Hey Junkies!  Long Time, No Blog!  Thanks for coming back to visit!

Today’s post is part therapy (for me), part revelation (for you) and part transformation (for both of us).  I feel the need to address my recent “life shift” and the place I find myself in, because of it.

That’s a picture of me.  And here’s my name – Carrie Lakey.

Yes – in a world where people say pageant girls are only in it for the ‘glory and recognition’, I have spent years remaining largely anonymous and instead, operated under the pseudonym, “Founding Junkie”.  In the beginning, it was fun to have an air of mystery and intrigue behind our Facebook page… It added to the idea that Pageant Junkies was a group of die-hard pageant fans, instead of one single person with a crazy Miss America obsession.  🙂

Even when we met fellow Junkies at Miss America – or traveled to one of the state pageants, we certainly didn’t announce our presence by wearing Junkie t-shirts, or request recognition from the stage, or try to gain access to special opportunities.  In fact, when we did introduce ourselves, it was often to a contestant or a pageant person whom we admired.  And I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel a little weird to walk up to someone out of the blue, say their name and then tell them, “I’m Carrie Lakey – and I’m the person behind Pageant Junkies.”

When I did venture out to do such, it was always great fun!  I’ve formed countless of friendships now across the country in numerous states, because I introduced myself in person.  The more I did it, the more obvious it became – pageant-loving people wanted to connect with like-minded Junkies!  Still, I was happy to maintain my role of watching, assessing, and formulating an opinion, all from the comfort of my home office and laptop computer.

But now, something’s changed.  Let’s just say – Life Shifted.

It’s become apparent to me, that continuing behind the scenes of Pageant Junkies, is no longer an option.  Why?  Well – it seems the longer “I lead” the Junkie Nation (and I use that term loosely), the more my goals for it, have changed.

Those of you who’ve followed Pageant Junkies for years and years know that our original goal was to change the online tone of pageant commentary.  When we first started, there was not enough positive and waaaayyyy too much negative.  So, we set out to prove you could enjoy pageants, feature contestants, highlight their accomplishments, and predict winners in a positive way.  And for the most part, I think we’ve done a pretty darn good job of it.  But now, ‘being positive’ and ‘changing the tone’ simply isn’t enough.

Now – it’s time for Pageant Junkies to step up and add value.

Don’t worry – we won’t quit being positive… But it’s time for us to move beyond talking about what’s going on in the pageant world – and start becoming a contributing force for good within it.  It’s time for us to take our 10,000 strong community and do something that makes a positive impact on contestants who need it most.

Think of it this way… We used to sit back, observe, and write about what we saw taking place.  Now, we wanna move from commentator/spectator to active participant.  Yes, we’ll still continue to do our predictions… But rather than just writing about you, we wanna help you become someone we want to write about!  The kinds of qualities and characteristics it takes to win a pageant are the same qualities and characteristics it takes to succeed in life.  And as a business woman, I know the skills I learned from participating in pageants, are the exact same skills that made me successful in the corporate world.  So, it’s no longer acceptable for us to simply sit on the sidelines… It’s time to get in the game, become a mentor, and help young women achieve whatever they wish to become in life.

Which is precisely why we’ve partnered with Training Ground for the Crown.  Training Ground for the Crown is an online seminar where several pageant experts come together to offer you valuable tools you can use before your next pageant.  Six speakers, 2 nights, all online.  Doesn’t matter if you’re still trying to win a local this year, or you already know you’re headed to state, this event will help you think about some of the most important elements of competition and how you can improve before the big day comes.  Feel free to visit http://www.traininggroundforthecrown.com/ to learn more. 🙂

But this seminar is just the beginning of our ‘value’ campaign for 2015.  Over the next year, I’m committed to seeing numerous young ladies develop into strong, confident women of substance.  Training Ground for the Crown is just a piece of that plan – During this next season, Pageant Junkies will work towards this new goal with gusto.  Count on it.

It’s no longer about watching and commenting.  It’s time to be a part of the solution.  And if you have a pageant problem, Junkies wanna help solve it.  Feel free to send us an email at ThePageantJunkies@gmail.com with your greatest pageant struggle.  We can’t help if we don’t know what needs to be fixed.  All submissions will be kept confidential – and I promise to personally respond to your email with any suggestions that might help.

This isn’t about following a formula for pageant success – this is about adding value to your life.  And as Carrie Lakey, I know I can do that all day long.

At some point in your life, you’ll probably go through a Life Shift.  When it happens to you, I hope you discover the same amount of resolve and purpose that we’ve found.  You don’t have to sit on the sidelines either – Get in the game.

Be Positive, Add Value, Be a Junkie –

Carrie Lakey