Anna Brown and pageants are both a thing of beauty.
By entering pageants – Miss America and Miss USA sanctioned – Brown has been able to reinforce her association with some of the best talent in the industry. Nationally acclaimed Gregory Ellenburg of Greenville makes her gowns.
Brown will be competing in an Ellenburg gown in the Miss South Carolina pageant next week. “He knows how to dress a body,” said Brown. “The gown must be elegant. I love the gown I am wearing in the competition, it looks like it’s been poured on.”
Since graduating Greer High School in 2012, Brown was Miss Greer High School in 2009 and Miss Greater Greer Teen in 2010 where she competed in the Miss South Carolina Teen and was third runner-up.
Brown will compete as Miss Greater Hartsville this year.
Her talent is a dance to music by Whitney Houston, “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength”.
“I like that dance because it’s lyrical and I love to show my emotions when I dance,” said Brown. But most importantly the lyrics resonate with what Brown has had to overcome to hear the sounds of music, yet alone voices. “
The emotions are real for Brown just as the 50 percent hearing loss she was born with that made communicating with her mother difficult as a toddler.
Brown said she was told she was in a crib when her mother, Debbie, came into her room and called her name. “I didn’t react because I couldn’t hear her. Mom said she got two pans, banged them together and I didn’t react. That’s when she knew something was wrong.”
Through the years, Brown learned to adjust her hearing aids to the environment she was in, whether it was school, cheerleading, competitions or studying.
Brown’s platform is personal – educating people about the pitfalls of hearing loss and how to overcome the physical and mental deficiencies. “I want to share my story. Don’t put yourself down. God made you that way for a reason. It makes you work harder to not accept the negative that goes along with the handicap.”
Brown said she remembers her first pageant and enjoying the competitiveness while also presenting herself in pretty clothes, hair and makeup. Her mother dressed Miss America (Kimberly Clarice Aiken as Miss Columbia) and Miss USA (Lu Parker of Anderson) in 1994.
“My mom gave up a lot because of me. Working with the pageants is a lot of hard work. With Miss South Carolina competitions, my mom took care of me and other girls. She is very supportive and I couldn’t ask for a better mom.
“I have been with my mom at pageants, about 15 years with her backstage. We have had so much fun back there.”
When the pageants end, Brown, who is studying visual arts at Clemson, said she has always wanted to own her own boutique shop. Brown fashions her store to be similar to Entourage Clothing and Gifts located in Clemson.
Brown is the daughter of Mike and Debbie Brown.