By Sarah Whitman
Two Land O’ Lakes moms are helping their daughters’ beauty pageant dreams come true by offering people in the community a unique opportunity. Suzanne Douglas and Jennifer Fitzsimmons are hosting a Glamour Girls photo shoot June 13 to help raise funds for their daughters, Aubrey Teston and Katie Fitzsimmons, to compete in Miss Florida USA and the National American Miss pageant this summer.
Professional photographer Ragan Jenkins is offering her services for a $25 sitting fee that includes hair and make-up stylists. Participants can take home a photo CD for just $30 more, which is a major steal compared to the hundreds of dollars that can be spent on quality photos.
“My typical rate is $100 an hour with a 2 hour minimum for the shoot, so this is quite a bit less,” Jenkins said.
All proceeds will go directly to the pageant hopefuls for expenses including competition fees, travel and costumes.
“With the economy the way it is, pageant participants are not able to get financial support from large companies like they used to,” Jennifer Fitzsimmons said. “Those corporate sponsorships just aren’t available. So, we have to think of new and creative ways to get support.”
Jennifer’s daughter, Katie, is a sophomore at Land O’ Lakes High School. She began competing in National American Miss three years ago. She previously took third place and hopes to take the title this July in Orlando, leading the way to her dreams of one day competing in the Miss America pageant.
“It is such a fun experience and I always meet a lot of great people,” Katie said. “Pageants have bad stereotypes associated with them but you can learn so much from them. The more I’m involved with pageants the better I get at speaking in front of people. Pageants have taught me confidence and life skills.”
Katie is in the drama club at school and dreams of one day becoming a professional actress. Her mom supports all her dreams but was nervous about her entering the pageant world.
“I was skeptical but National American Miss is really a good program,” Jennifer Fitzsimmons said. “The program teaches the girls poise and how to conduct themselves. They don’t even allow make-up for girls under 14. They are more focused on scholastics and community involvement.”
Suzanne Douglas said pageants transformed her daughter Aubrey from a shy teen to an outgoing young lady. Aubrey, 22, is the current Miss Charlotte County Florida, which is why she is able to compete in Miss Florida USA in July. Though she is from Land O’ Lakes, the pageant system does not require you to be from the county where you receive your title.
Douglas said she thinks her daughter has a good chance at the Miss Florida USA title.
“Aubrey was the quiet one,” Douglas said. “She came to us and said she wanted to try pageants. The difference in Aubrey then and now is amazing. She gained so much confidence and I am so proud of her. She is amazing.”
Aubrey is a technician in the O.R. at Tampa General Hospital. She is a graduate of Concorde Career Institute and a Land O’ Lakes high alum. She credits much of her success to pageants and can’t wait to compete for Miss Florida USA July 9 and 10 in Davie, Florida.
Aubrey, Katie and their moms hope the Glamour Girl shoot will get more girls interested in the good things pageants have to offer.
“It should be a lot of fun and something different for girls to do,” Katie said.
Appointments are still available with Jenkins.
“It’s fun and it’s a great experience for young ladies interested in modeling or pageants who haven’t had a professional photo shoot,” Douglas said. “We hope people come out and support our girls.”
The photo shoot is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 13 at 4111 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. For information, call (813) 205-8213. To view Ragan Jenkins portfolio, visit www.raganjpix.com.
