Bearchell’s first entry into the pageant world was an extension of her Red Cross work. She heard about the Miss Teen Saskatchewan pageant and thought that success would give her a bigger audience for her advocacy.
Coming in with no prior experience, she wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. some of the stereotypes
“I was never a pageant girl. I didn’t really know what I was doing. But I think that gave me an advantage, in the sense that I was just enjoying the experience, being myself and seeing what could happen,” she says.
She had heard the stereotypes — nightmare parents, competitors making each other’s lives miserable — but says her experience was nothing like that, from her early teen pageants right through to Miss Universe.
“The sense of family and sisterhood among the people involved is like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” Bearchell says.
She was crowned Miss Teen Saskatchewan, then Miss Teen Canada, then went on to take second runner-up at the world competition.
After high school Bearchell decided to go to the University of Saskatchewan. She says she loves her home province too much to have gone somewhere else. She spent her first two years studying science before deciding to pursue other things.
Meanwhile she was getting the pageant bug again. As Miss Teen Canada she had been able to travel a lot, including a trip to Kenya where she helped build a school. The experience motivated her to try again at the next level.
“I got to do all these cool things,” she says. “What could I potentially do with Miss Universe?”
She competed in Miss Universe Canada for the first time in 2013 and was the first runnerup. She says it was a good result, but her competitive side wasn’t satisfied.
Bearchell returned to school, trying out business before finding that law was her real passion. She says she was attracted by a whole new way to potentially help others.
“Law allows you to be an advocate for others,” she says.
Over the course of her first two years she gradually became interested in Indigenous law. She admits her Metis heritage did not play a big role in her early family life, but says it is something she has connected with more as she got older and learned about her family history.
“What did my Grandpa do? What were our practices? It’s something I embrace more now, with a greater understanding,” she says.
Bearchell says Indigenous law becomes more relevant all the time as Aboriginal issues gain more and more mainstream exposure. In particular, she says she wants to focus on land entitlement and how communities can leverage their treaty rights to increase prosperity.
“What can Indigenous communities do with the land they have to prosper on their own?” she says.
In 2016, while still studying law, she decided to take another shot at miss Universe. She won the Canadian title and went on to finish in the top nine at the world competition in the Philippines. It was during this run that Bearchell started experiencing harassment online. She would post pictures of herself on Instagram and be amazed at the vitriol some of the commenters displayed.
“People criticized me about my body. People called me fat, overweight, told me I was promoting obesity and all kind of things,” she says.
She knew the comments were ridiculous. She had run a marathon just days before competing for the Canadian Miss Universe title. Even so, she saw the potential harm such comments could cause, especially for younger girls.
“I wanted to make sure the young women who looked at my social media, and maybe looked up to me in some way, didn’t think, ‘If they’re saying that about her, what are they saying about me?’ ” she says.
In the weeks leading up to the world competition, she made several posts on Instagram calling out the negativity.
“I am first to say I am not as lean as I was when I was 16, 20, or even last year, but I am more confident, capable, wise, humble and passionate than ever before,” one of them said.
She wrote about having, in the past, starved herself chasing an unrealistic standard. She responded to people who criticized her supposed lack of “discipline.”
“It takes discipline to be true to ourselves in a world that is constantly trying to shape us into something we are not,” she wrote.
She wanted to be heard, but didn’t expect the reaction that followed. Once she was in the Philippines her phone started blowing up. Her story was shared by CNN, Vogue, Time and more.
“One post was viewed millions of times. I didn’t imagine that happening, but it ended up being great, in that I was able to stand for something greater,” she says.
Bearchell took the next year of law school off to focus on her responsibilities as Miss Universe Canada. Thanks to the attention her posts had garnered, she was able to spend a lot of her time speaking to young people about bullying and body image issues.
“It’s rewarding because we’ve all been there. Who am I? Am I confident in who I am?” she says.
Even after returning to law school, she continues to travel and speak. Over the course of a few weeks this past December she travelled to Halifax, Las Vegas, Boston and Los Angeles, all while studying for final exams.
“Her work ethic is astounding. I’ve never met anyone like Siera. She can handle a lot,” Jameson says. “She was born to do great things and obviously she has shown us that.”
With one semester to go for her law degree, Bearchell says she plans to continue her legal education with a Master’s degree. She says next semester should be a bit quieter, but that she already has several speaking engagements booked.
She has also continued spreading her message online.
“Curves are beautiful. No curves are beautiful. Quotes like, ‘real women have curves,’ are just as destructive as, ‘strong is the new skinny,’ or any other quote or phrase that says one ‘type’ of woman is more ‘beautiful’ than another. There is NO WRONG WAY TO BE A WOMAN!!!,” a recent post says.
She isn’t sure yet exactly what her professional future will hold, but says she hopes to continue her advocacy work as long as she is able.
“I know I’m not going to be doing this forever, so I’m enjoying it while I can.”
It takes discipline to be true to ourselves in a world that is constantly trying to shape us into something we are not — Bearchell