Wayne Lifestyle is proud to have been named the Official Magazine of the United States of America’s Miss New Jersey Pageants.
Why wouldn’t we be? Afterall, they are an organization whose motto is to “Empower Women, Inspire Others, and Uplift Everyone”. Their motto is not just for branding purposes, it is the guiding principle of their entire organization. It’s meant to celebrate who women are as well as who they can be. It’s not simply about image; it’s about helping someone harness their inner beauty and then guiding them to find a position where they can radiantly shine that beauty out into the world.
The USOA Miss New Jersey Pageant is led by Executive Director Dayaneiris Burton. She oversees all 4 divisions of the state-wide pageant (Teen, Miss, Ms., and Mrs.) and it is under her guidance that each year’s participants work towards becoming a queen. The pageant itself will be held November 2, 2025 (with a cutoff date to apply being September 30th). The four crowned winning queens for 2025 then move on for the national title in Las Vegas in 2026.
“Every woman, at least once in their lives, should compete in a pageant,” asserts Dayaneiris.
It’s a quest to find their inner beauty, not just to simply win a crown. Each contestant who goes through the pageant process has the opportunity to discover more about themselves, develop stronger, practical life skills, and to find their spark.
“Pride is developed through the process,” says Dayaneiris. “It’s about what you learn about yourself, developing clear goals, about understanding who you are. It helps to remove and get past insecurities. The process holds the greatest reward.”
Everyone has their own values and purpose in life, and this is a platform that gives you the opportunity to demonstrate that purpose on a bigger scale, giving you a bigger voice to speak up for what’s important to you. It allows you to showcase not only who you are, but to leverage that into what you can do.”
It’s that spirit of community and giving back to others that distinguishes the New Jersey pageant program under Dayaneiris’ dedicated care.
“Each of us provides some sort of service for others in some way,” she says. “You embrace your platform because you’re doing it from your heart, something that you really care about, not from outside of your comfort zone.” These platforms can range from supporting veteran’s groups to breast cancer awareness or autism support. Each participant must look inside and find a cause close to their heart. The NJ organization’s platform, as a whole, supports finding a cure for cystic fibrosis. Dayaneiris personally champions this cause as she lost her brother to it.
Dayaneiris leads so well because she’s been a part of it herself. She was crowned the winner of USOA Ms. New Jersey 2023. She knows firsthand what value the process can bring to a young woman’s life. She offers that experience freely to all who enter their program.
That includes the expected pageant details - how to walk, how to answer interview questions, and what to wear for competition- but she also gives them so much more.
She helps them prepare for life.
Dayaneiris’ unique guidance includes teaching them how to create their platform, which, as she states, is much like a business plan. It’s part of the platform she’s created to help participants beyond the pageant. These are benefits that you won’t find in other pageant systems, but then again, she isn’t like other executive directors. She has been in business for over twenty years as a successful cosmetologist and owns a popular cosmetic brand, Daya Cosmetics (dayacosmetics.store).
What they get from the pageant isn’t simply a line item on their bio. It’s actionable, practical steps to advance themselves in the world.
Beauty with a LinkedIn twist, you might say.
Contestants regularly say that the interview is by far the hardest part of being in a pageant. It’s where they’re laid most bare - opening themselves up as to who they are, what they believe, and how they can make a difference. It’s often where they feel the most nervous, the most judged.
And like it or not, throughout life we’re all judged. Women have to endure an even greater burden of that, even if it’s just unconscious. The program set up by Dayaneiris and the USOA Miss New Jersey Pageants help women who choose to be involved to overcome that anxiety that society silently places upon them.
The USOA Miss New Jersey Pageant undoubtedly celebrates beauty. But it’s well beyond outer beauty. The beauty that women truly offer to the world is who they are on the inside. All of the queens who go through the process can come out with a restored sense of pride in themselves, knowing that they can do anything they set their minds to.
The remarkable ladies of the USOA New Jersey Pageants are ready to take on the world.
For more information about how to participate in USOA New Jersey Pageants and to see how much positive impact Dayaneiris Burton can have on your life, go to usoamissnewjersey.com or to @USOAMISSNJ (Instagram) for all the details.