The devil is in the details for rodeo queen hopefuls looking to catch the eyes of judges.
Several girls took part in a rodeo queen clinic that had them fine tune their rodeo queen and princess skills.
Jo Lawes’ Queenie Central clinic brought six girls together, two from Saskatchewan, looking to hone their rodeo queen skills to be ready for a variety of pageants. Lawes hosts two clinics a year and brings her vast experience in the industry to give contestants that extra boost to garner a crown.
Over the course of the weekend Lawes showed girls ideal makeup tips but equally as important, the girls took time to know their strengths and weaknesses. This included planing for their career and future professional development.
Being well-rounded as a contestant is an important part of becoming a rodeo queen or princess. To help the ladies get oriented and focussed, Lawes also brought professionals in the different parts of the rodeo industry to speak on what works for them.
This included social media training and working on a positive public image. It was a full weekend with hat shaping tips, horsemanship and how to apply polo wraps for horses.
“We’ll be doing some modelling and some impromptu speaking,” added Lawes.
On top of everything else were tips on how to do a proper interview with judges. A rodeo announcer also took time to highlight what his views are on public image, “and sponsorship and how to promote yourself and your sponsors.”
As far as success stories, current Miss Ponoka Stampede, Ashley Akkermans and 2014 Miss Ponoka Stampede Katy Lucas have taken part in past clinics. Shelby Simmons, who was the 2013 Miss Ponoka Stampede also took part in past clinics.
Lawes is no stranger to the crown, she too earned the Miss Ponoka Stampede crown in 2004 and has taken her skills to contestants all over North America.