State Pageants

By Hannah Karki

Slay Your Moment Photography

Hi guys! Welcome back to another blog post! As you know, I went to Florida Petite, New England Petite, and Texas Petite all throughout this year. Today, I wanted to share the significance of going to every single pageant and what I have brought back with me from each pageant.

I went to Texas Petite first, with all 5 of the national titleholders being in Sunny TX. It was truly an amazing experience being a part of the judging process of a pageant, and I loved being able to give the girls advice before competing, and also listen to their stories and how they wanted to use the title. As I said numerous times and will say until I die, pageants are about the journey. We want to hear these women's stories and how they have changed their lives, but we also want to hear what they will do as the next titleholder. Hearing so many empowering and moving stories made me appreciate the system I am a part of and the ladies I represent.  

I also loved being able to bond with my sister queens. I felt an immediate bond with all four of my sister queens when we got crowned, and it felt like family. I feel like I was so nervous when I was crowned because I didn’t know who my sister queens were going to be, but the minute I was sent out on stage after I won to meet two of my sister queens, I knew for sure we would be linked forever. Having the opportunity to have 4 big sisters has opened my eyes to understanding what it feels like to be alive. The amount of unconditional love I feel everyday from those 4 ladies has helped me gain more self confidence, and also has given me more of a purpose. 

K Garcia Prod

Going to New England was heartbreaking for me, since it was the pageant that truly changed my life. Knowing my year was up was so hard for me to come to terms with, since this has truly been the best year of my life. My NEP family will always be my family. Just being in the atmosphere of my sister queens and my directors made me feel at home, and I wasn’t ready to leave as a former. Lucky for me, I had a second crown, but somehow I cried the most. Don’t ask me how. I think the most amazing part of my experience at New England Petite was being able to help all the girls competing and having those one on one person relationships where you truly get to find out about each of the beautiful women competing. I loved being able to speak with them and help them get ready for the pageant. I can’t wait for the New England Petite 2026 pageant, where a familiar face will be emceeing the pageant this year. 

And Florida. I think this was the pageant that made me realize one, I had nothing ready for internationals, and two, that our journey as USA titleholders was coming to a close so soon. Watching the girls give up their titles had me gasping for air on the floor, but also reminded me how in 3 short months, I would be doing the same thing. It was an amazing experience to see my sister queens again, but also see all my amazing friends that I made through Petite USA at the Florida Petite pageant, strengthening my bond with them. 

Being able to travel has truly rounded out my year, establishing that as a USA titleholder, the USA is your stomping ground. I wanted to ensure every contestant knew that I was willing to go the extra mile to make them feel supported and seen. But, there was also a little voice inside of me that pushed me to go, because I knew how fast a year would go by. I can’t believe my reign is almost up, and as I look back on it, I want to say thank you to every single person I have met for sharing who they are with me and letting me listen and discover more of who they are.

We do it to represent, and I am honored to say that I represent this system and I can’t wait to see where this journey will lead me with the last few months I have left. It has truly been a dream.

Stay tuned for another guest blog!

Go tell someone you love them today, remember to always spread joy!

I love you,

Han

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K Garcia Prod

Hannah Karki is the current Miss Teen Petite USA and Former Teen New England Petite 2024 . You can follow her on her title's Instagram and website. 

Hannah has been kind enough to write several submissions for us. Follow the link for her other Section 36 Forevers Guest Blogs.

Working Behind the Camera

By Hannah Karki

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another fun blog post! Today, I am going to be talking about my love of being behind the camera instead of in front of it.

Now as you know, I am the reigning Teen Petite USA 2024, so I spend a lot of time at events, being in front of the camera, and spreading awareness about my platform and uplifting young ladies competing in person by doing events, being a guest speaker, and a author. 

I also believe the power of uplifting woman comes with creating Hannah’s Hot Tools, HansHH for short, the hair for Slay Your Moment Photography. I love being able to be behind the camera and talk to the ladies who we work with about who they are and get to know them beyond their crown or platform. Learning about their personalities and lives makes me feel super fulfilled as a person. Being able to make them feel beautiful by styling their hair also helps me spread my message of love and positivity for supporting woman competing in pageants. 

I believe strongly that every woman deserves a strong family of sister queens from multiple systems and states. For me, I have sister queens from the Miss USA organization who I competed with when I was 14-17, the HighSchool America System, and now the Petite USA system. Even though they are different systems with different values, the same encouragement of creating a sisterhood is strong and prominent in all three. I also have many connections in the America system and Miss Earth system. All of these connections were forged on the belief that pageants are meant for woman to make long lasting friendships and better themselves. It’s truly an amazing feeling to know I have sisters all across the country, and all across the world that I can rely on!

But back to hair, I have naturally curly, black hair. Learning how to style my hair was not for the weak. Having to dry, then straighten, and then curl my hair definitely took some getting used to, but I also felt inspired to help others style their hair. 
Making woman feel beautiful and seeing them physically glow in-front of the camera is one of the best feelings in the world. Being able to hype them up behind the camera, whether I am doing their behind the scenes or working on their hair has driven my passion to want to go to cosmetology school(whenever I’m not competing, which will be like 50 years). 

In pageantry, my main goal is to celebrate woman and their accomplishments, but also help woman find hair styles they love for stage and photoshoots cost free. 

I also love being able to work with the woman who inspired me to keep competing in pageants. Shannah is a force, and is literally able to do any task you give that girl. She has taught me everything, from doing my own hair and makeup, to walking, and to styling myself. Seeing her be a successful photographer and having her dreams come true on-top of being in school and being Ms New England Petite is truly inspiring.  Watching us grow together the last few years has been one greatest experiences I’ve ever been a part of. Watching her make women feel seen, heard, and understood while doing their makeup, and then their faces after they see her work is one of my favorite moments.

Overall, I actually prefer being behind the camera. My experience with being in-front of it hasn’t been easy; especially when I had the Edna Mode bangs and would only wear dark colors. I don’t really like myself with makeup, and I feel like if I stare at my own photos for too long I start to not love how I look. Being able to take a step back once and awhile and watch others bask in the sunlight is one of my favorite things about doing hair. 

All in all, doing hair has forged bonds with amazing woman in the pageant world and has brought me many amazing connections. I can’t wait to keep doing hair and making woman feel beautiful.

Anyways, see yall next time! I hope you are enjoying these fun filled blogs!

A reminder to go tell someone that you love them today, and how proud of them you are and their progress!

With love and see you soon! 
Han

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Post photos by Slay Your Moment Photography

K. Garcia Prod

Hannah Karki is the current Miss Teen Petite USA. You can follow her on her title's Instagram and website. 

Hannah has been kind enough to write several submissions for us. Follow the link for her other Section 36 Forevers Guest Blogs.

Picking My Wardrobe

By Hannah Karki

K. Garcia Productions

Hi everyone! I know you missed me. If you haven’t read one of my blogs, let me introduce myself. My name is Hannah Karki, and I am your Teen Petite USA 2024, and former Teen New England Petite 2024. Today, I'm going to talk with you about my choices in clothing for pageants, including an interview, evening gown, and swimsuit. 

A lot of the things I pick have to do with the color, style, and how age appropriate the style of the clothing is. One of my main focuses as a national title holder is to look at the age of the group that I am representing. Since I represent 13-year-olds to 18-year-olds, I try to mix up my outfits with cuter teen styles and also a little more flirtatious look for older teens. I tend to go for styles that are off the shoulder or have small cutouts in them to represent my age since I am on the older side of teen. Each of my outfits for the New England pageant and the national pageant were picked on the basis of making sure I looked my age, but the color and the style represented who I am as a person and what I would bring to the national office if I were to win. 

Because I am a brown skin girl, I tend to pick brighter colors that work well with my skin. Let's look into a few of my outfits from the national pageant! 

First, I picked my outfit for the interview because I loved the color of it. I thought it was super eye-catching and I love the style of bandage dresses for teens. I feel like it is super easy to wear, it's comfortable, and the style of the bandage dress can really match with any simple heel which I really liked. I also like the ruffle on the side with the one shoulder. If you know me super well, I am super picky about what I wear.This dress was an immediate yes for me, and I think this is the best I ever felt in an interview. Wearing something you love makes an impact on the way you show your personality and connect with the judges, because you already feel confident and some of the nerves that you feel are washed away because you are confident and how you look. 

The second outfit I picked is my swimsuit! Everyone really loved this one, so I’d thought I would share the reasons why I picked it! One, I loved the color and how bright it is. I feel like with the tan I was in the summer, it perfectly matched the vibe I was going for. I also loved how the color matched my personality super well, sunshiny and yellow! I loved the flowers on the top and the bottom, and I liked how it was a more teen swimsuit. I feel like when we are told to walk, we immediately think we have to look super old or mature. But as a teen, we are looking for a more teen style, not a thong. We want style, but we also want to represent the age group we are supposed to represent. Overall, I loved this swimsuit and I can’t wait to find something like it for internationals. 

And finally, the long awaited gown. Now, I LOVED this gown, but I originally got a lot of push back about my gown. I think people thought it would not give the couture look, but I think it turned out just the way I wanted it to. As I said before, I am very picky with what I wear, so when people tried to change my mind, I did not budge on this dress. I knew if I was going to win, it was going to be because I felt beautiful in what I was wearing. This dress was made by Yubin Couture, and I loved the end result. I had never done purple before, so this was definitely new territory for me. I loved the v-neck, and the beading around the v-neck. My favorite part was definitely the see-through sides, and being able to show it without showing it. Overall, this dress captured my heart, and the judges' hearts too. 

Overall, the key to being successful in your dress choices is finding out what dresses and colors suit you, and what you want to wear. The most confident you will feel is when you wear something that you picked yourself!

This was a short one, but you’ll hear from me again soon!
Have a good day and tell someone you love them!

Your friend,
Han

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Wardrobe Photos by Magic Dreams Productions

K. Garcia Prod

Hannah Karki is the current Miss Teen Petite USA. You can follow her on her title's Instagram and website. 

Hannah has been kind enough to write several submissions for us. Follow the link for her other Section 36 Forevers Guest Blogs.

New England Farewell

By Hannah Karki

Hello everyone, It's Han, I know you missed me, and welcome back to another blog post! 

I recently just gave up one of my titles, Teen New England Petite. Now I know what you are thinking, why are you so emotional, you have a second, bigger, and heavier crown with a national title. Well, let me share with you my story of New England. 

The New England title means more to me than any title I have competed for. It was not only my first win, but also my first experience of truly feeling like I impacted people in a positive way. If you couldn’t tell, my titles are everything to me. Keeping up with social media, fulfilling duties to my directors, and training for internationals are religiously important to me. But what is even more important to me is making sure I spread my message of self love and unapologetically being myself with the next generation of beautiful women growing up in society today. Showing young girls that if you can dream, you can do it, will always be one of the biggest pillars in my life. 

New England helped me climb out from the rock I pushed myself under, and allowed me to show the judges and the world who the real me is. The goofy, talkative, social, empathic, and emotional me, even the vulnerable parts. I think the thing I struggled with is trying to not fit into the box society presents us; the preppy, pageant girl who can look rude or stuck up. I wanted to change this narrative. My goal for winning is to make pageants a place for women to feel free to be themselves and share their true passion. I came in with my social, bubbly, jokester personality, and shared the scared and insecure parts of me, because those parts of me make me who I am. 

I think I was very shy to share my story with mental health and how important it was to me. I always thought that people would judge me for what happened to me, or maybe not even believe me because of how I come off as a person. New England was the first time I shared my true why. 

I remember crying in the bathroom after the interview and being shocked that I shared such personal information with a panel of judges that I didn’t know personally. Most of my friends, even my close ones, didn’t know what I went through, and honestly, a part of me was still ashamed of my past. I cried because I was scared and this was the most vulnerable I had felt in my life. 

I remember getting up on stage and thinking to myself, welp, now they know. I remember feeling so nervous to swim and also messing up my own title in introductions. I remember taking a huge deep breath, in and out, and then walking out into the blinding lights on stage as I heard my name called for swim. I remember feeling so in the moment and letting my practice take over. I remember walking off to the side of the stage and seeing my coach tearing up in the corner, while others congratulated me for how powerful my swim walk was. I remember thinking to myself, I didn’t think that went that well. 

I remember walking in my evening gown, and feeling like I owned the stage. Yes, I was mortified 3 people I didn’t know knew my insecurities and battles, but it almost made me feel more comfortable on stage with them knowing. Knowing my true purpose, to serve others and to give back to my community, and to hear who the true Hannah was, and who she wants to become because of what she went through. 

I remember looking out to my family when I was holding my first runner ups hands, not knowing I had won. I remember thanking them in my head, and smiling out the crowd to see all the people who had supported my journey from the beginning. When I didn’t hear my name as first runner up, I almost fell to my knees. For the first time, I felt like my story was finally heard and my hard work was finally approved. 

I remember trying to hold myself together, but obviously that didn't happen. I broke down sobbing, and I remember running off the stage and hugging my coach so tight. I couldn’t believe it had finally happened. 

New England gave me the opportunity for my older self to finally forgive my younger self for what I faced, and it also gave me the opportunity to thank my younger self for staying here, thanking my younger self to see the good in the bad, and thanking my young self for giving my older self to represent other survivors across the world. My story shouldn't make me feel ashamed or weak, it should make me understand how powerful my voice is. How powerful my story is, and how powerful it is to share it. 

New England prepared me for nationals, which is where I shared the true story with the judges. I broke down sobbing when I heard a judge say, “She is so deserving”. 

New England also taught me what true sisterhood feels like. Growing up, I was the only girl, so I tell people my personality is like, “a 12 year old boy”. After New England Petite crowning, I realized I had gained 10 sisters who I could ask anything and they would immediately help. From small things, like a hair tie, to picking my dresses and helping with my appearance, my sisters were with me, through thick and thin. At nationals, I think I realized how strong the bond was. 

I remember winning and hearing screams from all sides of the room. I remember looking out and seeing my director, Leah, sobbing. She told me she had been crying since the on-stage question. Then, there was Jasmine, who I think cried more than me when I won. I remember the crown being placed on my head, and immediately trying to get to her after I won. The entire competition, she was right at my side, telling me how I was worth the title and how powerful of a person I was. I remember running to her and hugging her so tight on stage, and sobbing into her arms. And then there was my favorite, Stef, who broke her dress from jumping and falling backwards when I won. She was backstage in the Ms. top 5 with Kim. Kim helped me in the top 5, and shook my nerves out right before I answered my question, helping me breathe in and out. Sarah was my destresser the entire weekend, helping me after what I thought was my worst interview ever, and helping me hold myself together the entire week. Chrystal was my pageant mom the entire weekend, taking my behind the scenes photos and helping me out with anything I needed. Her hug after I won made me start crying again.  

Without these women’s support, I would not have made it to my national win. The sisterhood is so real in this system, and I will ALWAYS brag about how I have the most amazing sister queens on planet Earth. 

New England made me a home and a place to feel comfortable with who I was, and I can’t wait for the next amazing group of women to get showered with the same amount of love and more that I did. 

Giving up that title made me realize how much I had gained, and how eternally grateful I am to have experienced such a one of a kind feeling. And for that, I say thank you, New England, the pleasure was mine.

I hope you enjoyed today's sappy, yet fulfilling blog post! If you haven’t already, go tell someone how important they are, and that they are worth it!

Till next time,

Your friend, 

Han, 

Teen Petite USA 2024 and Former Teen New England Petite 

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Photos by K. Garcia Productions

Hannah Karki is the current Miss Teen Petite USA. You can follow her on her title's Instagram and website. 

Hannah has been kind enough to write several submissions for us. Follow the link for her other Section 36 Forevers Guest Blogs.

My First 24 Hours

By Hannah Karki

Hi guys, know you missed me, and welcome back to another blog post. If you don’t already know me, I am Hannah Karki, a local Vermonter studying music education with a double minor of psychology and special education at the University of Vermont, and I am also your reigning Teen Petite USA and former Teen New England Petite. 

Today, I would like to talk to you about the emotions behind winning and what my life looked like after I won in that 24 hour period.

I’m going to be completely honest, winning is a blur. I can remember placing Top 5 and almost falling over from pride and excitement. I remember waiting to be called as a runner up, and not hearing my name, but everytime one was called I would move, since I am so used to being one from my past. 

I remember being shocked not placing third, and standing in the center of the stage and thinking to myself, what is happening. My interview was a blur, it felt like my on stage question just came out with no thoughts, and I was quite lost for words at this point. I was already crying because I was proud of getting to the place I was. 

I think I almost fell over when I was called the winner. One, I was telling the girl in front of me it was all her, ready to take the 1st runner up with pride. Two, I was on so much caffeine my body just gave in since I didn’t sleep at all. And three, I saw my favorite girl, Cassie, sobbing in the crowd when I won. 

I remember standing there, holding her hands, and thinking about how far I had come from the beginning of this journey. 

4 years ago, 14 year old Hannah didn’t even know what mascara was, let alone how to walk in 6 inch heels, what an evening gown was, or how to straighten my hair. I competed in my first pageant with no experience, a dress I was borrowing from a former queen, and heels I didn’t know how to correctly walk in. I remember practically running across the stage, so fast that they couldn’t even photograph me correctly. I remember looking back at the photos and my family telling me how fast I walked. 

Over the next year, I found a coach, grounded my interview skills, and suddenly got bangs, which I highly don’t recommend. I found my purpose, which was my platform, Safespace, and expanded my knowledge of cosmetic artistry, as well as my walking skills and style choices. 

In 2022, I placed 3rd place, my first ever placement in a pageant. I felt so accomplished that all my hard work had finally brought me to a place where my work was being seen and understood. I quickly rebounded, and got ready to compete again in November of 2022, where I placed 2nd place in my third pageant. 

All of these moments created the woman who was standing in the top two, with all of the younger versions of herself cheering her on. We had outdone what our younger self could have dreamed of. Winning New England was enough in itself. I never thought I could win a national pageant as a 5 foot 2 woman of color. All the battles the younger version of me went through felt final when I didn’t hear my name as first runner up. 

I remember looking around and screaming. I saw my pageant Mom, Cassie, practically flop over in her seat, my director Leah sobbing, and my family all crying. I remember looking around and thinking, this can’t be real, I am going to wake up in a minute and it will be finals day all over again. I remember Faith Claire, the previous Teen Petite USA, telling me to squat down so she could crown me because I had no idea what to do. I remember grabbing Kira, the Miss Petite USA’s hand while I was being crowned because I couldn’t stop shaking and flailing around. 

As they snapped photos of me, I remember hearing, “Take your first walk”’, which turned more into a hobble across the stage because I had cried so much I couldn't see the stage in front of me. 

Then, I was sent backstage to get my hair and makeup touched up. I remember I kept crying in between them fixing my face. I was put back on stage to meet my new sisters, Angelica, Victoria, Lafaye, and Amy Jo. I remember thinking about smacking myself because it still didn’t feel real. I had the worst headache imaginable, and I remember looking at the judges and mouthing, thank you. 

We took our official crowning photos and top 5 photos on the stage, and I remember immediately jumping off the stage in my 6 inch heels,(don't try this at home), and hugging Cassie and my family. I remember taking photos with my New England Petite family, and then top 5 photos. 

Then, we were all taken to get our official photos done. I remember when I was waiting for my hair and makeup, I had 6 zillion texts from all different social media apps, I had to stop notifications on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and even Messenger. I kept my text messages on, and I am grateful I did. I remember seeing a text pop up from my best friend, and it was a video of four of my close friends watching my win. They all started jumping up and down and screaming. I remember I started to sob, (this was the 14th time of the night), and my makeup and hair artist gave me a minute to breathe because I was so grateful for the relationships I had made. 

I remember sitting there, and thinking this was all a dream. We had our hair and makeup done by the amazing Just Right Cosmetics, and our photos taken by the incredible Magic Dreams Productions, or Matty. I felt like I was walking on a cloud, wearing the crown and the sash felt like a daydream I was going to wake up from. I remember taking the crown and sash shots and the group shots and wondering how a 12 year old me would feel if I told her we would become a national titleholder one day, inspiring the next generation of petite women that being who you are is all you need to succeed. 

I remember trying to go to sleep after I won, at 1 am, knowing I had to wake up in a few hours to catch my flight to go home. I couldn’t stop thinking about how this is what I have been waiting for. I remember thinking how I would have missed all of this journey if I had followed through with my attempt when I was 12 years old. 

This journey has truly made me feel like I have a purpose. I think that was the thing I struggled with years ago. Knowing that I had a place on this Earth, with a plan to succeed in being who I was. I spent too much time trying to fulfill everyone else’s dreams for me, when I didn’t know what I truly wanted to do with my life. Now, I know that I want to be a positive figure for humans across the world, showing that their battle with mental health doesn't have to define who they are, and that their beginning to themselves is just starting, as well as inspiring young women of color to follow what their heart truly desires. If you got it, you got it. 

All in all, your journey is something to be proud of, even if you feel embarrassed by it. You don’t know who is struggling around you, and how your story could affect others watching you. Every single person on this Earth has an experience, talent, or expertise that makes them important, no matter if they know it or not. 

Never doubt yourself, because you are going in the right direction, I promise. Keep fighting for you and who you are always. 

If you haven’t told someone how important they are to you today, go tell them! 

With love and gratitude always,

 
Your friend,

Han

Hannah Karki
Teen Petite USA and Teen New England Petite USA 2024

Photo Credits: Matty Jacobson, Slay Your Moment Photography

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Hannah Karki is the current Miss Teen Petite USA. Follow her on her title's Instagram and website. 

Follow the link for her other Section 36 Forevers Guest Blogs.