OCEAN CITY — Some things come full circle.
For Amy Phillips, a 2015 Ocean City High School graduate competing later this month for the title of Miss New Jersey, it started when she was a sixth-grader with teacher Betty Pruitt, director of the Miss Cape May County Pageant.
Pruitt asked Phillips’ mother to volunteer with set design and working on the program book. Amy tagged along.
When a pageant contestant was absent from a rehearsal, Amy would act as the stand-in.
“I went to Payless, bought the cheapest little pair of kitten heels when I was 8 years old and I wore my high heels to the practices just like the big girls,” she said.
When she heads to Resorts Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City for the Miss New Jersey competition June 18-25, her escort with be none other than Pruitt — who is still director of what is now the Miss Cape May County Region Pageant — because that is the title Phillips holds.
Phillips entered her first pageant in 2008, the Future Miss Cape May County. That competition had one component, talent. She didn’t win, but when she was 13 she was eligible for Miss Cape May County Outstanding Teen.
“I was the youngest contestant, I was super shy and somehow, by the grace of God, I won the pageant. I think that was a sign of where I was meant to be,” she said.
In that internship-like experience, she was able to follow Miss Cape May County, ride in parades, advocate for a platform and compete for the statewide title.
Since then, she has held three teen titles through Miss America Outstanding Teen and won Miss Cape May County for the first time in 2019 after she graduated a year early from Towson University with a degree in mass communications. She won her latest title in October, making her eligible for Miss New Jersey this year.
Each title-holder has a platform. Phillips’ is Career Kickstart.
“I wanted to create a curriculum for students of all ages to feel better prepared before entering the workforce. I have held about 70 speaking engagements in schools, conferences and career fairs to better educate students on how to obtain their dream job,” she said.
She really loves working with primary schools “where you really get the creative imagination going. You really see the wheels turn in a young child’s mind when they think about what they want to be when they grow up. I love the answers: an Olympian, a Supreme Court justice, a hamster trainer.”
She wants others to have the opportunity to learn what she has through the Miss America Organization — public speaking and interview skills — because she realized not everyone has had that same opportunity.
Phillips put together curriculum with interview techniques, resume building, how to develop a personal brand and market that brand to employers. It’s inclusive, for people of all ages, genders and socioeconomic status.
At the competition in June, her talent will be jazz dance to a routine that she has choreographed.
Doing her own choreography is “more challenging and I’m always up for a challenge. I believe it shows the judges a more personal side as well. You’re not only performing the routine, but you’re also the one creating the routine.”
She is excited about the week-long competition. Going the first time “was about getting my feet wet,” Phillips said. “You don’t realize how tired you will be by the end of the week.
“They kind of put you in a bubble. You stay at Resorts Hotel in Atlantic City for the week and you’re not allowed to have your phone. It’s like a breath of fresh air. When you’re so wrapped up in your phone … it’s nice to put it down,” she said. “It’s good to have the bonding opportunity. It’s a real sisterhood.”
She enjoys the activities with the other contestants, including going to the Bert Parks statute at Kennedy Plaza across from Boardwalk Hall.
Phillips feels especially prepared.
The Cape May County resident is the daughter of Carol Phillips and the late Richard Phillips, who died while she was in college.
After graduation, she was hired by ABC and Fox News in Georgia and Alabama and was a TV news reporter for a while. She now is back home and working in public relations, doing social media and digital media for Mia’s Christmas Gallery in Ocean City. She interned with the sports network at her college and she also takes time to travel back to Towson, where she was hired to be the gymnastics broadcaster.
“I think this year out of all the years I’ve competed I feel the most prepared to take on the job of Miss New Jersey. It really is a job,” she said, explaining the Miss America Organization has made quite a few changes in the past few years.
Contestants sit down for an interview at a business table, like a regular job interview, rather than standing at a podium with a microphone. They replaced the swimsuit portion of the competition with a type of Ted Talk they present about their platforms.
“You never really had that opportunity to talk about the service work,” she said. “I have reached 25,000 people with mine and been to 70 speaking engagements, so I love that I get the opportunity on stage to let the judges know that. That’s a huge part of a job promotion.”
As she explains, Miss New Jersey “is no longer a pageant. It is a competition. We are no longer contestants. We are candidates. This is not a title that we win. It is a job that we earn.
“They are really trying to make it more of a job application and job promotion than a beauty contest, which I love because it goes hand in hand with my initiative, Career Kickstart.”
To learn more about the upcoming competition, visit missnj.org.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff