My Little Secret

I don't have any children, but now I have my pageant girls.

I think about them all the time, for example, today my friend Rain and I were having a conversation (slightly edited):

Rain: How are you by the way? Missing anything? Satisfied?

Me(in proper beauty queen format): Thank you for that question Rain. I would say I am pretty satisfied right now, because as I have grown older I've come to realize that what you think you want will not necessarily make you happy and it's the perception of missing something that truly drives discontent. Thank you. Once again, I'm Alice, your contestant number zero.

They've permeated every hour of my day, dictating when I eat and sleep. I stayed up last night worrying if they'd submit their bios on time for the M-Weekly Miss Asia Special Edition and today, I missed out on many of my favorite foods at the dim sum press conference because I was watching them, coaching them through the junket. If you know me at all, food is serious business.

Every night Konnie (my assistant image director and partner in crime)pour over the day's work, making notes to ourselves about how much the girls have done. I'm a little bit the bad cop, ready to tell all the girls where they need to improve, but Konnie always reminds me of how much they have grown and learned in the few short hours we have with them every day.

Even though I am a fashion and beauty girl, having worked in this industry for a good solid ten years, I am not an everyday makeup girl. I am not an every day 4" heels to go to the deli girl. I am not even an everyday brush my hair girl. But for my ladies, I get up every morning and put on makeup and brush my hair. I've opened my vast archive of dresses and put my ridiculous collection of heels to work. I know I need to walk the walk and talk the talk if I want to turn out international pageant winners.

And I know, when they crown Miss Asia East Coast, my very first baby queen, I will be in the wings bawling into Konnie's shoulder.

Come see my girls: http://www.sundayusa.us/missasia/info.html

A Word From Our Sponsor...

One of the goals of the Miss Asia Pageant US regional competition is to turn out women who will become great role models in the AA community. Susan Yee, the founder of Zhen Beauty, our makeup sponsor, is a great example of an Asian American role model who also happens to be a woman, so I asked my New York girls to each come up with a question to ask Susan and then narrowed it down to the best eight for good luck:

Julia Sun, contestant #6
I always admire people like you, Vera Wang and Andrea Jung to name a few, who are both creative and business savvy. What do you believe is the most important quality to be successful to such degree?

Hi Julia, I think the most important quality is tenacity. You have to be able to get through the good times and the bad times. And believe me there are more bad than good when starting a business.You have to pick yourself up and keep on going. And remember it is a business. Don't take things personally.

Joanna Fu, contestant #5
If you experienced any discrimination, did you feel that you encountered more difficulties in starting Zhen Cosmetics because you are a woman entrepreneur, or because you are an Asian American?

Hi Joanna, I have been very fortunate as I did not feel any discrimination at all when I started my business!

Tina Wu, contestant #15
Can you re-live for us the moment, and describe what it felt like to be the first American cosmetic company targeting the Asian ethnic group?

Hi Tina, I was sitting in my kitchen when the phone rang. I will never forget that feeling when I got a call from WWD (Woman's Wear Daily, the industry Bible)) because they wanted to do an interview on my company. That was when I knew I had done it! The industry was taking my little cosmetics company seriously

Roxanne Cheung, contestant #10
How did Zhen prepare itself to compete with the existing make-up companies that are imported from Asia?

Hi Roxanne, We continued to keep our focus on our core customer and the quality of products we provide. Making sure we provided our customers with the products they want and need.

Jia Yan, contestant #4
Today, there are many well-known make up brands in the market which have expanded to provide a variety products that cover diverse skin colors and tones. What challenges, if any, did Zhen cosmetic products face as these products began to emerge?

Hi Jia, Being one of the first in the market place has helped us to keep our edge.We have been fortunate that we have great word of mouth among our customers. We continue to listen to our customers and what they want.

Alice An, Image Director
In light of this shift in the cosmetics market how has Zhen positioned itself to stay at the forefront of ethnically targeted makeup brands?

Hi Alice, We have continued to try to stay involved with local community events and sponsor as many events as possible.Keeping involved with the Asian community has been our best defense.

Jennifer Lee, contestant #9
What advice would you give to someone who is interested in opening up a spa/beauty salon and possibly starting their own makeup line someday?

Hi Jennifer. Don't do it. Seriously I would advise them to have a business plan and really research the market. In this day and age of competition you must also have deep pockets and a thick skin. It is not easy. We started in 1994 and at times I still have my doubts!

Also from Joanna Fu, contestant #5
Is there anyone out there right now that you would love to have as the face of Zhen Cosmetics, and why?

Joanna, I just love the idea of the everyday person. I will never forget when we first started and I used my sisters as models. The response was incredible from girls and women everywhere. They loved just seeing an Asian female being used in beauty advertisements. They also loved that it was one of the Yee sisters who helped to found the company.


Thank you Susan and Larry at Zhen Beauty for your tremendous support!


Miss Asia East Coast will take place on August 28th, 2009 at the New York Society for Ethical Culture located at 2 west 64th Street, NY, NY 10023. Miss Asia West Coast will take place on August 30th, 2009 at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater located at 3301 Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. Please visit www.sundayusa.us for more information.

The Glass Slipper

This is the beginning of the Miss Asia in America series on how it feels to be a beauty contestant.

Our first topic of conversation: pageant shoes.

Generally speaking, shoes are a such a core part of a pageant contestant's outfit, yet so under acknowledged. I think is time to bring light to what a shoe can do for a girl and feel that highlighting the clear shoe phenomenon is most appropriate because the clear shoe is so truly a pageant specific accoutrement.

While it is quite obvious that clear shoes are a beauty pageant staple because of their neutral appearance, most people are aware that the clear shoe also has other connotations. When put in that context, its presence in pageantry is very curious indeed. In fact, its place as a pageant staple may be the clear shoe's only true mainstream presence.

While on the topic of shoes, we also need to acknowledge the height requirement. For Miss Asia, our ladies must wear 4" heels. This height enforces posture and demands that they develop a certain level of confidence. Learning to glide across a stage in 4 inch heels is no easy task. One could say that by enforcing a 4" heel rule, we are deliberately pushing our girls to "rise to the occasion."

I asked my New York contestants what their thoughts were on the clear pageant shoe and the 4" height requirement and this is what they responded:

Jennifer Lee, contestant #9
"I prefer shorter heels because, aside from being more comfortable, I am satisfied with my slightly "taller-than-average-height for an Asian girl." In general, (I feel) society admires "tall" girls, which likely a reason why there is a 4" height requirement for pageant shoes. Overall, four inch heels or not, tall or not, I personally believe that any height is beautiful."

Joanna Fu, contestant #5
"I've never paid attention to the shoes of beauty pageant contestants and so I didn't realize that clear shoes were frequently used in pageants. In fact, I generally associate clear shoes with Jennifer Lopez (of all people!) because I remember a few years back she wore a pair of XTC clear heels both in public and in some photo shoots/videos, so they were featured in quite a few magazines. And of course, I've also seen them in various fetish shops when shopping for Halloween costumes. In fact, that's what I imagine I'd re-wear my clear heels-- a Halloween costume in the not-too-distant future!"

Angel Pai, contestant #1
"Four-inch heels, in today's world, actually isn't that high. Haha- I'm very comfortable in four inches (heels). If there is a small platform, I'd say go for five!"

Come see all of the Miss Asia New York 2009 contestants at the Miss Asia Talent Showcase this Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 7 Train Theater in Flushing, NY. For more information visit us here: http://www.sundayusa.us/index.php.