Pageant Junkies

Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America.
So are 25,000 of her closest friends.
Together, we’re a bunch of Junkies who are
Hopelessly Addicted to the Miss America Program

As an avid fan of the Miss America Organization, Carrie Lakey (also known as “Founding Junkie”) began predicting pageant winners by sending emails to her friends over 10 years ago.

Before long, those emails were being forwarded to additional friends, and then friends of friends, and then in-laws, cousins, neighbors and long, lost enemies of friends. Before she knew it, the number of people receiving the list was too difficult to track, which led to her decision to create an email group.  She named the group “Miss America Junkies” and the name stuck.

Since that time, Pageant Junkies has grown into a Podcast, Blog, Facebook page, Twitter handle, Instagram and Pinterest page. Pageant Junkies have been featured in The Washington Post, The Press of Atlantic City, and WAPT News. In addition, Carrie serves as an emcee and guest speaker at contestant workshops and other pageant events.

Now, more than 25,000 people follow Pageant Junkies and consider themselves part of the Junkie Nation. Each year, Founding Junkie continues to post her thoughts and predictions about Miss America, just as she did over 10 years ago.

Carrie Lakey officially caught the ‘pageant bug’ when her aunt was crowned Miss Kansas 1985.  As a young woman, Carrie competed in Kansas Junior Miss (1st runner up), Miss Kansas (2nd runner up), and Miss Sweetheart (Interview award), before moving to Colorado to begin her 15 year career in radio broadcasting. While in radio, Carrie climbed the corporate ladder, ultimately serving as the General Manager of 5 different radio stations for Salem Communications in both San Francisco and Colorado Springs, and as the Vice President of Audio Content for VoxPop USA.  While her corporate career took off, Carrie’s interest in the Miss America Organization never faded. Through the pseudonym “Founding Junkie”, she created Pageant Junkies (originally known as Miss America Junkies) and now, more than 22,000 fans consider themselves part of the Junkie Nation.

 “The Miss America Organization captured my heart when I saw my aunt introduce herself on national television in 1985 and I’ve been addicted ever since. I know the achievements in my career are a direct result of the training and preparation I received through the Miss America system and I’m thrilled to mentor the next generation of pageant contestants who will one day make their own mark on corporate America.” ~ Carrie Lakey

WELCOME TO THE JUNKIE NATION!!!

#BigJunkieLove