Award-Winning Author of: Pretty Smart Lessons From Our Miss Americas

“If you follow the lessons in “Pretty Smart,” you’ll be inspired to pursue your own dreams of success.  Penny has captured the character, courage and intelligence of my Miss America sisters.  It’s a read that shatters the stereotypes of Miss America contestants and takes you inside the lives of some of the most goal achieving women of our time.”

— Gretchen Carlson, co-host of the #1 rated cable morning news   program, “Fox and Friends,” Miss America 1989

Pretty Smart: Lessons From Our Miss Americas

Stories of the Women Who Became Miss America

Pretty Smart: Lessons From Our Miss Americas explains why being smart isn’t enough to guarantee success and illustrates what else it takes through the inspiring stories of the women who became Miss America. This book goes behind the pretty faces of these women and looks at what they have done to achieve professional and personal success and make a difference in this world. Highlights of their stories, from Jean Bartel, Miss America 1943 to Jennifer Berry, Miss America 2006 illuminate the universal truths of the secrets of success. Here you will find their stories, the obstacles that they had to overcome, what they used for inspiration, how they moved past limiting beliefs and achieved success, personally and professionally.

Curvaceous and Articulate

The women who become Miss America turn out to be “pretty” and pretty smart. The Pageant, started in 1921, bills itself as a scholarship program with the first scholarship given to Bess Meyerson in 1945. It has evolved from just a “beauty” contest into one that strives to provide opportunities for young women to stretch themselves in many directions. As today’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women in the world through both the national and state chapters – $45 million in 2006 – it requires that the contestants be competent, curvaceous and articulate.  

Many people don’t see much beyond the swim suit competition. This complicated stew of beauty and brains has always been a contradiction in American society. It takes guts, creativity, commitment, vision, endurance, persistence and lots of plain hard work to achieve that pinnacle of femaleness.

The Dream

These women exhibit all the characteristics that anyone who has a dream they can’t let go of, need to succeed. These are the qualities that make them beautiful. These women, when you talk with them, shatter the “it’s only a beauty contest” perception with their intelligence, thoughtfulness, poise and eloquence. And though some of them are certainly drop dead gorgeous, if you walk down the street you will see numerous women equally as attractive as the vast majority of the winners.

The women who compete see the Miss America Pageant as an opportunity to actualize a larger vision for themselves and as a doorway to success. Their desire to be good and do good is the fuel for their ambition. And, as for smart, most of them were or became graduates of the finest colleges and universities in the United States, including Harvard and Stanford. Their ranks include magna cum laude graduates and Rhodes Scholar finalists. In 1974, a law student crowned a PhD candidate. And then, they went on to make a difference.

It’s not just their long legs, or their shiny hair that make them beautiful. In fact, many of them say that as girls, they did not feel pretty and cite crooked teeth, big ears and plump bottoms. The confidence and life changing experience of succeeding at a high target that they had set for themselves, of being a spokesperson for a cause they believe in, changed their inner perceptions of themselves and therefore our appreciation of them.

Truths and Inspiration

Here you will find their stories, the obstacles that they had to overcome, what they used for inspiration, how they moved past limiting beliefs and achieved success. This book plumbs the depths of their drive, passion, determination and resilience. You’ll identify with these universal truths and be inspired to embrace the attributes and qualities you need to nourish to succeed and fuel the achievement of your goals and dreams.

These stories will inspire you to follow your heart and go after what you want. Start now!