Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Williams.
Kelly, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been performing for most of my life and singing professionally for about 25 years. Over the years, I have also appeared in numerous print ads and TV commercials. For 11 years I was blessed to be elected to the City Council in Kemah, Texas, and have always been extremely involved in my community. At 40 years old, while serving on city council, I competed as Mrs. Galveston County (in three different pageant systems) at Mrs. Texas. I won Second Runner-Up, then (twice) won First Runner-Up. I was also thrilled to win Most Photogenic, Mrs. Congeniality, Best Smile, and People’s Choice awards.
After I decided to stop competing, I was asked several times to help with other pageants or direct my own, but my children were young and I always felt like the timing wasn’t right. However, in 2011, I co-founded the Miss Kemah Pageant. I knew I wanted the pageant to be more than just a local one, so I looked at several different pageant systems, and hearing wonderful things about the State Pageant Directors, I ended up choosing the MISS USA® Pageant System. We partnered with an Official Recruiter for the MISS TEXAS USA® Pageant, and our journey began. After a year of very hard work, our first Miss Kemah / Miss Kemah Teen Pageant was held in April 2012.
One of my goals for the Miss Kemah Pageant was to have an amazing prize package for our winners each year, so our team worked to find incredible sponsors. Since I had a lot of great relationships in the community, I focused mostly on local and surrounding area sponsors/businesses (big and small) to help promote our city of Kemah and our community. With the help of the City of Kemah, the Kemah Boardwalk, and many other amazing sponsors, we have been able to have prize packages worth thousands of dollars each year for our winners!
Although the Miss Kemah Pageant is only entering only our 7th year in pageantry, we have been incredibly blessed with huge success! So far, every year our Miss Kemah and Miss Kemah Teen have either placed in the Top 15 at State Pageants or in the Top 5! In 2015, our Miss Kemah Teen won 2016 MISS TEXAS TEEN USA® and then went on to win MISS TEEN USA®! That same year, our 2016 Miss Kemah won 2017 MISS TEXAS USA®!
Has it been a smooth road?
Of course, all pageants have struggles and challenges that they face each year. However, starting a pageant from the ground up isn’t an easy job and is an incredible amount of hard work. Although the Miss Kemah Pageant has been extremely successful, we’ve had several struggles over our past 6 1/2 years.
Pageants tend to lose sponsors every once in a while for different reasons – We have lost several over the years due to them moving their business to another state, or the sponsor didn’t fit in with the Christian principals that our pageant was founded on. Also, running a pageant on a tight budget has been challenging to market the pageant like I really want. However, having amazing contestants each year and incredible winners has been a wonderful marketing tool.
Also being resourceful, having an amazing city, and staff, and with the continued support of my family, friends, community, and sponsors, we’ve been able to do a great job and grow our budget this year and grow our pageant every year!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the MISS KEMAH / MISS KEMAH TEEN PAGEANT story. Tell us more about the business.
The Miss Kemah Pageant is a 3-day pageant event where contestants (females ages 13-27), from all over the Houston / Bay Area compete in the areas of Interview, Swimsuit/Fitness, and Evening Gown. Winners take home prize packages worth thousands of dollars and make appearances throughout the year for the City of Kemah, Bay Area, Kemah Boardwalk, sponsors, charity and social events. Our Miss Kemah and Miss Kemah Teen also win an all-paid entry to compete for the state titles of MISS TEXAS USA® and MISS TEXAS TEEN USA®.
We specialize in producing an upscale pageant event while making pageant weekend a special one, not only for our contestants but for their family and friends.
The Miss Kemah Pageant is well known for several things. First of all, the pageant is known for being one of the most fun and interactive pageants there is. One of the exciting things that our contestants get to do is compete in a Fitness competition aboard the beautiful Kemah Boardwalk FantaSea Yacht, where they are also treated to a brunch cruise around the Galveston Bay. Because the entire pageant weekend is held in Kemah, there are so many things to do – live music, restaurants, shopping, wineries, and the famous Kemah Boardwalk make the weekend in Kemah one to remember! We also try to make our Pageant experience as close to a national pageant as possible so the girls are well prepared to compete at the state pageants.
Next, our pageant contestants and winners are treated extremely well by the City of Kemah. When you become a title holder for Kemah, you are treated as part of our city family – #TeamKemah as named by our Mayor! We are so proud that the City and community supports the girls, unlike any other pageant.
Finally, our Miss Kemah Pageant is known for our success! Although we are only entering our 7th Year, we have been blessed with incredible results. Every year, since we began in 2012, our Miss Kemah and Miss Kemah Teens have either been in the Top 15 at the state pageants or in the Top 5, and won numerous awards, including Most Photogenic and Fitness. Our 2012 Miss Kemah Teen was 2nd Runner-Up at MISS TEXAS TEEN USA®, 2013 Miss Kemah was 3rd Runner-Up at MISS TEXAS USA®, and our 2015 Miss Kemah was 1st Runner-Up at MISS TEXAS USA®.
Some of the things that I am most proud of is that our 2016 Miss Kemah was crowned 2017 MISS TEXAS USA® and our 2015 Miss Kemah Teen was crowned 2016 MISS TEXAS TEEN USA® and then went on to win the National Crown as 2016 MISS TEEN USA®!
I think that what sets us apart from other pageants is that we truly strive to make a positive difference in young women’s lives – no matter if they become a titleholder or not. I believe that being crowned Miss Kemah or Miss Kemah Teen is a stepping stone to becoming more of a leader in the community and a positive role model for other young women.
Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc?
The networking and self-improvement aspects of pageantry is one that I absolutely love about this industry. I see the pageant industry becoming even a bigger platform to help change the lives of young women. It will be interesting to see if there are any big trend changes in the pageant system in the next 5-10 years – some to watch may be the fashion and fitness areas.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1002 Gemini Ave
Suite 200 Houston, Texas 77058 - Website: www.MissKemahPageant.com
- Phone: 281-780-4811
- Email: MissKemahPageant@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Grant Foto, Select Studios
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