If there’s anyone who personifies the words “empower women, inspire others, uplift everyone,” it’s Diana Meyer. She’s not only upheld the motto of United States of America Pageants, she’s imbued them into everything she does as the reigning United States of America’s Mrs.
Those words were echoed at least five times during the course of a half-hour conversation.
For Diana, those words are a personal mantra, not only as a pageant contestant, but throughout life.
“Pageantry is a confidence competition,” Diana explains. “To be confident, you have to step boldly into your full potential. Pageantry encourages you to do that. People ask me all day every day ‘how do you win a pageant?’ What I tell them is you have to become the best version of yourself in every aspect of your life: mentally, physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually - everything. Because if you become the best version of yourself and work hard in all of those areas of competition, those judges that you're speaking to in a private interview will believe you're the best person to represent a state or national organization, because you will be.”
“Pageantry is so much more than what you look like or what you do on stage. Preparation requires you to be successful on that stage and even after you walk off that stage. Being prepared is extremely crucial to building professional success in pageantry but in life. These women who walk across that stage are incredible they’re doctors, they’re teachers, they’re mothers, they’re daughters, they’re lawyers, they’re veterinarians, and the best thing about competing and pageantry is being able to be surrounded by these beautiful powerful like-minded women at the same stage as life as you and you can't get that anywhere else.”
As a young girl, pageantry was probably the furthest thing from her mind.
“As a kid, believe it or not, I was a tomboy. I was a competitive gymnast and I still consider myself an athlete today. Growing up I never wore heels. I never did my make up. I never did anything to my hair. Then I happened to get a letter in the mail one day asking me to participate in a pageant and my mom was the one to encourage me to try it out. So I went to the informational session, and immediately I was hooked. I still remember seeing the title holder at the time who was younger than me. I was a junior in high school and they were probably 13 years old. They were wearing a two-piece white suit and could talk to adults. They were extremely confident and poised and I said ‘I need to be that’, and the rest was history.”
“I think that's what makes me relatable when I'm speaking to people across the country as a national title holder, helping them recognize their own beauty and build their confidence. When I first started, it really helped me build that poise, confidence, being articulate, things that I didn't have before. I was able to have success in my college interview, every single job I interviewed for, I really credit that to pageantry.”
“This journey really reminded me that my voice matters. I've traveled the country speaking to teens across the nation as a public speaker, in schools, with Girl Scout troops, in community groups, helping to empower them to reach for a fearless future, to help teens to step boldly into their full potential and silence self doubt.”
In doing that, Diana helps them to realize that their voice matters. Every one of them.
“Sometimes when I recruit women to compete in United States of America Pageants, they say to me ‘Oh, I could never do that. You know I have a tattoo or I'm not tall enough or you know I need to work out more. I could never compete in a bathing suit on stage.’ And I tell them ‘Well guess what? I'm 5”1’, I have a tattoo and I still do have self-doubt.’ Walking on that stage will give you an outlet to inspire others who also feel that same way that they can't do it for whatever reason, and often times those insecurities hold us back from being in spaces that we truly belong. This is something that I also share with teens across the nation, helping them build confidence. What makes you different is what makes you beautiful. Being unique - that is truly your superpower. When people see me being authentic, skydiving, hiking, scuba diving, running, working out, being an army wife - all of those things help them relate to me and that authenticity is what is beautiful and hopefully through my year of service they can look at me and say ‘Wow! She can do it and so can I!”
Where it ultimately happened was especially gratifying for Diana on a personal level.
Before she was the national title holder, Diana was United States of America’s Mrs. New Jersey. She’d moved to New Jersey from upstate New York as her husband is in the Army and stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. In a “full circle” moment, her grandfather served in World War II and was fiercely proud of having graduated from Seton Hall. Until she moved here, she didn’t realize that Seton Hall is in New Jersey.
“After all those years of competing in New York, it makes sense that I'm representing the state that meant so much to my grandfather, becoming a national title holder in the state that meant so much to my grandfather. They never met, but I truly believe my husband was a gift from my grandfather. I feel so proud that I was able to represent New Jersey on that national stage and bring home that national title and be the first one to do it from the state of New Jersey. I believe that it was destiny that it was right here in New Jersey, all because of my grandfather.”
Empowering women, inspiring others, uplifting everyone, all while honoring family? That’s called leaving a lasting legacy.
This journey really reminded me that my voice matters...and that being unique truly is your superpower.