You had competed in pageants and been a winner at the local level. You get your degree in Communications from Samford University. Now, you need a job or business. What do you do?
The answer was natural for Thomason Bryan, a Montgomery graduate of Trinity Presbyterian High School, now living in Birmingham. You envision, organize and open up a business, coaching and training pageant contestants.
S&T Consulting.
That startup was in 2020. In the short time since, the fruits have been amazing. Winners and more winners. Scholarships. Career opportunities. Thousands raised for charity. Lives changed.
But first, you get a business partner who shares the same goals. Enter Stella Kontos Hess, a graduate of Auburn University in chemical engineering. What? Well, of course, a pageant contestant needs to generate a certain chemistry to catch the attention of the judges and win. That has worked.
Stella has a personal motivation to work with the Miss Alabama system. The charity benefitting from Miss Alabama/Miss America is Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. Stella was herself a patient at Children’s of Alabama – a successful patient. As a youth, she was diagnosed with urinary tract reflux. It turned out she had a double kidney on one side and scarring. Under the care of Children’s of Alabama, she was completely healed by age 13.
Within three years of healing, she successfully competed in pageants, ending with Miss Jefferson County of 2019, competing in the Miss Alabama pageant.
Now, Stella and Thomason have organized a business for coaching pageant contestants. They are the S and T of S&T Consulting.
The term used to be “beauty pageants.” That was in the days of yesteryear. Now, the competitions (not just pageants) include poise, interviews, physical fitness, academics, talents of every variety and community service platforms. What have I left out?
What are the purposes (plural) of these competitions? To award scholarships. To open doors for careers. To build confidence and poise. To raise funds for worthy causes. To entertain audiences, in person and by TV. To motivate the contestants. To network for contestants, families and friends. To make memories for a lifetime.
Is it going too far to say that pageants are for young women what football is for young men? Scholarships. Doors opened. Competition. The Miss America crown is like the Heisman Trophy.
There are at least 10 systems that organize and run competitions on the local, state, national and sometimes international levels. The best-known of the systems is Miss Alabama/Miss America. Dozens of local competitions are organized and run annually. The local winners go to Birmingham for the Miss Alabama competition. The winners of all state competitions then go and compete in the Miss America competition.
It will take you a while to read the impressive list of winners coached by S&T Consulting, just in the Miss America system:
Miss America - 1st Runner Up,
Top 3, Top 5, Top 15, Social Impact Initiative Winner
Miss Alabama - Winner
Top 5, Top 12,
Evening Gown Winner, Talent Winner
Community Service Winner and Top 7 Finalists
Miss Illinois - Winner
Top 5, Top 10, Overall Talent Winner
Social Impact Pitch and OSQ Winner
Miss Colorado - Winner
Community Service Winner
Miss Georgia -Winner
Overall Talent Winner, Evening Gown Winner
Miss Wisconsin -Winner
Talent Winner, Evening Gown Winner
Miss Iowa -Winner
Evening Gown Winner, Top 5, Top 10
Community Service Winner
Miss Nevada -Winner
Miss Arkansas - 1st Runner Up
Overall Onstage Question Winner
Interview Winner, Evening Gown Winner
Miss South Dakota - 1st Runner Up
Evening Gown & OSQ Winner, Quality of Life Winner
Miss Maryland - 2nd Runner Up
Talent Winner, Evening Gown Winner
Miss New York - 2nd Runner Up
Social Media Award, Quality of Life Award
Miss North Dakota - 2nd Runner Up
Overall Interview
Miss Texas - 2nd Runner Up
Miss Vermont - 2nd Runner Up
Miss Hawaii - 2nd Runner Up, 3rd Runner Up
4th Runner Up, Community Service Winner
Miss South Carolina - 4th Runner Up, Top 10
Overall Interview Winner, Talent Winner
Miss Tennessee - Top 10
Miss New Hampshire - Top 10
Miss Pennsylvania -Top 11
Miss Arizona - Top 10, Top 12
Miss Mississippi - Top 15, Quality of Life Finalist,
Alpha Evening Wear Award, Talent Award
Miss Oklahoma - State Finalist
Miss Kentucky - State Finalist
Miss Idaho - State Finalist
Miss North Carolina - State Finalist
Miss Indiana - State Finalist, STEM Winner
Miss West Virginia - State Finalist
Miss Minnesota - State Finalist
Miss Michigan - State Finalist
Miss Connecticut - State Finalist
Miss Alaska - State Finalist
In addition to the Miss America system, other pageant systems with winners coached by S&T Consulting include:
Miss America’s Teen
USA National Miss
Miss USA
Miss Teen USA
Miss High School/Collegiate/Jr. High/Elementary America
International United Miss
Miss Volunteer America
Royal International Miss
National America Miss
Ideal Miss
Winners coached by S&T Consulting in all systems can be found here.
In addition to pageant contestants, S&T also coaches for sorority rush and personal development, including job interviewing.
Thomason Bryan comes from two families of Alabama leaders. Her father is Justice Tommy Bryan of the Alabama Supreme Court. Her mother is Pam Mizzell Bryan, daughter of Dr. Joe Bob Mizzell, a minister and retired governmental consultant of the Alabama State Baptist Convention.
S&T Consultants has this message for contenders and potential clients:
“She is clothed with strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future.”
Proverbs 31:25
Jim Zeigler is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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