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Region has two chances at Galaxy tiara

Holly ThompsonSound Telegraph
Shantelle Maier has entered the pageant before and has loved it each time.
Camera IconShantelle Maier has entered the pageant before and has loved it each time.

Two women from the region will soon jet off to the Gold Coast to take part in Australia Galaxy, a pageant which encourages participants to “be the best version of you”.

Jasmine Latham, of Bertram, and Shantelle Maier, of Singleton, will both enter the Mrs Galaxy category.

The pageant has three other categories, Ms Galaxy, Miss Galaxy and Miss Teen Galaxy.

For Mrs Latham, her debut into the world of pageants has been motivated by a desire to step out of her comfort zone and show her children how far determination can get you.

“Not only do I want to make my children and husband proud of me by stepping out of my comfort zone, I want to make myself proud,” she said.

“My goal is to build my confidence back after becoming a mother of three. I feel I have lost self-confidence, but 2020 is my year to gain that back and what better way than to enter a pageant, which helps woman feel beautiful and strong.”

“Us mums tend to forget about ourselves and it’s taken me eight years to finally do something that I want to do. I took a chance and got in.”

She said another strong motivation to enter was the potential to become more involved in giving back to the community, with the “glitz and the glam” of the pageant an added bonus.

“I love dressing up and feeling like a princess, but I love to give to others and help people in need and I want my children to do the same,” Mrs Latham said.

She said she is involved in a wide range of charities within her community and if she won the pageant and became Mrs Galaxy Australia, she would be able to help out even more.

Mrs Maier has entered several times in the past and is excited to compete again this year.

“Forming friendships and memories for life with like-minded women who really become your pageant sisters and uplift one another no matter what, is the best part of pageantry” she said.

“I think it is so important to give back to a community and pageantry gives you a platform to do that and inspire others to do the same.

“I want to be the best role model to my children and show them that we can all achieve our dreams and help others along the way.”

She said she had “caught the pageant bug” years ago and took part in the Miss Galaxy category.

“I then took quite a few years off, was married and had two beautiful children and 2019 was my first time back on stage where I placed first runner-up in Mrs Galaxy Australia,” Mrs Maier said.

She said there were seven women from across the country competing for the Mrs Galaxy Australia crown this year and around 50 travelling to the Gold Coast to compete across all divisions.

The winners from each category will be flown to Florida for the Galaxy Pageant to compete internationally for Australia.

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