In November 2018, I decided to stop letting fear stand in my way. I made the decision to compete in the Miss America system. I had this one set idea of what a pageant girl looked and I did not see myself as one. After watching a friend compete and CRUSH it. I decided to stop letting that idea stop me.
 
I competed in 2 local pageants and ended up winning a title, meaning I got to compete for the title of Miss Kansas.
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When you compete you have a platform. This is a cause you choose to dedicate time, effort, and money towards. I chose Mental Health awareness as my platform.
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Through the process of developing this platform, I fell in love with mental health. I loved learning and sharing my story. I loved hearing other people share their stories and connect with others so that we felt less alone. I want to create and foster and environment where we can talk about our mental health freely. 
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From this came the #EXHALEPROJECT. I started making simple beaded bracelets (yes like the ones we made as kids) with positive words on them. The idea is that you wear the bracelet until you meet someone some day that needs it more than you. Then, you tell them why you are giving them the bracelet and you pass it on to them. Make sure they know they need to pass it on some day too.
 
I shared it on my social media pages and they blew up. To this day I have traveled to numerous schools across the state of Kansas and spoken to student about mental health and made exhale bracelets with them. I have made over 1,500 bracelets and send them all over the country and even some to Canada. I have seen people create their own bead kits and make some for their community. 
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This has expanded way past anything I could have imagined and I am so thankful for all the support and encouragement from everyone!
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If you would like to get involved, would like me to come speak, or would like more information please visit the "chat" page. I would love to connect with you!
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