Beauty Queen

>>Ever wonder how beauty queens can smile so radiantly for so long? "I was taught to walk on stage and think, ‘It’s my party!’ or ‘You brought me a puppy!" says Maria DeMoya, who was crowned Miss Fort Myers in January.

The director of operations for Widespread Technologies, a Xerox retailer, wore a simple red bikini for the swimsuit segment and a black velvet dress (from her homecoming dance at Lehigh Senior High School) for the evening gown competition. In response to the on-stage question, she said she’d like to become a business owner.

In fact, she says, she might consider buying the company where she has worked since graduating from the University of Miami in 2003 with a degree in business administration and marketing. DeMoya began her career there as a sales rep and has advanced to her current position.

"I know that people switch jobs for [new] opportunities, but there’s a sense of loyalty in doing it the old-fashioned way," she says.

The 26-year-old is the daughter of Miss San Juan 1967. But her job, not her mother, led her to pageants. At a trade show in Fort Myers last year, DeMoya spotted Miss Treasure Coast Teen and local pageant director Suzi Hosfeld. Curious about the girl wearing a crown, DeMoya took a flyer for the Miss Fort Myers pageant and eventually attended Hosfeld’s free pageant workshops, where young women learn how to walk (no daylight between your thighs) and talk (say "yes," not "yeah") like beauty queens.

She’ll attend a few more workshops before the Miss Florida competition in July. It will have at least 50 contestants, compared with three in the Fort Myers contest, and the prize is $50,000.

DeMoya’s not sweating it. She can’t. "The competition is about the girl who has the most poise," she says.