Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Duke.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Your Story
Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.
My brother and I were watching the movie, Miss Congeniality, and he commented on how doing a pageant seemed like it would be a lot of fun. I took that comment to heart and decided to enter into my first pageant. To my wonderful surprise, the movie was extremely accurate in that all the competitors were kind, uplifting, and supportive. I fell in love with pageantry.
I then completed at the Miss West Coast Pageant and won my first state title! then the work began for the Miss United States National Pageant. It was clear to me that my competitors knew what they were doing, and I was still fairly new. So, I knew I had to step up my game and really put in the work. Every free moment, I worked with my pageant coach and the Miss West Coast Director, Tara Rice. Her unbelievable patience, availability, and unwavering dedication to her delegates is something I’ve never seen before. She is a true professional and friend.
When nationals came, I felt so well-prepared and I knew it was my time to shine the second I stepped out on stage. I did my absolute best and remembered to have fun. Nationals was one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Obstacles/Challenges
Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The stereotypical and outdated view on pageantry was an obstacle I didn’t think would be as big as it was. I had teachers, classmates, and parents of other students discouraging me from competing. But others who I thought would have a negative view on pageantry ended up being my biggest supporters and advocates. Learning to trust my decision and decipher what was important to me was part of overcoming the obstacle.
I think my biggest competitor was myself. As the competition approached, my desire to win grew. There were some days I felt like sitting and crying from being overwhelmed and other days I felt I was on top of the world. It was learning to focus myself, my thoughts, and my energy to being the best version of myself I could be made the biggest difference.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I LOVE living in California! I’ve been a lifeguard, I can surf, scuba dive, and my family and friends love having bonfires on the beach.
I am a nationally ranked figure skater and have been skating competitively since I was eight years old. I serve on the Junior board of the Orange County Figure Skating club and started my own high school Figure Skating regional team. I plan to continue skating in college.
I’ve been a Girl Scout since kindergarten and have successfully completed my bronze, silver and gold award. I was a finalist delegate for the global advocacy champions for the status of women at the United Nations and was voted regional and state 2025 Scout of the year by VFW and awarded a scholarship.
I’ve been in associated student body in my high school for four years, I am an honor student, and serve on the committee for the city of Mission Viejo community of character.
In my spare time, I enjoy going on auditions in Los Angeles and have been selected for many roles in commercials, movies and print advertising.
I will be attending Texas A&M University in Fall 2025 and will be studying economics.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The biggest lesson I learned was to stay focused on my goal of winning Miss Teen United States. I wrote my goals every single day, and winning Miss Teen United States was always number 1. For multiple months, I would immediately write my goals in the morning so throughout the day, I can focus on what I needed to do to prepare. Whether part of preparation was working on my pageant walk or practicing for my interview, I was able to dedicate time and effort to make a difference every single day, no matter how big or small.
I also learned that the most important part of pageantry is to have fun. Yes, the crown is the goal, but being fully immersed in the glitz and glam, the rehearsals, and pushing yourself to be the best version of yourself, and making many new friends is the secret true joy of pageantry. From my personal experience, I can attest to having now made life-long friends from pageants and in each of them I truly had A LOT of fun!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialteenunitedstates?igsh=MXRhd2lyNG0xbjNnNg==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeenUnitedStates?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr
Image Credits
Franz Orban
IG: franzorban
