We enjoyed talking to Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst who recently crowned Miss USA 2020 Asya Branch. During her reign, she competed at the Miss Universe 2019 competition and finished in the top 10 repre- senting the United States. She was also a part of a historic period where for the first time, all 4 major US based pagent holders were black women including Miss Universe 2019's Zozibini Tuni of South Africa, Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin and Miss Teen USA 2019 Kaliegh Garris.
We talked to the longest reigning Miss USA on how she got into the pageant world, her platform, being an attorney and her work as a correspondent on EXTRA.
ATHLEISURE MAG: So what drew you to wanting to be in the pageants?
CHESLIE KRYST: My mom actually was Mrs North Carolina US 2002. She won this pageant for married women and I was 10 or 11 years old. I just remember feeling like my mom was famous. There were kids in my middle school who would ask me for my autograph. People who didn’t know my name before or who I was – I just remember saying that there was something cool about this. I knew at some point that I would compete.
AM: What drew you into wanting to stay in the pageant system in terms of initially competing and whether you plan on still being involved in activities that took place during your reign after the crown?
CK: Yeah! I think what kept me involved was seeing that pageantry could be a springboard into other places and that it could be a platform that you wouldn’t have otherwise had access to. I remember seeing photos of Halle Berry for years competing and she was the first runners up and then she was Miss USA and I was like, “oh my God. She’s an Academy Award-winning actress, I want to be that one day. How cool would that be?" Or seeing careers that people like Kenya Moore has had and to see how people who have been in this system, competed and how they have gone on to be these incredible public figures and I wanted that. I continue to compete not only because I wanted to reap the benefits, but because I was reaping the benefits. You prepare for interviews so your skills in that area are sharpened. You're thinking about what to wear on stage so you’re constantly thinking about styling so you have that more than someone else who may not be focused on what they’re wearing like that. It’s a big high-level goal that even if you don’t win you don’t lose either.
AM: You were recently the co-host of the Miss USA Competition as well as being able to crown the winner, what was that like especially as we’re navigating things in this time of COVID-19 that you were still able to put on a great show that people enjoy watching – especially with it being Graceland in Nashville as well as knowing your reign was over as you passed the baton?
CK: It was so much fun and it was a great transition out of my role into what my new life would be. For the final Miss USA Competition, I was an analyst and it was really cool to be able to go back and forth between the co-host interviewing me on stage and then back of house to talk about what we just saw on stage as well as to hear who I thought would continue to advance. It was so much fun and it was a literal translation of what my transition would be from being on stage and being a titleholder to being the person who assesses what is happening on stage guiding the viewers through what is happening. That was incredible for me and it took away those feelings of what would be sadness for the end of my reign.
AM: You have had the longest reign. What was the platform that you focused on during your time that you wanted people to be aware of?
CK: I focused on Social Justice and also became the Global Impact Ambassador for Dress for Success. I talked about on one hand as Dress for Success as an organization and on the other hand, criminal justice reform as a topic and continuing to advance on this issue obviously on the criminal federal level as well as the state level. Both of these topics were important to me. For Dress for Success, I got to go on a nationwide tour where I would meet with local affiliates and their clients, talk to professional women and to attendees about how important this organization is and how they could continue to support it. I got to see first hand the people that were being benefited by it and that was really important to me.
AM: Clearly you had a lot on your plate. How were you able to do the duties of Miss USA, you’re an attorney as well and also being a correspondent on Extra! How were you able to do all of that at the same time? Doing the prep for this interview, busy for you was an understatement!
CK: I was busy and it was quite a year and a half. Lucky for me, Miss USA is a full time job. So as soon as I won, I took a leave of absence from my law firm so I wasn’t actively practicing law while I was fulfilling my duties as Miss USA. I think that if I had been doing both, it would have been impossible for me to do both well. I did take the time away and now that I have ended my reign, I have decided to refocus on my career as a correspondent in working with EXTRA full time and have been placed on inactive status in North and South Carolina where my licenses were previously active so I’m not practicing law right now.
I mean, it was craziness when I was trying to go from appearances for Miss USA and then sprinting to red carpets to cover for celebrities for EXTRA like Gayle King.
AM: How did EXTRA come about as that’s such a fun show and you’ve been there for over a year!
CS: One of the producers for the show saw me win and she saw some of my interviews and had formed a close relationship with the President of the Miss Universe Organization, Paula Shugart as well as knowing others in the organization and she had served as a judge for us as well. She talked to them about being able to meet me and we talked about being able to do special correspondence. My first 3 interviews were Zendaya, Lizzo and Millie Bobby Brown. I just remember thinking, “wow you guys couldn’t start me off with someone that was less famous?” But Iike that they had confidence and me and in those interviews, they went well and kept bringing me on for assignments and eventually brought me on as a regular correspondent.
AM: What have been some of the most engaging things that you have done in your time as an EXTRA correspondent?
CK: There’s so many! Some of the red carpets have been really cool with actors and celebrities. I think it can be overwhelming sometimes when it’s your first one. I remember my first red carpet it was for a television show that had been turned into a movie. I just remember that there were so many celebrities and I remember Martha Stewart being on the carpet and she was randomly taking a picture on her phone in my direction while I was interviewing someone and I thought, “Martha Stewart is aware of my existence possibly.” That was a cool moment. I have been able to interview some great people like Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, Henry Golding a couple of times and he was so sweet. I remember asking him who he was wearing and he said, “my wife dressed me.” She was literally standing behind me and I said, “thank you, you did a great job.” I’ve learned that the celebrities that I meet, they’re just real people and a lot of them are so kind and giving of their time and cool to talk to.
AM: How is it for you to prepare when it’s a one on one interview where you have a set period of time with someone versus something like a red carpet scenario where it’s one right after the other?
CK: For sure. You still try to research on the red carpet and to be aware of celebrities who could possibly be on the red carpet from background information, the movie that they are involved in etc. If it’s an event or a release, you want to know that as well so that you have that general knowledge. For smaller one on one interviews, I have more time to just focus on that person which I like. You don’t have to worry about having that publicist who grabs their client to get them into the next interview or that they’re really really tired after doing 7 interviews on a red carpet. It’s always great when you get a relaxed environment and people feel that they can take their guard down to talk to you. There’s also junkets where they are more like to red carpet and you have that back to back. So you just always have to do that prep.
AM: Tell us about White Collar Glam. It’s such an interesting concept and our readers would love to know more.
CK: It’s a blog that I started years ago as workwear fashion for women. I started it because I remember being in law school and there was a competition that I was preparing for trial bar. We made it through our regional competition and made it to nationals. I made it to nationals for this multiday competition and I brought 3 suits with me and one by one they were ruined while I was there. There was no air conditioning in one court room so I sweated through my suit and you could see the sweat marks from the outside.
The next day, I wore a different suit and it ripped while I walked to the court! So I was left with my last suit which was a little too big for me and it was drowning me. I remember just being frustrated and I was like, “I have this important competition and I need to focus on that, but I’m thinking about this suit and I don’t even know where to get another one.” My trial coach offered to take me to Brooks Brothers to get another one. I didn’t know a lot about it at the time except that it was expensive. My coach offered to buy it for me and I was like, “you can’t buy me a $600 suit.”
Luckily, my fellow competitors who were on my team from my school had banded together and fixed my first suit and we ended up winning the competition. After law school, I wanted to think of a way to create a resource to other women who may have been in my situation. You ruined a suit and didn’t know where to shop, you didn’t know where to get a suit that was affordable, accessories questions etc – I researched this and started to put together my blog. I wrote articles to answer questions that I think every woman has had at some time.
AM: It’s very cool – unfortunate that you ruined your 3 suits!
CK: Right? But it had a happy ending!
AM: Right and it’s something that people definitely could use!
What do you look at in terms of the legacy that you want to leave behind not just with your involvement in the Miss Universe Organization but also just what you’re doing with people?
CK: I hope that people remember that women are multidimensional. This can’t be hammered into society enough! We constantly have to be reminded that just because a woman is beautiful doesn’t mean that they can’t be smart and have an interest to do business ventures. For some people they look at Kim Kardashian who is a beautiful woman and a reality TV star and she built from that but she is incredibly business savvy. She has built this empire because she is driven, works hard and wants to provide for her family. Women are these beautiful creatures who have varied interests and it shouldn’t be limited because society can’t broaden their own perspective! That’s what I hope people will remember about me. I am an attorney but I also like walking around in swimsuits and competing in pageants. It’s one of my favorite areas of competition but in my free time, I will advocate for Dress for Success and love spending time with my family. Women are multidimensional and shouldn’t be limited.
AM: Are there other projects that you have going on that you are able to share?
CK: For sure! Besides working with EXTRA, I have also signed with a few Speaker’s Bureaus that I really love doing. With Miss USA, I loved speaking on women’s empowerment and social justice issues which continue to be important to me. I will continue to do this traveling – well not traveling so much now, but talking largely virtually now about this. Beyond that, I’m also a Diversity Advisor for the law firm that I previously worked for as an attorney. I knew that in the immediate future, I didn’t want to practice law but I connected to my firm in this new capacity so that I could work on inclusion and diversity plans with the firm and helping them to make sure that they are achieving that especially in an industry that lacks diversity and needs help. I’m talking about the entire legal industry as a whole in terms of inclusion, diversity and equity.
PHOTO CREDITS | PG 55 Sage Media Group Photography | PG 56 Miss Universe Organization | PG 60 Blue Method Films | Editors Note: Photos in She Empowers with Cheslie Kryst were taken prior to COVID-19
Hear Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst on our show, Bungalow SK - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multimedia companion podcast network! Subscribe to be notified when the episode drops. Listen on iHeart Radio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
Read the Nov Issue #59 of Athleisure Mag and see She Empowers with Cheslie Kryst in mag.
