As the 91st Miss America was crowned Saturday, Jacqueline Janorschke of DeKalb, Mo., was one of the many young women dreaming that one day she would be walking down the runway wearing a beautiful evening gown and sparking tiara. But unlike the majority of hopefuls, Jacqueline has a good chance her dream will come true, thanks in part to own natural beauty, her supportive parents and a new business in St. Joseph called Royal Princess Fashion Pageants.
“I put my daughter in a pageant at 5 months, and there was a lot of trial and error,” says Royal Princess owner Amanda Chen, whose 5-year-old daughter, Trinaty, is the reigning Tiny Miss St. Joseph.
“She’s advanced really well in it, so I wanted to offer it to kids in St. Joe at a cheaper price than what we had to pay,” she says. “We have events where it can even be free for them.”
These are not to be confused with the “glitz” pageants made infamous by shows like “Toddlers and Tiaras.” Mrs. Chen’s events are what she calls “inner beauty” pageants that focus on accomplishments, poise, public speaking and community service for ages birth to 24.
You can’t have any makeup, tan or fake hair, none of that,” she says. “It’s all natural.”
As the director of Royal Princess Fashion Pageants, she puts on local pageants several times a year, culminating in a March pageant where winners receive college scholarships. She also works with girls and their parents going on to state and national pageants, including providing help backstage so the parents can enjoy the show.
“We carpool down to pageants in matching shirts,” Mrs. Chen says. “We are the prepared group.”
In addition, at the Royal Princess Fashion shop, located at 214 Seventh St. in Downtown St. Joseph, she sells inexpensive dresses, costumes and accessories to make competing more affordable. It’s the pageant headquarters, too, where she keeps scrapbooks with photos of events and parties the girls are involved in leading up to the pageants.
“We do monthly free events to get the girls interacting,” Mrs. Chen says.
These include manners classes, crafts, parties and practicing with the “older” teenage princesses on walking, talking and poise. They also learn about losing.
“We don’t call it losing; we just don’t do as well,” Mrs. Chen says.
The “princesses” do community service projects, as well, in order to understand the importance of being a good role model.
“A ‘Girly Girl’ Girl Scouts is the easiest description I have to explain it to people,” Mrs. Chen says.
Jacqueline is one of the teenage princesses who volunteers on weekends to help the younger girls. She became a pageant expert at an early age, starting with back-to-back wins of the Miss DeKalb crown at age 4 and the Little Miss East Hills crown at age 5. Now 14, she is the reigning Miss Heartland’s Outstanding Teen in the 13 to 17-year-old division of the Miss America pageant.
“Every little girl wants to be a princess or Miss America,” Jacqueline says. “I’m kind of living that dream.”
Her mother, Michele Janorschke, says she sees the confidence and poise the pageants bring as a huge advantage for girls when they enter the job market.
“And there is a lot of networking going on,” she says. “They are successful girls, who have successful parents, with businesses who sponsor girls and provide prizes. And they work on mock interviews and are doing resumes. How many 13-year-olds have a resume?”
Jacqueline has many long-term goals for her future, including winning the Miss America pageant when she is 23. (It will be the pageant’s 100th anniversary). But what she really enjoys most is helping the younger girls with their dreams. She was a judge at one of Mrs. Chen’s pageants last year and witnessed a big change in one of the girls who had competed the year before.
“You could tell how much she had gotten more confident with herself and how much better she was up on that stage, speaking publicly,” Jacqueline says. “Getting confidence about yourself — that’s what it’s all about.”
Sylvia Anderson can be reached at sylvia.anderson@newspressnow.com. Follow her on Twitter: @SJNPAnderson.
