A Grand Forks pageant competitor has added another crown to her collection after winning an online competition.
Payton Maffioli won Miss Personality BC May 18 in a virtual ceremony after months of online challenges and activities she had to complete, post on social media platforms and gain and keep followers engaged, as well as present her history of community service in Grand Forks.
The entire crowning ceremony was pre-recorded and released on YouTube Live. Maffioli won Best Model, Best Community Service, Best Photo Diary and of course, the top prize.
This was through the national organization Personality Pageants.
“I’ve been with this group for about two years and they’ve treated me so well,” she said. “I was able to represent Canada in Miss Teen Universe, placing in the top 16, so I want to continue to keep doing that and share my platform and advocacy.”
Preparation for the pageant started on April 19 with orientation and the official beginning of competition, but she started in February. It was a different kind of pageant as well, as it was done entirely online, through Zoom and Submitting work through Google Drive.
It was a long competition process, she said, including an initial interview, orientation, a question and answer session, community service and social media challenges covering several areas that she had to post on her platform.
“People asked how do you do it all, and I say I have a lot of motivation,” she said.
They received what’s called a Delegate’s Package, which included timelines and dates for submissions, what’s required, what’s optional and even outfits.
On the social media aspect, Maffioli said it looks like being an influencer, but cautioned that having a presence online takes a lot of work with filming, editing, re-shooting and re-posting.
“Many takes, it takes, to make a good take,” she said. “It started with an intro video, showing yourself and a little of your life. I showed I’m still a full-time student, graduating next year with a Bachelor of Natural Resource Science. That made it a little more difficult because at the time of this pageant, I was preparing for final exams.”
Another tough challenge was an interview because they have to answer questions, while staying authentic to themselves and speak clearly. It was a challenge because Maffioli has a speech impediment that has taken years of therapy to manage.
For her community service, she detailed to the judges efforts dating back to 2018, including helping with flood recovery with pancake breakfasts and sandbagging. She added the floods kicked off her passion to help others in need and volunteering.
There was fun to be had during competition. For the outfits portion, she chose a “western” theme, which in the video for it included the theme score from “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.”
Next steps for Maffioli will be heading to Miss Personality Canada in August 19-24, which she of course is aiming for the top prize.
“I hope I win, there’s a lot of good competition and girls I’ve competed with,” she said. “I’m happy to be walking the stage again with some of my best friends. “We are all competing, but I’ve grown so much. I believe pageantry has made me a better person and care more about my community.”
Maffioli’s online presence can be found on Instagram at Wild West Naturalists, where she posts her wildlife photography and raising awareness about ecosystem conservaton.
