Here She Is

Elizabeth Borowsky has spent her life at the piano. She's an international concert pianist, composer, teacher, and former Maryland local titleholder. But in 2024, an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis forced her to slow down, listen inward, and reimagine her relationship with music, identity, and control. In this episode of Here She Is , Elizabeth shares how she continued teaching through trea...

Dr. Beth Ann Rankin Baker’s story is a reminder that the crown is never the destination. It’s the training ground. After six years of competing for Miss Arkansas, she finally won the title in 1994. What followed was a life filled with unexpected phone calls, once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunities, and a calling toward service. In this episode, Beth Ann shares: How not winning early built the character s...

Alyssa Howell Crowley, Miss Nebraska 2015, joins us to share her powerful and personal journey. From reluctant competitor to committed mentor, Alyssa opens up about her cross-country childhood, placing Top 12 at Miss America, her passion for piano and teaching, and how she found deeper purpose through mentoring young women in the Miss America Organization. She also shares what its like to navigate...

Karissa and I are taking the week off to enjoy time with our families, but we popped on to talk about some of our favorite moments so far. We also wanted to express our sincere gratitude to our listeners and our guests! We are so privileged to help tell these stories and are looking forward to many more interviews. Happy Thanksgiving to all! Follow us on Instagram @heresheispodcast

Before she became an award-winning actress, producer, and writer, Chuti Tiu was Miss Illinois 1994. Since then, her journey since has been anything but traditional. In this powerful episode, Chuti opens up about growing up as a first-generation American, finding confidence in her own identity, and forging a career in storytelling that centers truth, humanity, and healing. From a 90-second pageant...

Today we are featuring a guest podcast called She Wins: Stories and Solutions for Women with host Heather Sumlin. Heather interviews Miss Texas 2025, Sadie Schiermeyer. We are thrilled to share Heather's incredible podcast with all of our listeners! Follow us on IG @heresheispodcast and don’t forget to subscribe

When former Miss Maryland local titleholder, Brooke Bognanni, went to the doctor thinking she had the stomach flu, she never expected to leave with a diagnosis of early heart failure. In this powerful and emotional episode, Brooke opens up about her dual survivor story starting with undergoing open-heart surgery in her 30s and later surviving a stroke in her 40s. She discusses how both events, alo...

Kristin Steveson Schriks was living a life of discipline, ambition, and purpose from the moment she stepped onto the Miss Oklahoma stage to her years as a rising professional and young wife. But everything changed just after her 27th birthday when an unexpected stroke left her searching for answers. In this episode, Kristin opens up about the health crisis that nearly ended her life, the years of...

Former Miss DC 2012 Allyn Rose Oertel shares her remarkable journey from pageant stages to becoming a global voice in breast cancer prevention. After losing her mother to the disease, Allyn made the life-changing decision to undergo a preventative double mastectomy and founded The Previvor to help women make empowered choices about their health. In this episode, she opens up about confidence, iden...

When life doesn’t go as planned, sometimes it’s leading you exactly where you’re meant to be. In this week’s episode, we sit down with Heather Sumlin of Sumlin Solutions. Heather is a master-level mental management and interview coach who helps women, athletes, and pageant competitors find confidence and balance under pressure. Heather shares how an unexpected twist in her early life set her on th...

This week on Here She Is, we welcome Nicole Renard Warren—better known to her millions of followers as Nicole the Nomad. A former Miss Washington 2017, Nicole has built a vibrant career as a food and travel creator, from viral smoothie bowl tutorials to competing on Next Level Chef. In this episode, Nicole opens up about how her Miss America journey shaped her, the faith that continues to guide he...

In this episode of Here She Is, we sit down with journalist and Washington Post editor Amy Argetsinger, author of There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America. Amy shares her career journey, what inspired her to write the book, and the surprising cultural insights she uncovered along the way. We dive into the history and future of Miss America, the generational debates it has sparked, and why...

Big news—we’re officially changing our name! In this short announcement episode, we share what happened, why we made the switch to Here She Is, and why this change only makes us more excited for the future of the podcast. The crown may evolve, but our mission stays the same: telling the extraordinary stories of women beyond the Miss America crown.

From the Miss DC stage to the cutting edge of space exploration and journalism, Sonya Gavankar McKay (Miss DC 1997) has carved a career defined by curiosity and communication. In this episode, Sonya shares how she shaped her storytelling skills, what it was like to build a 20-year career at the Newseum, and why she now lends her voice to the next era of space innovation with Axiom Space and the U....

Lea Mack, Miss Ohio 1994 and Top 10 at Miss America 1995, shares a remarkable journey shaped by resilience, creativity, and purpose. With a background in music therapy, she worked in psychiatric care, dementia support, and hospice—learning the profound lesson to “live like it all matters.” When raising a son on the autism spectrum reshaped her path, Lea pivoted to writing and eventually creating B...

In this episode of Miss’ed America, we sit down with Marina Harrison Cooper, Miss Maryland 2003, whose journey with the Miss America Organization came full circle in the most profound way. As a titleholder, Marina poured her heart into supporting education just as the organization began its national partnership with the Children’s Miracle Network. Years later, her own daughter would become an amba...

This week on Missed America, we’re bringing you a very special mother-daughter episode during Miss America Competition week! Kellye Cash, Miss America 1987, and her daughter Tatum Sheppard, Miss Virginia 2021, sit down with us to share their rare two-generation perspective on life inside—and beyond—the crown. From Kellye’s unforgettable moment singing “Jackson” with her uncle Johnny Cash, to Tatum...

What happens after the crown comes off? For Tally Bevis, Miss Tennessee 2021, the answer has been building a life of purpose, leadership, and global impact. In this episode of  Miss’ed America , Tally Bevis shares how the crown shaped her perspective and why building a purpose-driven creative agency has allowed her to impact communities globally. With honesty and heart, Tally shows how staying tru...

Annika Wooton, Miss Kansas 2019 and 2020, turned her pageant talent into a full-fledged career on some of the biggest stages in the country. From painting Ruth Bader Ginsburg live at Miss America to halftime shows with Travis Kelce and the WNBA, Annika has become one of the nation’s most captivating performance painters. In this episode, she shares how seven years of competing, a pandemic-era reig...

Kim Weimer may have worn the Miss Maryland crown back in 1990, but today she’s making waves in a completely different arena—proving that influence has no age limit. At 55, Kim has built a thriving personal brand, inspiring women to embrace style, wellness, and confidence in every season of life. In this episode, we talk about how she turned her passions into a platform, the mindset shifts that hel...

In our debut episode, we sit down with trailblazing sports agent Kelli Masters, a former Miss Oklahoma who became one of the first female NFL sports agents. Kelli opens up about breaking into a male-dominated industry, standing up to early critics, and how her Miss America experience gave her the confidence to lead with purpose. This is a powerful conversation about courage, calling, and doing it...

Welcome to Miss’ed America , a podcast created by former Miss America state titleholders, Jaime Fox Hardwick and Karissa Horowicz, launching August 6th. This weekly show dives into the lives of women who competed in the Miss America system—and explores who they’ve become since. From bold pivots to quiet reinventions, each story offers real insight, reflection, and a reminder that the crown was jus...