SURF CITY, N.C. (WECT) – Watching her walk across the stage at the Miss North Carolina USA pageant, you would never know that Kenzie Hansley hasn’t always felt like a pageant queen.

“I was that shy kid who wanted to hide behind my parent’s legs, I wouldn’t speak unless spoken to. I was just very timid,” Kenzie said.

Kenzie said it all started to change when she entered her first pageant at 10 years old, earning herself the title of Junior Miss Wilmington.

Even her parents, who weren’t initially on board with pageantry, said the transformation Kenzie went through was incredible.

“Kenzie was painfully shy at 10 years old,” Kenzie’s dad Stan Hansley said. “The pageant world really brought out a different person in her. The confidence just grew and grew. We did start to enjoy the pageant life because of that.”

With the support of her parents, her hometown of Hampstead, and eventually her hometown of Surf City after she moved in her adolescence, Kenzie’s pageant career continued to thrive.

She was crowned Miss North Carolina Teen USA in 2016 and was the first runner-up at the Miss North Carolina USA pageant in 2023. Kenzie knew as soon as that pageant was over, that she would come back even stronger the next year.

She realized her hard work had paid off when her name was called as the new Miss North Carolina USA on June 15.

“I pretty much, everything blacked out,” Hansley said. “They called my name, I went down and I don’t remember a single thing. The only thing flooding my head was how much hard work and dedication and preparation paid off.”

Her parents said they couldn’t be any prouder.

“She has worked really hard. Just like any athletic program, she is an athlete in this field,” Kenzie’s mom Robin Hansley said. “She has walking coaches, interview prep, wardrobe prep. She has a team that surrounds her and every day she works on something pageant-related.”

“I even get a little emotional talking about it because she wanted it so bad,” Stan Hansley said. “I still think my voice is off from screaming so much.”

Outside of her own pageants, Kenzie has discovered two main passions: advocacy and mentorship.

Her advocacy journey started after an unfortunate experience.

“Two years ago I became apart of that statistic that one in three women worldwide will experience a sexual assault of some type,” Kenzie said. “I felt lost and for a couple of weeks and months after that experience, I just didn’t feel like myself.”

That’s when Kenzie decided to take a self-defense class. She said it helped her feel more confident, so she wanted to create more opportunities for others to gain that same sense of security. She teamed up with her trainer to create a series of self-defense classes called “Women on Fire.” It teaches both prevention techniques, and there are specialized classes for survivors of sexual assault.

Kenzie said one of her favorite activities, though, is mentoring other girls in the pageant world.

“I always get emotional when I talk about the girls I’ve been able to mentor,” Kenzie said. “I took up the mentorship aspect of it because I know what it’s like to be one of the little girls in a crown and sash staring up at the big girls who are posing for photos, speaking on stage, doing these community service events. I understand how inspiring that could be. There were a lot of little girls who I mentor in the audience that night and I could see them, I could hear them, they were screaming my name and yelling for me, the same way I do at their pageants and events.”

Kenzie’s mom, Robin, said mentorship is one of her favorite things to watch Kenzie do.

“I’ve always said, she’s tall. She’s 5′11. With her big girl heels on as we call it, she’s almost 6′4,” Robin said. “Yet, you never look up for her, you always look on the ground because she is on the ground with the little girls in her lap. And that warms my heart more than anything.”

Kenzie said despite what others may think, she believes participating in pageantry can have a lot of benefits for young girls.

“I think a lot of people have this misconception that pageantry is very stereotypical, it’s just about a beautiful woman in a beautiful gown,” Kenzie said. “It’s so much more than getting on stage and smiling. These girls are educated, they’re accomplished and to be in that group of people, whether that is all 45 of us who competed, top 10, top 5, you look to your left and right and see accomplished young women.”

Kenzie said it’s been a whirlwind since the day she was crowned. She’s already been booking appearances and events on top of preparing for the Miss USA competition this August. She hopes to bring the title back to her hometown.

“The communities of Hampstead, Surf City and Wilmington have always stepped behind me and I think that’s truly incredible about Wilmington. It makes me proud to be where I’m from. There’s really nothing like our community,” Kenzie said. “It’s amazing to just be Miss North Carolina USA, and I’m so grateful. But now to be able to go and continue chasing that dream of going to Miss USA, it just makes my 10-year-old heart scream.”

The Miss USA competition is on August 4.

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