Style is something that has shaped EmmaKate Few's life. She started modeling as a young girl, where she met an older model involved in the pageant process. After cheering her on at her competition, she knew she wanted to try it out for herself. In junior high, she competed in her first pageant and soon after walked away with the “Miss Georgia High School” title. That led her to the Miss High School America competition, where she received first runner up.
She took a break from pageantry to focus on her modeling, academics and journalism. But after moving to Dallas to start school at Southern Methodist University, she decided to sign up for the Miss Southlake competition. And with that win, EmmaKate is now preparing to represent Southlake at the Miss Texas competition in June.
With her platform, she has been able to give back to those in need. She is a national spokesperson for Soles4Souls, a non-profit that distributes shoes and clothing around the world, and has personally collected more than 15,000 pairs of shoes over the past six years.
“I think it's very easy for all of us, myself included, to take for granted many of the things that we have that others elsewhere don't: electricity, running water, access to education and shoes,” EmmaKate says. “There is little I can do about the others, but I can help collect shoes.”
And while this falls right in line with EmmaKate's line of interest, it also helps solve serious problems that are impacting people all over the world.
“Shoelessness encourages disease, discourages employability and hampers the ability of a child in the third world to attend school,” EmmaKate explains.
She also developed the “Walk the Talk” program that encourages leadership qualities in elementary and middle school students and lets them participate in a hands-on service project for Soles4Souls.
“The students I work with learn that with leadership comes a responsibility to set an example; you can't expect to make a difference in your community by simply talking about it,” EmmaKate says.
You can find EmmaKate at Southlake's community events, on the big screen in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy 2 blockbuster or on the jumbotron at SMU football and basketball games – where shes’s a sideline reporter. But wherever she goes, you know it will be in style.