Born on the Island of Curacao, Columbian beauty queen, Nashaira Belisa, perfectly combines beauty, grace, class, elegance and brains. After winning several national and international beauty crowns, Belisa crowned her pageantry efforts with intelligence and sophistication. The multilingual CEO of Pageant House is currently studying International and European Law, and resides in Nigeria. In this exclusive interview with SEGUN ADEBAYO, she speaks on life beyond beauty.

What is your first memory of fashion, beauty and the world of style?

I always loved to walk on my mom’s high heels and play with her makeup. The next thing I remember is my mom registering me at a modelling agency at the age of four. That’s how it all started.

Before now, many considered beauty queens as airheads with no ambition. As a well-accomplished woman, how does it feel to be more than just about beauty?

Somewhere between jean sizes and makeup palettes, the definition of what it means to be beautiful seems to have been overtaken by physical and materialistic standards. Beauty might be in the eyes of the beholder, but it’s not entirely about aesthetics. Beauty starts from the inside and works its way out, meaning the more beauty you internalise, the more beautiful you’ll feel in your skin, your clothes, and the more confidence will radiate from a simple flash of your smile.

There’s no one lipstick shade or little black dress you can throw on that’ll automatically make you feel beautiful. It’s more than that. Personally, I feel my absolute best and most beautiful, both mentally and physically on days when every creative juice inside my body is flowing. It typically starts with a workout that pushes my body to its limits, followed by a nice warm shower and a good book. Then later, when I set my pen to paper and the ideas pour onto the pages, forming a string of words that sound as good as they feel; to me, that’s beauty.

Those are the kinds of days when I look in the mirror, and the person reflecting at me feels beautiful. I am glad I can enlighten people that beauty queens are just more than airheads. Unfortunately, this has been a wrong notion and the time to clear the air is now. A lot of these beauty queens have been through a lot before and after the pageant. Some have gone ahead and made names for themselves;

The pageant industry can be quite competitive, what is your recipe for success?

Enthusiasm: Choose a career you love, not just the one which makes you the most money. Time: Don’t take on so many projects most of which you end up rushing or abandoning. Energy: Giving yourself the downtime that you need to relax and re-energise. Support: Look for a conference or other event that relates to your goal – you’ll get a real buzz from a focused period of time spent in the company of others who share your dreams and ambitions.

Tell us about your foundation and all your other exploits focused on women and mothers?

I launched my foundation in 2013 in Curaçao and Colombia. The idea of providing aid to women and mothers started when I saw the need for it. I’ve seen so many women actually become superheroes. Mothers, sisters, students trying to have a personal life; and to be fair it’s not easy. The help is needed and the opportunity for me to provide it presented itself.

When and why did you come to Nigeria?

I arrived in Nigeria in March and started pitching my project; six months later it is becoming a reality. Pageant House Foundation has started work and is already involved in some projects. We have been involved in a water project. We have had the privileged to share with some communities and orphanage homes and look forward to further projects with more NGOs, orphanages, and communities. We intend to reach out to so many and hope to work with notable organisations in Nigeria.

Have you experienced beauty pageants in Nigeria, what was it like?

As a result of my participation in Miss Universe and Miss World, I have experienced and understood pageantry around the world, including Nigeria since I met and got close to your beauty ambassadors. Also, the company I started required me to do more research as well. Trust me, you will find me at the front row of these next events coming up.

If you could turn back time, what would you do differently?

I feel like wisdom and life lessons from our parents should be taken more seriously. These powerful life experiences should be taken as a gift and are meant to make our lives easier, but as young people we tend to do and or follow whatever we think is best. Meanwhile we could actually save ourselves some heartaches.

Which of the titles or awards you have won means the most to you?

That was when I won Teen Princess of the World in the Dominican Republic. It was an honour to have represented my island and won, though Curaçao is a small island. I must say it was shown that we are a hidden treasure.

What’s the next exploit for you?

My current project, Pageant House, will take the next two years of my life to launch properly. But my personal main focus is TV production, e-commerce and advisory.

What’s the most amazing thing about being a beauty queen?

It is to be able to access women all around the world; and to be able to impact women positively. Obviously, the fact that I got to feel like a princess and the combination of it is just amazing.

Walk us through your daily beauty routine?

I wake up by 7 am, work out by 7:30, follow my skin routine and then I’m ready to start my day. Nothing too crazy, but I must add that drinking a gallon of water a day definitely helps a healthy lifestyle.