Daily Inspiration: Meet Ava Shaw

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ava Shaw.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have been involved in pageants since I was a little over 3 I would say. My stepmom has worked for National American Miss for over 20 years, so gradually since I’ve been around the company for so long I started working and involving myself at 14. When I turned 18 I asked if I could compete in a pageant for the first time, since I was always around them but never competed it had always been my dream. I signed up for America’s Ideal Miss Missouri and in October of 2024 I won the title of America’s Ideal Miss Missouri Teen! Every pageant girl has her home life and the things she is apart of. Mine being modeling, golf, and flag football. But we also have our platforms for something we are passionate about changing in the world. Thus being where I decided to help make a change in the new generation and help build confidence throughout the community. I created Camp Confidence as a way for me to spread around not only my hometown but also hopefully my state and even the country in future aspects. Within Camp Confidence I go to elementary schools, hospitals, troops, anywhere I can help build confidence in kids and share my story with them!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I would say it got smoother the more I got involved with it. I struggled a lot to figure out a way to not only build up my platform but even find something I felt so passionately about but was different from other girls. My pageant coach helped me come up with the idea of Camp Confidence and gave me the idea to brand it into something of my own!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I wouldn’t really specify what I do into a category. I am a business owner, an entrepreneur, a networker, but I’m also a student and I use my creative abilities to make all of those happen and merge into one. Pageant girls accomplish so many things at once that not a lot of people can say they have done in their lifetime so, frankly I’m honored just to even have these opportunities in my life!

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I mainly talked to my closest friends and family about it, then the more I branched out and talked about my ambitions to others and networking with other people. I eventually found people with similar ambitions and found my mentors, being within pageants of forms a sisterhood in girls like none other. Not only do I have amazing mentors, it has also given me the opportunity to become one for the younger generation too!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ava.shaw29?igsh=dzhraHN4azVxeTRh&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1YrxJ7N5Et/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/camp.confidence_withava?igsh=MWJhMmI4NTBoZ2hicA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr