 |
| K. Garcia Productions |
To learn more about Eliza, feel free to check out that Interview from her time as Miss Indiana.
You can imagine the excitement and disbelief when a letter arrived in the mail, inviting me to an open call to potentially compete in a pageant. A real-life pageant?! Funny enough, my mom thought it was a scam. It was my dad who did a few quick searches and said, “she has to do this.” The rest is history.
Dedication is the foundation of success, not the result.
Persevere. There will inevitably be losses, moments that sting, and times where you question yourself entirely. If you have a dream that you can’t stop thinking about, persevere anyways.
Authenticity wins. Every time. And I don’t just mean during your competitions.
I’ve always said pageants are one of the few things that challenges and encompasses every part of a person. I like to emphasize not only to my clients but every young woman in pageantry – women aren’t necessarily “good at pageants.” As such an incredibly subjective competition, it’s not like scoring a touchdown and knowing you’ll get six points. Pageants are like scoring a touchdown and not knowing if the referee will award you three points instead. However, the women who do excel in the pageant world have worked on all these other parts of themselves and just so happen to showcase their growth through pageants.
Now, sitting on the other side of the table as a coach, these lessons have never been more apparent or important. I see so many young women frustrated or confused by the pageant industry and my goal is always to be that guidance and clarity I felt I needed. Everyone deserves a support system they love and can trust.
I began mentoring and coaching a few years before I became Miss Wisconsin. During my year of serving the state, I was grateful to have even more opportunities to lead and mentor young women. It has been not only fulfilling, but an absolute joy to officially create a business that is dedicated to empowering women. There is truly no better feeling.
Lila Hui Consulting was founded on the idea that your success doesn’t end when you give up your crown. Our focus is to give you the tools to land that dream job, have your dream career, and get that life-changing scholarship. While we will always support you in getting that dream title, our success comes when you are able to use those life long skills after your crowning days are over.
Stay dedicated, stay gracious, persevere always. Never be afraid of being “the first” and remember that being authentic always wins, even if it doesn’t feel that way at first. Stay true to yourself, your style, your experiences, your goals, surround yourself with people who support your journey, and most importantly, bet on yourself.
-Lila Hui Szyryj
Lila Hui Consulting
What can you tell me about your program “Walk With Ime”?
Walk with Ime is a pageant service designed to help aspiring queens take command of the stage with fundamental modeling and styling techniques. My goal is to help restore the lost art of poise that pageant titleholders are traditionally known for but which is sorely lacking today.
What made you decide to start that venture?
Walk With Ime was a happy accident born out of my sister's business, Mock With Me. Both my older sister Mweni and I were successful pageant girls years ago. So when I wanted to start a business utilizing my marketing skills, she founded Mock With Me - a service that offers interview practice opportunities and expert feedback to aspiring queens - giving them the confidence to command the interview room on competition day. Mweni had a client who mocked with her many times and was a great interviewer but who competed in several local pageants without placing or winning a title. After Mweni showed me a video clip of the client competing in evening gown during one pageant, I noticed some things about her performance that I thought she could improve on with proper guidance. So I offered to give the client some help with her walking. I also advised the client on how to restyle her hair to be more flattering and impactful. We worked on adding poise to her fitness and evening gown walks. And after only a couple of sessions with me, the client secured her first placement of the season – and it was First Runner-Up! After three additional sessions with me, the client finally won a title, and Mweni and I were so overjoyed! Mweni had observed my first session with the client, and she was very impressed with my knowledge and with how easily I taught the client. She suggested that I consider coaching, and before too long, Walk With Ime was born.
What has been the most rewarding part of the sessions?
Paying goodness forward. When I was a doubtful young woman, the goodness of the women who volunteered their time to my pageants was instrumental in helping me become confident, poised, and fearless. Years later, I remember and honor those women and am truly grateful for the knowledge they willingly shared with me and that I’m now passing on to others. So if I can impact another pageant girl's life the way I was impacted, that's reward enough.
What short or long-term goals do you have for Walk With Ime?
I'd like to see Walk With Ime serving queens in all 50 states and I aspire to serve 500 queens in 5 years.
What has surprised you the most about running Walk With Ime?
The poise fundamentals that I'm teaching queens today are the same fundamentals I learned well over 20 years ago. What's most surprising is that those fundaments STILL hold true today even though they are not universally practiced. And it surprises me how quickly queens can improve their performance enough to win a crown, simply by applying these fundamental principles.
What has been the most challenging aspect about running Walk With Ime?
It's difficult watching beautiful, talented, and intelligent girls and young women measure their beauty against others based on social trends. Some deal with so much pressure to look a certain way to align with today's beauty standards, even when those trends don't enhance their natural beauty. I wish more pageant contestants would have the courage to make choices based on what most flatters them rather than based on what everyone else is doing.
What can you tell me about your program, “Mock With Me”?
“Mock with Me” is a service that provides aspiring queens with interview practice opportunities and feedback from a seasoned pageant judge. I myself spent 5 years competing in Miss America local competitions when I was a college student. Eventually I ended up relocating from my home state of Mississippi to Indiana to attend law school. During the summer after my first year of law school, I actually placed in the Top 5 at the Miss Indiana competition. Since then, I’ve spent the last 25 years judging competitions at both the local and state level.
What made you decide to start that venture?
My sister was interested in starting a new career as a copywriter and wanted to use me as a “guinea pig” first client. She needed something to market on my behalf. And after some thought about what skills or services I could offer the world, “Mock with Me” was born. My sister built me a scrumptious-looking website and wrote all the copy herself. I officially launched in October 2022. And I love how the business name “Mock with Me” literally describes the service that I offer (*You* come mock with me.) and because my initials are ME, it also means – Yes – *You* go “mock” with M.E. – as in Mweni Ekpo. That’s why you’ll see the “ME” from my logo written in all capital letters.
What has been the most rewarding part of the sessions?
What short or long-term goals do you have for Mock With Me?
The next few weeks will be super busy as many of my clients are preparing for state, national and international competitions that will happen this summer. So my short term goal is to provide them the support they need, so that they can be confident going into their next level of competition. As for my long-term goals, I would love to have clients in all 50 states, and I would also like to expand my international presence. I’ve already worked with clients from Canada, and I look forward to helping queens from other places around the world.
What has surprised you the most about running Mock With Me?
I am surprised at the number of aspiring queens who fail to realize the importance of honing their interview skills through practice. There is no way to improve at any skill unless you actually *do* it, and so many aspiring queens just assume they’ll magically be “fine” once they enter the interview room even though they may not have worked hard enough to ensure their success in that regard.
What has been the most challenging aspect about running Mock With Me?
You currently work as a pageant coach. What do you enjoy about that field?
For me, pageants are not about winning a crown and sash. When I first competed in 2005, it was for an opportunity to create change in local schools with bullying. My heart is still in that same mindset with pageants - what are you passionate about, and how will you impact your community? I love seeing my clients get involved in the community with their passions. Even more so, I love watching them grow as an individual. One of the most heartfelt moments was when a parent shared that they gave me their little girl, and I gave them back a young woman. Seeing their confidence shift and communication skills grow while knowing that they are learning life skills that will take them far in the future is the best!
As a former pageant titleholder and director, does that dual experience help you as a coach?
You’re also an incredible photographer. What is the most challenging part about being behind the camera?
You’ve been able to combine your two careers by photographing titleholders, including several Section 36 Forevers. What do you enjoy most about titleholder photoshoots?
Would you say that you have a specific photography style?
My style is vibrant colors with crisp details and being sure to not remove all of the skin texture. I strive to make sure my clients look like themselves because they should match the photo that the judges see of them before they walk into the interview room. I have the insight of judges questioning hair color or length being different and skin tone being washed out in headshots. So I use that insight to make sure my clients look like themselves.
Do you have any specific career goals?
