Miss Florida Plus has a passion for mental health awareness

When Raquel King’s buddy, Delpha Samuels, proprietor and director of the Miss Florida Plus America pageant, inspired her to enter the pageant, she by no means imagined that she can be topped the winner.

As Miss Florida Plus America, which she gained in March with three different ladies, King just lately competed within the nationwide pageant representing Florida at Miss Plus America on July 2 in Texas, ending within the remaining 5 because the third runner-up. . .

the Miss Plus America Pageant is a faith-structured group created for plus-size ladies. The pageant would not choose ladies on their dimension however on their coronary heart and laborious work, Samuels mentioned. The winners of the state competitors go on to compete within the Miss Plus America pageant, as King did.

“When most individuals consider a magnificence queen, they consider it as the girl with essentially the most stunning clothes or one of the best hair, however truly a real queen has a coronary heart for folks. One of many issues I really like most about Raquel is that she has a coronary heart of gold. Though she is gorgeous, she knew her coronary heart of gold would shine on stage and in her interview,” mentioned Samuels.

King, a Hollywood-based speech-language pathologist for youngsters with autism or different disabilities, has by no means entered a pageant earlier than.

She mentioned she initially thought the pageant was one thing to be held on the Samuels church, and she or he additionally did not know there was a pageant for girls who’re older or look completely different.

“I did not notice it was a acknowledged contest. The extra I discovered about it, I assumed that is very critical…it simply fell into my lap,” she mentioned.

King calls her pageant expertise a “shock sort of journey,” which taught her “self-love and self-care.”

“It was tremendous, tremendous thrilling,” he mentioned of profitable. “I gained issues in highschool, however in my grownup life, this was positively completely different, and having the ability to help the platform that I’ve to symbolize different women who appear like me and wish to enter the pageant sooner or later, was wonderful. I cried. This was so new to me. When one thing is so new, you continue to do not feel that snug, so profitable was wonderful. It was an unimaginable feeling. I didn’t anticipate that.

King’s platform was psychological well being, which he selected due to his affinity for “creating areas of affection, peace and encouragement to construct resilience.”

“Lots of people stroll round smiling…however inside they could be dying…I prefer to create encouragement packing containers with prayers, phrases of encouragement and actions to be optimistic and assist construct resilience,” King mentioned.

One among King’s messages to different ladies who may be eager about pageantry is to be open-minded about pageantry and take a leap of religion.

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“The pomp is not only about the best way you look and the garments you put on, it is actually about what you are standing for, that platform you are pushing, what’s closest to your coronary heart, your function in life. After we are in a position to dwell our function in life, we’re extra alive, we’re extra free…” King mentioned.

After competing in each the state and nationwide pageants, King mentioned ladies are allowed to compete once more and she or he believes she would.

“It has been an exquisite expertise thus far, why not? It was sudden and it turned out to be great,” she mentioned.

Despite the fact that his state diploma lasts a yr, he mentioned diploma or no diploma, psychological well being consciousness is a platform “near my coronary heart.”

He just lately contacted the Nationwide Alliance on Psychological Sickness and I’d additionally prefer to contact metropolis and county officers for any talking engagements associated to psychological well being consciousness, he mentioned.

“I nonetheless wish to do as a lot as I can to assist increase consciousness of psychological well being,” King mentioned.

Go to missplusamerica.com/.