The Pageant of Life
An Interview with Lorrine Coleman-Ross
Index: LB=Lady Blu/ LR=Lorrine Ross/ MSFFDMV= Ms. Full-Figured D.M.V./ MSFFUSA=Ms. Full-Figured U.S.A.
Helloooo my #BluTribe and Beauties! So I’m starting a new series where I interview and write about impactful women. Whether they are business owners, teachers, or Directors of a pageant, if she is doing the damn thing and sharing good with the world. Then Imma interview and write about her! And NO this won’t only focus on black women, however most will be of African diaspora. With that out the way let’s focus on the one and only Lorrine Ross!!!
When you become an adult no one warns you, HOW much you will change or how you will always have to adapt to what life throws at you. Or the fact that you won’t want a lot of things to change and those are the very things that do change. Lorrine Ross is the poster-child of change. No matter the type of change life throws at her, she always finds a way to adapt and be better. Throughout our conversation every transitional period in Lorrine’s life, she speaks about herself and family with so much grace, joy, and laughter. And that’s one thing I want us all to do when we discuss our younger/past selves, speak about that person with kindness and love. Because without them, you wouldn’t be here.
As you may or may not know our woman of the hour, the beauty I described in the paragraph above is a wife, mother of 4, sister, entrepreneur, friend, and thee Director of the Ms. Full-Figured D.M.V. Pageant! None of those titles are easy to uphold especially, when you have to grow-up quickly. One of the first questions I asked Lorrine was,
LB: “Do you feel like your past plays a part in your drive when it comes to running the pageant?”
LR: “Yes it definitely does!”
As Lorrine was answering the question she revealed to me she lost her sister at an early age, how that inspires her to continue to run the pageant and even how that pushed her in participating in the Ms. Full-Figured U.S.A Pageant before becoming a Director herself.
LR: “That drives me to make sure this is an experience that’s life lasting and not just something to do.”
Prime example of taking God’s challenges and life changes and turning them into something powerful. Lorrine has loss most of her biological siblings and close family, from that she has built a network of sisters and a thriving sisterhood with a few brothers sprinkled in.
LB: “What’s your favorite part of the pageant?”
“It’s Audition Time! Why? Because I get to meet so many women.” She says excitedly. “They’re raw, very raw (the one time she let her South East DC accent slip)…I love that part because they are their most excited and they know their why right then and there. “
LB: “They’re less jaded.”
LR: Yes, they are! They really are!
“I want them to take away the understanding that this is suppose to enhance you.” -Lorrine
LB: “What is ONE thing you wish all delegates take away from this experience?”
LR:“A new vision of themselves… To bring it to make-up, because you know all about that. LOL We don’t use it to change who we are, we use it to enhance who we are. And I want them to take this experience as an enhancement to their lives, bringing out their full potential to figure out: what they want to do, who they want to be, and how they want to represent who they are, so once they are done (with the pageant) it’s a plus, not a minus.”
Once you’ve learned the lesson life throws at you, normally enhancement is right around the corner. Think about it, when a child or college student changes their “bad” study habits and/or apply themselves it shows in their grades. With Lorrine and her sisterhood enhancement is a must! She doesn’t allow her sisters to use their past, current situation, or fear as an excuse not to enhance themselves. After having her first daughter at the age of 15, Lorrine has always been focused on enhancing her life for her children, husband, family, and most importantly herself. Outside of this interview, I personally have seen Lorrine tell her story and she doesn’t bad mouth her naysayers or use a different tone; she holds her head high and speaks on how she grew from that place and still loves those naysayers just from afar. In the words of Michelle Obama, “when they go low, we go high”.
LB: “Would you ever participate in another pageant?”
LR: I don’t see myself participating in another pageant. Because it’s not my calling anymore; I think my calling is being more of a supportive role. Being a Director is definitely a supportive role. Most people look at it as a leadership role and that’s it. No… I’m like the best bartender in the world when it comes to emotional {laughter} breakdowns, managing stress, and finding ways to relieve that. No, I don’t hand you a drink, but you do get something from me being a support to you during the process. Me being in another pageant… My God, no. LOL I don’t think that’s for me anymore.
Believe it or not she stills gets approach about being other pageants as a delegate. Realizing that what you use to do, is not where you need to stay is a super power within itself. It’s easy to be the big fish in a small pond, but are you willing to be the small fish in a big ocean for a little while to grow into your potential???
“You’re NOT going to mesh with everybody, but you will RESPECT everybody.” -Lorrine
LB: “What’s the hardest lesson you’ve learned with being a Pageant Director?
LR: “Everybody is not going to sing Kumbaya.”
LB: Yeah, I understand that… LOL
LR: “I really really really believe in the power of unity and I want everyone to get along with each other. In the beginning I was like, “no, no, no, just be ok…everything will be fine.” And baby it took me until this 5th anniversary to realize it; I get it now. Now I start it off with saying, “You’re NOT going to mesh with everybody, but you will RESPECT everybody.” And I encourage the women to look at the connections they are making versus the one’s they aren’t making. Because that’s the sisterhood you want to hold on to. You have to take away your goods from this. A lot of times people hold on to the negatives.“
LB: “Kumbaya is not Kumbaya unless you want it to be.”
LCR: “Exactly”
LB: “Would you ever create your own pageant brand?”
LR: “That has been a flowing question amongst a lot of people. I don’t know what the future may hold. MSFFDMV is very much a mixture of myself and those who have participated along the way. We definitely have developed a program within the MSFFUSA brand, that has our own little spin on it. I wouldn’t say it couldn’t happen. But you never know what the future may hold.”
I am what I look like I’ve been through, because God favors me. -Lorrine
Lorrine is a woman that embraces change and approach it with grace and humility. Building something that not only supports a healing that she needed, but it also support a community of women who want it. Participating in the MSFFDMV pageant definitely polished me up a little bit and put me in connection with a lot of women who I may have never met if it wasn’t for this. Yes, it’s a pageant so you have to be poised and graceful MOST of the time, but that don’t mean you can’t have fun and be humorous! Towards the end of conversation, I was asking Lorrine some filler questions and verifying some of her information. And we got on the subject of her children and their ages. So of course she breaking it down… *D- 27 years-old, A-23 years-old, H-20 years-old, and C-18 years-old ( 3 girls and a boy).
LR: I remember telling a lady recently all my children’s ages and she stop and said, “27?!” with a shocked voice. I calmly said, “Yeah, I opened my legs a little early.”
When I tell you, the laugh we shared after that was so boisterous and contagious! Yes, your past is your PAST, but you’re the author or should I say Director of your very own pageant called Life.
To learn more about Lorrine and the Ms. Full-Figured D.M.V Pageant:
www.msfullfigureddmv.com
www.instagram.com/ladiross
www.instgram.com/msfullfigureddmvpageant
www.facebook.com/msfullfigureddmvpageant
*Her children names were withheld because, I didn’t ask for their personal permission to be named. Plus this is about her. Just in case y’all asked.*
