Southeast Missouri teen finds success in world of beauty pageants

“When I was younger,” laughs 16-year-old Jayci Holcomb of Dexter, “I was obsessed with the television show “Kim of Queens.” In this reality show, a former Miss Georgia is a beauty pageant coach and helps young girls prepare for pageant competition.

“During the quarantine last spring, I started watching it again, and something in me just sort of clicked. I decided I wanted to enter a beauty pageant. My first competition was Miss Fourth of July in Campbell. I won, and was hooked,” Holcomb recounts enthusiastically.

She goes on to add, “It was at Campbell where I met Ashleigh Bedwell, a successful pageant competitor, herself. Ashleigh has been a great help to me, and sometimes I volunteer to help her at the various pageants she sponsors.”

Holcomb recounts that since her first experience in July, she has participated in 14 pageants to date. She won Queen in 11 of them and placed second in one. Included among her various titles are Miss Firecracker at Poplar Bluff, Campbell Jr. Miss Peach Fair Queen, and American Legion Cotton Carnival Queen at Sikeston.

In January, Holcomb moved out of her Southeast Missouri comfort zone and entered the Royal International Miss Missouri Junior Teen 2021, which is an international competition sponsored by Royal International Pageants.

“Ordinarily,” Holcomb explains, “I would have been in Kansas City for the event; however, with the COVID quarantine, everything was handled virtually.”

Holcomb says that long-distance competition was not easy.

“People tend to think that not competing live would be less demanding,” Holcomb reveals, “but I actually found the virtual competition to be more stressful.”

Holcomb goes on to explain, “When you’re competing live, you get one chance. That’s it. Because the self-introduction and runway portions were recorded, I was very hard on myself trying to get them just the way I wanted.”

Holcomb continues, “The self-introduction was 45-seconds long and the instructions were very specific as to what had to be included. For the runway portion, I received a walking pattern to follow—as if I were on the runway stage. The walking pattern had to be followed exactly so that the judges viewed every contestant from the same angles.”

The only live portion of the event was the personal interview.

“I had a Zoom call with three female judges,” Holcomb recounts. “They were all former title holders, and for about five minutes they asked random questions, in an effort to get to know me personally. For both the self-introduction and the personal interview I was instructed to wear business attire.”

Holcomb’s hard work, stress, and attention-to-detail paid off when she was notified that she had won the Missouri title. On Valentine’s Day, with a winter storm looming, Holcomb was in Kansas City to receive her crown and title. As the Missouri winner, Holcomb will now compete in Orlando, FL, in July for the international title.

“I’ll be competing with girls from around the world,” Holcomb says of the week-long event. “I am very excited for this opportunity, but since I didn’t get to compete in Kansas City, it will be my first major live competition.”

In Orlando, I will again be required to present a self-introduction. It will be my first time to do that in-person. When you consider that 15 percent of your score lies in your ability to speak to such a huge audience, well, that’s pretty daunting.”

Holcomb says that in addition to the self-introduction, scoring is based on three other areas of competition.

“The personal interview with the judges carries the most weight,” Holcomb explains. “That is worth 35 percent. Fun Fashion and Evening Gown are both 25 percent each.

While Holcomb and her family are excited about this opportunity, and are looking forward to the experience, the competition expenses for travel and a seven-day stay are a bit beyond the family budget.

“To raise money to offset the Orlando competition expenses, with help from my mom, I am hosting my own pageant,” Holcomb excitedly discloses. ‘The Miss SEMO Spring Queen pageant will be held April 10th at First Baptist Church in Dexter. There will be several categories from birth to 21 years-of-age.”

Holcomb goes on to say, “All ages will compete in casual wear. Girls five and older will also have an evening gown competition, and those 11 and older will be required to present a personal introduction.”

“Even though the title says SEMO,” explains Holcomb, “the contest is open to girls throughout our region—including neighboring states. The judges will come from outside the area. Registration information is available on Facebook at Miss SEMO Spring Queen.”

Holcomb is the daughter of Ray and Heather Carrillo of Dexter. She is a sophomore at Dexter High School where she is in the top 10 percent of her class and participates in Project Lead the Way, a transformative learning experience overseen by Missouri University of Science and Technology.