Andrea King won her first beauty pageant alongside her mother when she was just nine-years-old.
On Sunday night, the 25-year-old was crowned Miss World Guyana 2022, fulfilling a childhood desire of hers.
King emerged on top in the talent segment of this year’s competition with her mesmerising dance to ‘Guyana’ by Jackie Jaxx.
The well-rounded young woman also dominated several preliminary competitions and won the multimedia challenge, the people’s choice award, and the head-to-head challenge.
King is still stunned that she walked away with the crown but is eager to represent Guyana on the international stage.
“I am feeling wonderful, I am still basking in the moment. Last night was an amazing close to a wonderful journey and I am just really happy to be here,” King told the News Room during an interview on Monday.
She was among 10 candidates who participated in the pageant. The coronation ceremony was held on Sunday night at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown and saw the contestants take the stage in breathtaking evening gowns inspired by the country’s national flower – the Victoria Regia Lily.
King was born and raised in Georgetown and is one of four children for her parents. In 2006, King and her mother Deborah emerged as winners in the Junior Category of the prestigious Mother and Daughter Pageant.
“This crown comes with a lot of responsibility, it is an honour to have it on my head and I am grateful that the Miss World Guyana team saw something in me and saw the potential to represent my country so it means stewardship, it means responsibility, it means I am an ambassador representing my country and the Miss World Guyana Organisation,” an elated King said.
The young woman is a project manager at the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) and holds a degree in Business Management and Administration. She is now pursuing her Project Management Certification at the Nations University.
‘Beauty with a Purpose
Stemming from her own experiences of mishandling finances, King launched FLO (Financial Literacy Orientation), her Beauty with a Purpose Project.
Project FLO is teaching children to be financially literate under the theme ‘Learning about money before earning money.’
King explained that she believes this is a ‘missing link’ in education in Guyana.
As such and with assistance from the Bank of Guyana, King created a syllabus to teach financial literacy to students at the primary and secondary levels.
“My focus on financial literacy is because I see the gap in our educational foundation and I wanted to do something to fix that gap, and address it so I started some workshops with over 200 students.”
While continuing her workshops, King will advocate with the Ministry of Education to take up the mantle and provide financial literacy education in all schools throughout Guyana.
The support of King’s family was always there throughout the entire pageant.
“My mother was there, from casting she was there, every event, every rehearsal she was there, she showed up.
“My father was there in the background, he helped me write all my scripts, prepare all my content, the support was so great,” the young woman said.
For her, the most memorable part of this entire experience is meeting and creating lifelong bonds with all of the candidates.
King assured that supporters can look forward to a lot of hard work from her.
“You can expect to see great representation on the international stage and hopefully when I return with the crown, you can expect to see the good work that I started in this competition continue throughout the country.”
