World Class Beauty Queens Magazine would like to welcome amazing Queen Meenal Darak Ampowering Ms Asia BC Canada 2020-2021
Full name: Meenal Darak
Title/Year: Ampowering Ms Asia BC Canada 2020-2021
Pageant System: Ampowering Ms Asia Canada
Age: 33
Education Level: M.B.A, C.S, M.COM, B.COM, PMIBA, EXIN
Zodiac sign: Taurus
Hobbies: Influencer Coach, Pageant Coach, Business Analyst Coach, Dancer, Choreographer, Gym Trainer, Yogist & Mental Meditation, Travelling
Platform: The platform I am supporting is "Say No To Heightism" to stop inequality due to short height. I believe in today's world, pageant systems, runway shows and dating portals need to remove height criteria in the form and shortlisting for a gig should be based on talent and not height.
Years competed: I won former Miss India Seattle, USA in 2016 and Ms Asia BC, Canada 2021-2021
Countries visited: Singapore, Phuket, Malaysia, India, Europe, Canada, USA.
Likes: I like everything that life has given me. I am very grateful for each and every day of my life. I like chocolates and watching leadership related books
Dislikes: I don't really dislike anything as I am avery positive person.
Status: Married World Class Beauty Queens: Please tell us about yourself.
Meenal Drockz, Ms Asia BC, Canada 2020-21 is born and brought up in Mumbai, India and currently lives in Vancouver, Canada. By profession, Meenal works as an I.T. Project Lead in healthcare as she believes in making a difference to the community via her work. As her side hustle, she also runs Online One-One Coaching Program for Influences, Pageant Candidates and for Business Analysts/Program Managers. She also calls herself a weekend model/actor as she takes on several projects in this field as her passion. She says that she likes to juggle between her work life and her hobbies because that not only keeps her life exciting but also allows her to learn new things from different industries. She wants to inspire more corporate folks and students to not just focus on their career and education but also pursue their passion as well as develop it by taking out time on weekends. Meenal did her Master in New York and established a corporate career for 10 years in USA. She also won Miss India Seattle, USA and took the initiative to stop height criteria in the world of modeling and dating through her campaign ‘Say No To Heightism.’
World Class Beauty Queens: Please tell us about your education.
Meenal excelled in her academics with several accolades. She completed her Masters of Administration M.B.A from New York, completed PMIBA in Seattle and completed her B.COM, M.COM & C.S from India
World Class Beauty Queens: What does women Empowerment means to you?
I think every woman is already empowered but by promoting women empowerment, we just give a reminder that they should feel empowered.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your pageant history.
When I was a little girl, I liked catwalking and playing 'Miss Universe' game with my friends. I had developed love for pageantry since I was 8 years old. BY the age of 16, I was already competing in several pageants. I won 3 pageants out of 7 pageants that I participated in.
World Class Beauty Queens: What inspired you to do your first pageant?
The fact that I could be a representative in the community and my voice will be heard for social issues was my biggest inspiration to participate in a pageant
World Class Beauty Queens: Why did you choose to compete for your current title?
I wanted to shed some light and get more support on my platform 'Say No To Heightism.' The first time I posted about the topic 'Say No To heightism', 9300 people liked the post and several folks joined my group. There are several folks that get into depression due to being rejected on high profile shows due to their short height. Infact, few girls undergo expensive surgery to increase their height. Like racism is not allowed, asking about someone's height which leads to heightism should be banned.
World Class Beauty Queens: To those unfamiliar with your pageant system please tell us what is it about?
Ampowering is a pageant system that allows women from all age groups, height and body size to participate. The competition is judged based on overall personality and talent and not just factors like size, height and beauty. Hence I competed from Ampowering organization so that I can inspire more folks to join and be the voice like me.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are you being judged on during the competition?
This competition allows single men and women, married men and women as well as divorced men and women to participate and are judged based on their talent versus other factors like beauty, age and height. Marital status doesn't matter in this pageantry. Judging is based on your catwalk skill, on your showcase of personality, your overall achievements till date and your talent showcased on stage along with question and answer round. Judging also takes into consideration the platform you are supporting.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your experience during the competition.
My experience during the competition was amazing. I got to meet with a lot of talented people and got to learn about their platforms. I also learned how every person is so unique in their life experiences and how they all motivate each other. On a daily basis, I post daily inspirational and motivational topics on my social media so that others get inspired by me. I realized that I was able to create impact on my co-contestants with my daily inspire talks.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your platform or what cause do you volunteer for.
Meenal has been running 'Say No to Heightism' campaign. She shed some light on how the world of Pageant and modeling do not give equal opportunity to short height girls while they are equally beautiful and deserving to be on the Pageant stage or Runway. She also talks about the fact that Designers showcase clothing on taller models which is misleading as target customers on an average could be of short height as well. She recommends that designers should showcase garments on models of all shapes and sizes so that customers get a fair idea on how the clothing would look on them. She further explains that many short height girls are equally good at catwalk and confident to walk on the runway but the height criteria on modeling and pageant forms stops them from auditioning if they are below 5’6. She urges through her campaign for all international level pageants and runway shows to remove height criteria from their forms as many girls and boys get into depression or go through surgeries to increase their height just to get an opportunity. She also insists that rejecting potential matches in the dating world due to height factor should stop and rather more weightage should be given to their personality and nature.
World Class Beauty Queens: What appearances have you done with your title?
I have made various celebrity appearances since 2016. I made appearances in North American Fashion Week; IIFA Bollywood Awards red carpet, Global Beauty Awards, New York Fashion Week and have been invited as guest of honor on several NGO's like Cry, Hopes & Smile.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are some of your achievements?
Meenal Drockz, Ms Asia BC, Canada 2020-21 is born and brought up in Mumbai, India and currently lives in Vancouver, Canada. By profession, Meenal works as an I.T. Project Lead in healthcare as she believes in making a difference to the community via her work. As her side hustle, she also runs Online One-One Coaching Program for Influences, Pageant Candidates and for Business Analysts/Program Managers. She also calls herself a weekend model/actor as she takes on several projects in this field as her passion. She says that she likes to juggle between her work life and her hobbies because that not only keeps her life exciting but also allows her to learn new things from different industries. She wants to inspire more corporate folks and students to not just focus on their career and education but also pursue their passion as well as develop it by taking out time on weekends. Meenal did her Master in New York and established a corporate career for 10 years in USA. She also won Miss India Seattle, USA and took the initiative to stop height criteria in the world of modeling and dating through her campaign ‘Say No To Heightism.’
World Class Beauty Queens: What makes you stand out from all those other beautiful girls?
I think every girl is deserving and beautiful. The only reason I stand out is because my end goal is just not to win for myself but to win top make a difference in the community. Since the time I have won, I have constantly worked with the community to combat several social issues. This is one of the reasons that I am invited as a motivational speaker in several organizations because my talks are inspiring to others. I definitely make an impact on corporate woman who shy away from pursuing their passion due to added responsibilities of their career and family life. When they hear my winning story and how I balance out my corporate life, my family life and my modeling/pageantry passion; they all feel inspired.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about the moment your name was called out as the winner.
I felt immense joy when my name was called out as a winner. It felt like dream come true. I always dreamt of winning a crown and my mom watching my win.
World Class Beauty Queens: What does it mean to you to be a Beauty Queen?
Beauty queens don't just own a crown but they own the responsibility that comes with the crown. They inspire others and motivate everyone to live the best of their life and contribute towards the best for the global community.
World Class Beauty Queens: How did competing in pageants helped your life?
Competing in pageants allows you to learn lessons of failure and how every failure eventually leads you to success. I didn't win the first few pageants but I learned lessons out of the mistakes I did and then I started winning other pageants. It also teaches you on how every person has something unique to offer and how there are better folks than you but you just keep doing your best.
World Class Beauty Queens: How did pageants helped your selfesteem and body image?
I have always been a very confident person and I believe that everyone is born beautiful. BUt I do know that several folks suffer from self esteem and confidence issues. These days few pageants encourage people of all shapes and sizes to partici[pate and they judge based on your talent and showcase of personality. I would encourage folks to participate in such pageants as it will boost their confidence level and they would feel proud about their bodies.
World Class Beauty Queens: You are an inspiration to all the girls out there. How does it feel?
It feels great to know that people are inspired due to my achievements. It feels very fulfilling. I would like to advise all artists and models to not give up just because they have faced too many failures as this world is competitive. In fact, the more failures we get, the more lessons we learn and we are then prepared to get massive success. Meenal was told at a young age that she couldn't be a model/actor due to her short height but she didn't stop due to what was told to her. She personally experienced that the world of modeling/fashion is biased but she still didn't stop but instead she auditioned in every show where she didn't fit the criteria. Her auditions were so impressive that show organizers made an exception in her case. She says that if you think you are talented, you can convince anyone. But yes, she does agree that she couldn't even audition in a lot of shows due to height restrictions and hence she would like to get support for her campaign from people all over the world so that we all can stop asking height related questions and let every talented individual showcase their true potential. She doesn't want the youth to struggle and go through rejections like she had to just because some standards have been set from last 100 years and no one is looking into revamping those old standards. One of the biggest advise she would give to models/actors is to never show desperation for getting projects as that may lead to them falling prey to situations where they may need to compromise and to combat such situations, it is important to have a Plan B career that can allow you to earn a permanent source of income. Once you have enough projects in hand as a model, then you can focus 100% i the field of modeling/acting and give up your other career.
World Class Beauty Queens: What is your on stage strategy to win the judges over?
I think confidence and engaging with the judges and audience is what gets you the most score in every round. The more relatable you are to your audience, the higher the chances of you winning everyone's hearts. Judges like a personality that shines on stage and smiles throughout. They score those whose Q&A is to the point and has genuine content instead of narrating diplomatic answers. When I am on stage, I perform for my audience and I am known for giving impromptu answers because I speak my real experiences.
World Class Beauty Queens: How did you prepare for your competition?
I put 6 months of hardwork to prep up for my evening gown, swimwear and talent round. I also spent a lot of time in designing my custom made garments. I had an advantage that being a coach myself, I got to practice catwalk with my students
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for learning better pageant walk?
I would encourage every pageant person to enroll in a coaching class so that they learn the foundation. Once your foundation is strong, you can groom yourself for several pageants. My program is called 'Drockz Pageant Coaching Program' and you can visit me at www.drockz.com to learn more about my pageant coaching services. I have over 12+ years of experience coaching pageant folks
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for choosing right pageant dress?
I would say a pageant contestant should wear a dress that best fits them and flaunts their body based on their body size. I personally prefer dresses with a slit but go for the dress that you are most comfortable with. Like content is the king, similarly comfort is the king in the world of pageant. Always wear comfortable heels and comfortable dress.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for winning interview?
I would say the best tip is to engage with the judges and audience through your eyes
World Class Beauty Queens: What is one mistake that you've done during competing you wish you could redo and fix it?
In few contests, I didn't smile much since I was used to being a runway model who throws attitude on stage., For pageants, smiling is the key as you are there to showcase your charming personality. I lost pageants contestants due to not smiling enough. When I learned the knack of smiling, I kept winning them.
World Class Beauty Queens: What other mistakes are made by girls during the contest?
I would say that a lot of times contestants are not prepared enough to participate in pageants. I would say hard work and getting trained is the key. To play a good baseball game, you need a coach. Similarly, to win a pageant you need a coach who understands your strengths and allows that to be showcased on the stage.
World Class Beauty Queens: Any modeling or acting experience?
I don't think prior modeling or acting is needed to participate in pageants. Pageants are all about showcasing your personality. Prior runway experience does help in catwalk rounds.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your plans for 2021 as a Queen?
My plans for 2021 is to keep everyone inspired with positive thoughts. One of the global issues in society that Meenal think needs attention is 'Building Positive Mindset.' She noticed that in this world, we all go through similar issues and learn similar lessons like break of trust, lack of confidence, lack of motivation, relationship issues etc. thus impacting Mental Health or causing stress. To make a difference, Meenal posts daily inspirations on social media through her own life experiences on how to live life with a positive mindset and how to let go of experiences that cause negativity. She tries her best to post daily because it acts as a reminder and when someone goes through a negative thought, they remember her post and get back into a positive thought process. She has received feedback from all over the world how her posts make a huge difference to their day. Meenal is a youtuber and content producer, hence she uses her creativity and ideas to inspire folks and motivate them through real life examples.
World Class Beauty Queens: What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
I would want people to remember me as a queen who made a difference in this world. If I am able to inspire and change lives due to my work as a queen, then I believe I have been successful in my reign.
National Director: Menka Soni
Your Local Director: Menka Soni
Pageant website: www.ampowering.com
Name of the Photographer and other credits: Adiish Designs
Thank your sponsors: Divaz & Mimi Wolfe World Class Beauty Queens Magazine would like to say thank you for this wonderful interview. Interview by Derek Tokarzewski Owner/Editor in Chief of World Class Beauty Queens Magazine
Meenal Darak Ampowering Ms Asia BC Canada 2020-2021, World Class Beauty Queens Magazine, Photo by Bruce Dyer and HMUA is Maneet Malhotra
Interview by Derek Tokarzewski Owner/Editor in Chief Mr United Nations 2018 Platform: Women Empowerment Ambassador to International Foundation for Orphans iffocares.org
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