Beauty queen’s charity mission
Regional beauty pageant winner Emily Sullivan never imagined herself on stage strutting her stuff in a national competition.
As a young girl she felt insecure, struggling with selfconfidence just like many other young women, describing herself as ‘‘quite anti-pageant’’.
But for the last three years she has been studying performing arts at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts (NASDA) in Christchurch, and has spent that time creating herself, growing in confidence and working on things she feels passionate about.
Emily works part time in a rest home as well as volunteering for the animal rights organisation SAFE and now she is keen to tell her story about what she says has been an amazing journey. While searching on the internet for ways to further her charity work, she stumbled across the Miss Five Crowns pageant, and was drawn to it because of the fundraising component.
‘‘My goal was to do more charity work. I had never considered beauty pageants but I saw Five Crowns had raised money for the Heart Foundation. I also thought it would help further my performing skills. It was still quite daunting but I’m quite lucky because of the degree I’m doing, my love of performing really helped me in the competition.’’
Emily entered the pageant in March and by June she had found her sponsor, New Zealand First Homes, Riccarton. She set about fundraising for her chosen charity, Youthline. Her $3,000 efforts earned her second place in the charity component of the contest.
‘‘I was so happy to do it for Youthline because it had lots to do with young people postearthquake. I felt like I was giving back in a way.’’
Emily now wants to use her crown as a platform to share her story with other girls, to help them feel comfortable with being themselves.
‘‘I would like to help with mental health and eating disorders. There are so many young women around who don’t have that selflove, so many
Next year Emily will be representing New Zealand on the international stage, and is now keen to do more pageants, but only for her own reasons.
‘‘I would have to love the charity they are working for. The crown and the sash were just the cherry on the top of what’s been an amazing journey.’’
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