North Texas Daily

Chandler Foreman is many things. To the state, she is Miss Texas 2019. To the nation, she was a top 15 competitor for Miss USA. To the University of North Texas, she is a  broadcast media senior. And to the young girls she works to inspire through her platforms, she is a mentor.

Foreman has been a competitor since the age of five. As someone who struggled with self-acceptance, the Houston native said she yearned for a competitive activity that would help her confidence.

“It’s an experience of a lifetime,” Foreman said about the Miss Texas 2019 pageant. “You spend a year preparing, growing, selling, marketing, strategizing, in hopes that you will be ‘the one.’ However, during the week of Miss Texas, a lot of the stress goes away because you’re surrounded by so many distinguished, fun-spirited women and it’s a time to celebrate empowered women present[ing] their best selves.”

Foreman said it never felt as though she would necessarily win, but rather she knew the work she had put in gave her a fighting chance.

“I had people in place who prepared me for success and failure,” Foreman said. “It was rewarding. All that I wanted to accomplish as Miss Texas — lives to impact, the partnerships to build — it all flashed before my eyes.”

Along with her pageantry, Foreman has found a passion for mentoring young women, particularly through her co-founded organization KweentoQueen YOUniversity and her personal platform The Leader Within.

“My sister was my mentor growing up [and she] always pushed me to be confidently peculiar and excellent in all that I’d do,” Foreman said. “Essentially, planting leadership seeds at such a young age, which is why I believe in what I do know.”

Founded in 2014, KweentoQueen YOUniversity seeks to build confidence and leadership skills in young women through interactive sessions hosted by their K2Q Koaches. In one of their workshops, DiscoverU, KweentoQueen traveled to schools across the Houston area in order to give students a space to discover their talents and weaknesses and develop their strengths.

The organization has been featured on media outlets such as Teen Vogue as well as the Fox 26 Houston news channel. Through their social media, KweentoQueen posts a combination of self-affirmations, pictures from their events and a weekly shoutout to young, Black female leaders.

Currently, Foreman is on a 12-month tour to promote the Texas Cares for Children Program and the Children’s Miracle Network, as well as her platform The Leader Within.

“As an aspiring talk show host, I intertwine a game show with mentoring students to be brave, honest, respectful, disciplined and positive,” Foreman said. “Kids simply don’t have enough mentors or people encouraging them to be the best they can be. The Leader Within focuses on building our youth to do just that.”

Foreman’s broadcast media studies at UNT help her to pursue her dream of becoming a future TV talk show host.

“Through my girls’ organization, we would create videos to promote our events and mentor sessions,” Foreman said. “I would be in front of the camera while my sister was the camerawoman. Through this, I found myself passionate about telling stories, hearing the stories of others and providing the entertainment that everyone needs.”

Scott Padgett, chief meteorologist and TV personality for CBS DFW’s news channel, described Foreman as one of the most authentic, driven and charismatic women that he has ever met.

“She has a vision of how to shape our youth into great leaders,” Padgett said. “A vision that stems from her acceptance of her authenticity and roots. She never meets a stranger and truly impacts every person that she meets.”

Miss Grapevine 2020 Jaelene Luper said she first found Foreman on Instagram in July 2018. At the time, Foreman was Miss Richardson and had just gotten third runner up at Miss Texas that summer. Luper said Foreman was the only person of color in the top five that year, and as someone new to the pageant scene, this encouraged Luper that she could do it as well.

“Chandler was 100 percent true to herself: afro, melanin, gap and all,” Luper said. “A few weeks later, [at] my very first competition I met Chandler at Miss Dallas/Park Cities. I totally geeked. It is more hilarious now because I also realize she was sort of fangirling over me too, as she had never seen anyone with dreadlocks compete in the system before.”

Luper said she found herself crying at the end of that night as Foreman was crowned Miss Park Cities. Despite meeting her in a competitive setting, Luper said she gained an invaluable sister and the pair have since become the best of friends.

“She is one of the most vibrant, loyal and entertaining people I have ever met,” Luper said. “Befitting to her platform, she is also a phenomenal mentor. I would not have won a title without her that year.”

In the future, Foreman hopes to be thriving in the world of broadcast entertainment and communications, creating commercials and to have a talk show designed to promote exemplary kids in their individual areas.

Featured Image: Courtesy @missamericatx