Georgetown pageant Queen spreads awareness of sober living
Tessa Smith serves as a Georgetown Realtor in her day job, but holds the title of Mrs. Georgetown on the pageant circuit.
In March, she was crowned as a pageant Queen by Texas International Pageant. Ms. Smith holds the 2024 Mrs. Texas International title and will compete in this year’s national pageant.
She has used her platform as a Queen to endorse the mission of Austin nonprofit We Are Those People, which tells the stories of people who struggled with substance abuse.
“My cause is breaking the stigma on addiction and recovery,” Ms. Smith told the Sun July 12, during a celebration at Georgetown floral shop All Things New. “I want to create this sober-curious, sober glamorous lifestyle to create a movement for younger generations. It’s very energizing, actually.”
She said she’s been affected by addiction through experiences of family and friends.
“My nephew actually overdosed from Fentanyl,” she said. “Addiction can affect anybody. It doesn’t matter your gender identity, race, where you come from, your educational background. It can affect all of us. And it’s at the root of all these other issues that we’re dealing with — homelessness, child abuse, domestic violence. Substance abuse contributes to all that.”
Before last March, Ms. Smith had no experience with pageants. Although she had been a dancer growing up, Ms. Smith said she had never thought about competing, or even watched a pageant in person before taking the stage.
All Things New Owner Deborah Hobbs, who is a former pageant coach, said she believes Ms. Smith won the pageant because she was fresh and hadn’t competed before.
“There’s a stigma around pageants,” Ms. Smith said. “From the outside, I thought that it would be very catty, but it’s not at all. I think it’s amazing. It’s like a sisterhood, where everyone is helping each other and is kind. That’s really where the gold of pageantry is, the friends that you make.”
Ms. Smith signed up for the Mrs. Texas Pageant upon the recommendation of her friends, who said that it would be fun. She also saw it as an opportunity to bring awareness to her cause. She appreciated that half of the points of the pageant came from the interview portion of the competition. During her interview, she told the judges about her position on the board of We Are Those People.
We Are Those People will be releasing a docu series with Austin Film Society this September for National Recovery Month. The documentary shows just how many different people are affected by substance abuse.
“It’s people from all walks of life sharing their story of sobriety,” Ms. Smith said. “You can be a lawyer, you can be a teacher, a mom, a teenager— it’s everyone’s story, it’s really to share and spread hope to other people. If you’re early on in your sobriety journey, hearing stories of what they’ve gone through helps.”