March 5, 2025 • 10 mins
Backstage Pass host, Victoria Elizabeth, sits down with Pageant Planet founder, Steven Roddy onsite at the “Best in Pageantry” Awards and Gala at the beautiful Virgin Hotel in Nashville TN. Despite a few interruptions (the interview was being conducted while set up was taking place for the evening’s event), the duo chatted about everything from Pageant Planet’s humble origins (Roddy started the site with only $20 to his name on a lap top while using Starbuck’s free WiFi) to now being celebrated as the top connectivity platform for some of the world's largest national and global pageant systems.
Be sure to get connected by following “Pageant Planet” on all major social medias platforms and by visiting https://www.pageantplanet.com.
Be sure to get connected by following “Pageant Planet” on all major social medias platforms and by visiting https://www.pageantplanet.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the FCB Podcast Network. This is Spacies Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hi, everyone, and welcome into another episode of Backstage Pass.
It's your host here, Victoria Elizabeth, and we are here
with the founder of Pageant Planet, Stephen Roddy, at the
Beautiful Virgin Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Stephen, how are you tonight?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I'm awesome, Victoria Elizabeth, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I am doing just great. I'm even better now that
I'm here. I mean, there is a banquet being set up,
a red carpet. This is a fabulous event. Tell us
a little bit about this Pageant Planet gala. What is
this all about.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So it's really a gala that's designed to celebrate the industry,
and it's a time it's basically the Oscars, but for pageantry, okay.
And so it's a time where we can come together
and we can celebrate who did have the best dress
of twenty twenty four and who was the best coach,
and who was the best hair and makeup stylist, and
who had the best pageant. And so we give out awards,
(01:10):
and we have good drinks and great food and really
just celebrate one another.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Wonderful. Take us back to the origins of all of this.
How did you get started in the pageant industry?
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Gosh? So when I was twenty three, I bought an
arena football team in Georgia, and I was like, who's
the prettiest girl I can get to do the coin toss?
And since the football team was in Georgia, I thought,
maybe I can hire miss Georgia. I don't know, maybe
that's a thing, and so you know, she came and
I hired her, and then we started dating. And then
after the football team, I was looking for my next
business to start, and I just really was drawn to
(01:45):
pageantry one. I saw a very big opportunity because the
industry was highly fragmented and at that time in two
thousand and nine, contestants didn't know where to find a
coach or hair and makeup stylist because there was no
centralized location to even find new pageants. So I decided
to build one online. The other thing is I saw
(02:09):
the girl that I date and dated, she went through
a metamorphosis in her confidence and in her look. Because
what I discovered is that when you win a pageant,
you're surrounded by this supportive team of people that say, oh,
this color looks best on your skin tone. This is
the best way that you should do your hair. You
should consider doing your makeup like this. This is how
(02:31):
you walk in heels, this is how you talk on
a microphone. And it's really lifelong skill sets that would
be advantageous to a woman and for me. And there's
obviously pageants for men too, but for me, I had
to go to personal development courses. Business courses hire consultants
to learn the same thing that contestants get for free
(02:54):
in essence, like when they win.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Of course, So you know, many world leaders and media
personalities got their start in pageants, but you still have
certain groups that say pageants are vapid and shallow, and
you know, so what would be your I guess the
main thing you would say to combat that narrative.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, I would just say that they're just ignorant of
the benefits, Like you wouldn't say that Little League t
ball is like irrelevant because the people don't go on
to become professional baseball players, and they just see it
as this antiquated thing that and they always say that
men are in the audience kind of judging the women,
and realistically, when you look at the audience there's primarily
(03:33):
women and gay men if there's any of you, so,
and the men that are there probably like boyfriends affording
their girls and dads supporting their girls. But the thing
that pageantry is about, if you look at pageantry from
what it really is, it's a glorified job interview for
a spokesmodel position. So how pageantry was originally created is
(03:57):
it was a swimsuit competition. But that's because the swimwear
line they were looking for a spokes model. So that's
why the girls started competing first and swimwear right because
they were looking for who would be the best swimsuit model.
And then what's the next thing. The next thing is
they needed to be able to talk on camera, you know,
so then like, okay, let's do the on stage interview
(04:19):
because we need to see how they respond in front
of an audience, like if they're asked a question. And
then it's like, well, let's see how they dress up.
Because you're not gonna wear a swimsuit to a gala,
but if you're a spokesmodel of a swimwear company, then
you know you might be asked to go to a gala.
So that's that's how it is. And if you look
at pageantry through the lens of a job glorified job
(04:39):
interview for a spokesmodel position, some of the phases of
competition start to make more sense. So why girls are
asked to do certain things like that because when they win,
they will represent that pageant organization for the next twelve
months and their job is to recruit new girls to
come in to basically take their job.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Of course, what would you say has been the most
defining moment of your pageant planet journey? What's been the
one standout moment that you said, you know, this is
all worth it if you could name just one.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, I mean the first thing that came to mind.
It might not seem like this, but I what brought
me into pageantry is actually the football team failed and
so I had to start out delivering it from nothing.
And I got the idea of this site, and but
I didn't have any money. I had twenty dollars, So
(05:34):
that's why I started the site with twenty dollars fifteen
years well really yep, and the only thing I would
really had was a desktop computer, and there was an
Apple desktop computer, so I would literally because back in
the day in two thousand and nine, internet was a
little more expensive than it is now. Sure, so I
took my whole monitor and keep adding all that, and
(05:55):
I would give to a local Starbucks and I would
plug it in. I'd be like typing, and I would
type all the blogs, three blogs a day every day.
So I'd sit down and type about twenty seven blogs
or twenty one blogs for the week, and I preschedule
them all. Sure, and an effort to try to build
this thing from scratch. And I remember people laughing at me,
(06:17):
and I remember being embarrassed, but I needed to do something.
If not, I would be waiting tables the rest of
my life, of course, And so it was painful. But
the process of going through that and who I became
in that process, that's the most defining, because just like
(06:38):
any entrepreneur, you want your business to be bigger, and
we are globally recognized company. But who I became in
that process of going back and forth was.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Critical, wonderful. I mean that what an inspiring story, you know,
because I feel like we've all been through that, especially
a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, many of us start
from nothing. And yes, you have naysayers, you have people
laugh at you and look at what you are now.
So congratulations on that. Now a plug that I have
to give personally for Pageant Planet. I come from America's
next top model. I do a lot of mentorship of models,
(07:11):
so I use pageant Planet to connect with other pageant
directors who bring me on as a judge. So I'm
a judge and I go on and I have made
the best connections through pageant Planet. I cannot rave about
this side enough. I've been using it since twenty twenty,
I believe. So tell us a little bit, Stephen, for
those that may not know what pageant Planet is, who
should sign up for pageant Planet and what can you
(07:32):
benefit from signing up?
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah, so the best way if you're familiar at all
with the wedding industry, Basically pageant Planet is to the
pageant industry what the not is to the wedding industry.
So if we serve three categories of people, so pageant
directors and contestants and experts. So if you're a pageant director,
(07:55):
naturally we have software that helps you score and manage
all of your contestants. If you're a contestant, we have
software that literally you just link your profile to whatever
your pageant you have coming up, and then the system
will tell you when you need to start training and
like for what. So we'll say like, oh, your pageant's
three months away, you need to start working on your
evening gown walk and then here's how to do it.
(08:17):
And then your pageant is now four days away. Now
you need to book your hair appointment or nail appointment
or whatever. So since push notifications all that, and if
you're an expert, it helps you find clients. It's if
you're a judge, it helps you find judging opportunities, MC's
MC opportunities, things like that. So it really does just
connect the industry together.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Of course, it's so worth it. It's like a booking
agent without all of the fees. You know, you just
sign up and there you're connected to this whole world.
We're here at this wonderful and I know you've got
to go, You've got a red carpet to get off to.
But it's the best in pageantry awards. When did you
start this? How did it start?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
So it started actually eleven years ago, but it was
all online and so I was like, gosh, nobody's really
like honoring these directors, these contestants, these experts. So it's like,
you know, we should come up with a scoring and
a rating system to see, really who is the best
of the best. And then last year was the first
year that we actually did it in person, so I
was like, oh, we've been doing it this tenth year anniversary,
(09:17):
let's just celebrate them. And then this year was the
year that we expanded it further and we started to
bring in the top coaches in the industry and the
top pageant directors in the industry to train directors how
to do on a more profitable and efficient pageant. And
so all these coaches over there train these contestants. I
mean these coaches that came in. The cheapest one is
(09:38):
about one hundred and fifty dollars an hour, and girls
this year they only had to spend two and it
was three hundred and fifty dollars to attend and they
get all their meals, drinks, and about eight hours worth
of coaching for all of that. And these are the
top people in the industry.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
That is wonderful. So, Stephen, if we want to read
for next year's best in pageantry, if we want to
connect with the pageant Planet World. How do we do that?
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Just go to pageantplanet dot com, look at the menu
and click best in Pageantry.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Wonderful. We're going to be posting up all of those
links how you can follow and get connected with the
Pageant Planet team. Stephen, thank you so much for spending
time with us.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Thank you for coming here and interviewing me. I really
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And thank you as always for listening in. We will
see you next time on backstage pass.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network,
where Real Talk lives. Visit us online at fcbpodcasts dot com.
This is the FCB Podcast Network. This is Spacies Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hi, everyone, and welcome into another episode of Backstage Pass.
It's your host here, Victoria Elizabeth, and we are here
with the founder of Pageant Planet, Stephen Roddy, at the
Beautiful Virgin Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Stephen, how are you tonight?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I'm awesome, Victoria Elizabeth, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I am doing just great. I'm even better now that
I'm here. I mean, there is a banquet being set up,
a red carpet. This is a fabulous event. Tell us
a little bit about this Pageant Planet gala. What is
this all about.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So it's really a gala that's designed to celebrate the industry,
and it's a time it's basically the Oscars, but for pageantry, okay.
And so it's a time where we can come together
and we can celebrate who did have the best dress
of twenty twenty four and who was the best coach,
and who was the best hair and makeup stylist, and
who had the best pageant. And so we give out awards,
(01:10):
and we have good drinks and great food and really
just celebrate one another.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Wonderful. Take us back to the origins of all of this.
How did you get started in the pageant industry?
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Gosh? So when I was twenty three, I bought an
arena football team in Georgia, and I was like, who's
the prettiest girl I can get to do the coin toss?
And since the football team was in Georgia, I thought,
maybe I can hire miss Georgia. I don't know, maybe
that's a thing, and so you know, she came and
I hired her, and then we started dating. And then
after the football team, I was looking for my next
business to start, and I just really was drawn to
(01:45):
pageantry one. I saw a very big opportunity because the
industry was highly fragmented and at that time in two
thousand and nine, contestants didn't know where to find a
coach or hair and makeup stylist because there was no
centralized location to even find new pageants. So I decided
to build one online. The other thing is I saw
(02:09):
the girl that I date and dated, she went through
a metamorphosis in her confidence and in her look. Because
what I discovered is that when you win a pageant,
you're surrounded by this supportive team of people that say, oh,
this color looks best on your skin tone. This is
the best way that you should do your hair. You
should consider doing your makeup like this. This is how
(02:31):
you walk in heels, this is how you talk on
a microphone. And it's really lifelong skill sets that would
be advantageous to a woman and for me. And there's
obviously pageants for men too, but for me, I had
to go to personal development courses. Business courses hire consultants
to learn the same thing that contestants get for free
(02:54):
in essence, like when they win.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Of course, So you know, many world leaders and media
personalities got their start in pageants, but you still have
certain groups that say pageants are vapid and shallow, and
you know, so what would be your I guess the
main thing you would say to combat that narrative.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, I would just say that they're just ignorant of
the benefits, Like you wouldn't say that Little League t
ball is like irrelevant because the people don't go on
to become professional baseball players, and they just see it
as this antiquated thing that and they always say that
men are in the audience kind of judging the women,
and realistically, when you look at the audience there's primarily
(03:33):
women and gay men if there's any of you, so,
and the men that are there probably like boyfriends affording
their girls and dads supporting their girls. But the thing
that pageantry is about, if you look at pageantry from
what it really is, it's a glorified job interview for
a spokesmodel position. So how pageantry was originally created is
(03:57):
it was a swimsuit competition. But that's because the swimwear
line they were looking for a spokes model. So that's
why the girls started competing first and swimwear right because
they were looking for who would be the best swimsuit model.
And then what's the next thing. The next thing is
they needed to be able to talk on camera, you know,
so then like, okay, let's do the on stage interview
(04:19):
because we need to see how they respond in front
of an audience, like if they're asked a question. And
then it's like, well, let's see how they dress up.
Because you're not gonna wear a swimsuit to a gala,
but if you're a spokesmodel of a swimwear company, then
you know you might be asked to go to a gala.
So that's that's how it is. And if you look
at pageantry through the lens of a job glorified job
(04:39):
interview for a spokesmodel position, some of the phases of
competition start to make more sense. So why girls are
asked to do certain things like that because when they win,
they will represent that pageant organization for the next twelve
months and their job is to recruit new girls to
come in to basically take their job.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Of course, what would you say has been the most
defining moment of your pageant planet journey? What's been the
one standout moment that you said, you know, this is
all worth it if you could name just one.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, I mean the first thing that came to mind.
It might not seem like this, but I what brought
me into pageantry is actually the football team failed and
so I had to start out delivering it from nothing.
And I got the idea of this site, and but
I didn't have any money. I had twenty dollars, So
(05:34):
that's why I started the site with twenty dollars fifteen
years well really yep, and the only thing I would
really had was a desktop computer, and there was an
Apple desktop computer, so I would literally because back in
the day in two thousand and nine, internet was a
little more expensive than it is now. Sure, so I
took my whole monitor and keep adding all that, and
(05:55):
I would give to a local Starbucks and I would
plug it in. I'd be like typing, and I would
type all the blogs, three blogs a day every day.
So I'd sit down and type about twenty seven blogs
or twenty one blogs for the week, and I preschedule
them all. Sure, and an effort to try to build
this thing from scratch. And I remember people laughing at me,
(06:17):
and I remember being embarrassed, but I needed to do something.
If not, I would be waiting tables the rest of
my life, of course, And so it was painful. But
the process of going through that and who I became
in that process, that's the most defining, because just like
(06:38):
any entrepreneur, you want your business to be bigger, and
we are globally recognized company. But who I became in
that process of going back and forth was.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Critical, wonderful. I mean that what an inspiring story, you know,
because I feel like we've all been through that, especially
a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, many of us start
from nothing. And yes, you have naysayers, you have people
laugh at you and look at what you are now.
So congratulations on that. Now a plug that I have
to give personally for Pageant Planet. I come from America's
next top model. I do a lot of mentorship of models,
(07:11):
so I use pageant Planet to connect with other pageant
directors who bring me on as a judge. So I'm
a judge and I go on and I have made
the best connections through pageant Planet. I cannot rave about
this side enough. I've been using it since twenty twenty,
I believe. So tell us a little bit, Stephen, for
those that may not know what pageant Planet is, who
should sign up for pageant Planet and what can you
(07:32):
benefit from signing up?
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah, so the best way if you're familiar at all
with the wedding industry, Basically pageant Planet is to the
pageant industry what the not is to the wedding industry.
So if we serve three categories of people, so pageant
directors and contestants and experts. So if you're a pageant director,
(07:55):
naturally we have software that helps you score and manage
all of your contestants. If you're a contestant, we have
software that literally you just link your profile to whatever
your pageant you have coming up, and then the system
will tell you when you need to start training and
like for what. So we'll say like, oh, your pageant's
three months away, you need to start working on your
evening gown walk and then here's how to do it.
(08:17):
And then your pageant is now four days away. Now
you need to book your hair appointment or nail appointment
or whatever. So since push notifications all that, and if
you're an expert, it helps you find clients. It's if
you're a judge, it helps you find judging opportunities, MC's
MC opportunities, things like that. So it really does just
connect the industry together.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Of course, it's so worth it. It's like a booking
agent without all of the fees. You know, you just
sign up and there you're connected to this whole world.
We're here at this wonderful and I know you've got
to go, You've got a red carpet to get off to.
But it's the best in pageantry awards. When did you
start this? How did it start?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
So it started actually eleven years ago, but it was
all online and so I was like, gosh, nobody's really
like honoring these directors, these contestants, these experts. So it's like,
you know, we should come up with a scoring and
a rating system to see, really who is the best
of the best. And then last year was the first
year that we actually did it in person, so I
was like, oh, we've been doing it this tenth year anniversary,
(09:17):
let's just celebrate them. And then this year was the
year that we expanded it further and we started to
bring in the top coaches in the industry and the
top pageant directors in the industry to train directors how
to do on a more profitable and efficient pageant. And
so all these coaches over there train these contestants. I
mean these coaches that came in. The cheapest one is
(09:38):
about one hundred and fifty dollars an hour, and girls
this year they only had to spend two and it
was three hundred and fifty dollars to attend and they
get all their meals, drinks, and about eight hours worth
of coaching for all of that. And these are the
top people in the industry.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
That is wonderful. So, Stephen, if we want to read
for next year's best in pageantry, if we want to
connect with the pageant Planet World. How do we do that?
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Just go to pageantplanet dot com, look at the menu
and click best in Pageantry.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Wonderful. We're going to be posting up all of those
links how you can follow and get connected with the
Pageant Planet team. Stephen, thank you so much for spending
time with us.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Thank you for coming here and interviewing me. I really
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And thank you as always for listening in. We will
see you next time on backstage pass.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network,
where Real Talk lives. Visit us online at fcbpodcasts dot com.
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