Shelton resident earns Mrs. CT America crown
SHELTON — Liza Lee Ginoni-Gambino is a wife and mother of two teenage daughters with a burgeoning career as a fitness trainer. The last thing on her mind was competing in pageants.
But at the urging of a close friend, the Shelton resident took the pageant plunge with no expectations and can now add Mrs. Connecticut America to her list of accomplishments. She earned the crown June 4 at the Mrs. America Pageant held at the Hilton Stamford.
Her next stop … representing Connecticut at the National Mrs. America Pageant Aug. 25 in Las Vegas. Mrs. America is a pageant for married women in the U.S.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Ginoni-Gambino, who previously worked in advertising and sales at companies that included Hearst Connecticut Media Group and is now a fitness trainer with area Club Pilates franchise studios and CT Fitness Pros in Shelton.
It was in May that Ginoni-Gambino said her friend and professional make-up artist Kristina Foreman approached her about the pageant.
“I never thought about it, really, I’m 49 years old,” she said, “but my husband encouraged me … he said, ‘You go out there and show them.’”
She recalled pageant day like any other for her, as she entered with no belief she would walk out the winner.
“I was not nervous at all … I was in the back helping the other contestants get ready. I just kept a positive attitude,” she added. “I went through this journey to experience something new because even though I am turning 50 next year, I feel there is still time to enjoy everything that comes our way.”
The clincher in her mind, she said, was her response to the question asked of her while on stage: what was her favorite charity and why?
“That was easy … the American Red Cross,” she said. “I was in my late 20s … I almost died. If it wasn’t for those people who donate blood through the American Red Cross, I would not be here right now.”
She said complications during surgery in 2001 left her bleeding out, so much so she required about 11 liters of blood to survive. She said telling this lifechanging story led to her pageant victory.
“I give blood every 59 days,” she said. “I never miss.”
It was this experience that also helped GinoniGambino turn her attention to fitness to strengthen her body and her mind.
What started as a journey of personal growth turned to helping others, as she soon became a certified fitness trainer specializing in pilates, with a focus on healing the body while strengthening the spine and core.
During the pandemic, she said she began virtual training which she continues today “so that her friends, family, and neighbors could continue their workout journey.
“My life has been dedicated to helping and lifting others,” Ginoni-Gambino said. “I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would recommend anyone to the pageant.”
While this pageant is geared toward married women, she recommended the pageant experience for women in general, regardless of their relationship status.
“Whether you are single or married, the experience is one you should not miss,” she added. “It’s about women coming together to bring themselves up, find their beauty from within, and be confident for all that they are.”
With her newfound celebrity, Ginoni-Gambino hopes to shine light on
Victoria’s Voice Foundation, the corporate philanthropy of the Mrs. America Pageants.
The foundation was created by David Siegel after he and his wife lost their daughter, Victoria, to a drug overdose in 2015. She said the couple’s loss resonated with her, since she was the daughter of a substance abuser.
“It was a struggle growing up, especially in Catholic schools being of very few children of a divorce let alone a substance abuser,” Ginoni-Gambino said. “I developed abandonment issues later in life and feelings of never being enough.”
“I found my passion in fitness in 2002 which began my journey of selflove. Helping others find strength and empowerment helped me love myself,” she added. “I look back at my childhood and I am grateful that there are so many resources today for families which help parents, children, and families recognize addiction and help them to develop strategies that bring structure, balance, and healing back into their lives.”
Ginoni-Gambino said the Siegels believe Victoria’s death can in turn save thousands.
“As a fitness advocate, I find that exercise is not just a means to fix imperfections or things we’d like to physically change about our bodies; it truly is a form of self-care that affects our mood, attitudes, stress, and anxieties,” she said. “It can build our confidence in hopes to remove the mental obstacles we tend to face. It has truly helped me overcome many challenges I had to face in my adult life.”
She said she hopes to now use her experience and her platform as Mrs. Connecticut America to help other women find their strength.
Ginoni-Gambino said she is planning a fundraiser for Victoria’s Voice on July 29 at the Jonathan
Sturges House in Fairfield.
Ginoni-Gambino is married to Army veteran Jason Gambino, who is the terminal manager for SAIA LTL Freight in Orange.
She has two daughters. Kayla, 18, who graduated from Shelton High as a state champion cheerleader and just finished her first year at Sacred Heart University, and Leah, 16, a rising senior at Shelton High who is also a state champion cheerleader and
current team captain. Ginoni-Gambino said Kayla has also enjoyed top honors of late. She competed in a WNBF Bodybuilding Bikini Competition on June 10 and placed first in her class and first overall. Ginoni-Gambino said she is excited to be a part of the national pageant in Las Vegas in hopes to be crowned Mrs. American 2023. The winner of this pageant will move on to the Mrs. World’s pageant in December.
“It will allow me to show my love and my light unto women, young and old, that beauty is about loving yourself and being strong,” she said.