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Our first feature on the blog, is Miss Alix Troupe. PS my personal favorite:)

I’ve known Alix since the beginning of my pageant journey and let me tell you, this amazing woman stands for far more than hearing aids and being an HMU artist. This 24-year-old GIRL BOSS, who found out she was hearing impaired at 20 years old has personally helped me, as well as SO many others, push through life struggles and challenges with the best advice and encouragement someone can give. She’s genuinely amazing and has accomplished so much in life. Alix is the girl for life advice, but things get good and juicy when you’re in the makeup chair. She will make you laugh, cry, and everything in between.. she’s that awesome!!!

Alixandrea (Alix) Troupe, 24, South GA born and raised. Graduated from South GA state college with a Bachelors of Science in Business Management 

How have the struggles in your life taught you to embrace the good, such as being hearing impaired?  I truly feel like everything we go through in life is for a reason. It could take years to realize what that reason is but knowing that helps me get through some of those more difficult days. When it came to my hearing impairment news, I honestly was relieved. Relieved to know that I wasn’t just a poor listener. Relieved to know that there actually was a problem and I wasn’t crazy or dramatic. The best part about the news was that there was a “solution” I guess you could say. Modern-day hearing aids are so helpful when they are used correctly. I am so blessed that I 1. Could financially get the hearing aids 2. Was pointed in the direction of an incredible and patient audiologist. 

You have had the opportunity to inspire young ladies every weekend, what is one memory you will never forget that was touching to you and made you think “I love my job.”?  Gosh. So many memories. I love my job and my girls so dang much. To have a platform to do what I love and use my time to encourage young girls to dream as big as they can is truly a dream. If I have to pick one memory that just really sticks out for me it’s actually not a happy one. It was in a moment of complete disappointment and I realized at that second I could either encourage the disappointment or use my words to change this child’s perspective. It was after the announcement of the top 5 and she didn’t make it. She decided a couple of weeks before the pageant to compete and up until this point had typically always placed. If we’re being honest, she didn’t put in the work. She and I both know that. The tears fell and she looked at me with more disappointment than I’d ever seen at that point. I looked at her and said “you can’t decide on Friday that you want this on Saturday. You have to do the work”. She and I had a long conversation about goal setting and how investing time makes you want it that much more and it shows. This kid is now one of the hardest working young ladies I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. I’m so thankful to be apart of her journey and super thankful that she took that advice as a positive word. The thing about what I do is that it’s not always pretty. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies. Sometimes there are tears, fear of failure, exhaustion. At the end of the day, I still love my job.

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone that has found their passion but doesn’t know how/where to start to make it their career, for you it is being a HMU Artist?! Passion is not enough. You can have all the passion in the world but if you’re not willing to do the work you won’t make it. Take your time and put in the hours. DO THE WORK. Listen to the people who know more than you. It’s important to remember that you can never know everything and there will always be room to improve or grow. The day you think you have nothing to learn will be the day you plateau. Everyone’s approach to business is different. For me, it was always about making girls feel their best. That was, and still is, my number one priority. I am fair and honest and chose to let the rest fall into place. 

What is your favorite quote? “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” President Theodore Roosevelt 

There are a lot of ways one could interpret this quote but for me, it’s about taking chances. You can either be scared and live safely and never know the “what if’s” or you can put yourself out there and know that you tried!

How has pageantry contributed to your everyday life? Has it held a negative or positive impact? By far the greatest thing I’ve revived from pageantry is the relationships I’ve gained. I’ve gained a family and that’s incredible. I’ve met people from all over the country and that’s pretty special as well. I’ve learned to challenge myself to be the best Alix I can be. I will say though, and I tell all my girls this, don’t put a lot of stock into a pageant goal or dream. Coming from someone who has wanted to go to Miss USA for 17 years… I have no control over what those 5 people put on that paper. All I can do is work as hard as I can and take the experience for what it is. At the end of the day, I know that I don’t need a crown to make a difference and those 5 people certainly do not define my value.

 I know you want to talk about hearing and I’m totally game for that but honestly, the biggest struggle for me hasn’t been that. It was growing up at 17. Realizing that if I wanted something I was going to have to work for it. No one was going to give it to me. I decided at 17 that I didn’t want a certain kind of life. So I got a job and then another job. I worked those two jobs all the way through college. I became the first person in my family to earn a college degree. I did it and fully financially supported myself while doing it too. I use to be so embarrassed by the fact that it wasn’t easy for me. I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted people to see the pretty. Success. The happy. The reality is it was hard. I missed a lot of the “young adult being a kid life”. The fact is though, that is a reality for so many other kids too. It’s important for people to know that they do have a choice when it comes to their future. Boys and girls listen up, YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN MAKE YOUR DREAMS HAPPEN. If you’re willing to work hard, make sacrifices, and look forward you will get there. You are not where you come from, only where you are going.

To keep in touch with Alix, follow her on instagram @alex_withan_i.