Hailey Hudson shooting for the stars at National pageant

ELIZABETHTOWN – Hailey Hudson waxes poetic when she speaks to young women in hopes of empowering them to be all that they can be.

“Shoot for the stars,” she said. “And you can be anything you want to be.”

Right after her 23rd birthday, Hudson was given quite a birthday present in Wilmington when she was crowned Miss North Carolina Volunteer.

“The competition was held this past November in Wilmington,” Hailey Hudson said. “It was a great birthday present for my ‘Jordan year’ (Michael Jordan wore #23 and played basketball at North Carolina) to say the least. The competition consisted of personal interview, gown, swimsuit and talent. So, they are looking for a very well-rounded individual. And luckily, that was me.”

Hudson is now setting her sights on the next competition which is the national Miss Volunteer America pageant in Jackson, Tennessee, later this month, where she will be representing North Carolina and competing for a $50,000.00 scholarship.

She will compete in the same four categories in that pageant.

“I’m getting so excited as it is getting closer and closer,” she said. “This last weekend I got to go the Teen National Pageant in Jackson, Tennessee. Our national director Allison DeMarcus is from that area and it was so cool to interact with the city of Jackson and to meet some of my other sister queens from across the nation.”

Hudson is the daughter of Shannon and Amy Hudson and is a 2019 graduate of East Bladen High School. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UNC-Chapel Hill’s Honors College in May, 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media and Journalism with a second major in Political Science. She has now gone on to the University of Carolina law school and her aspirations are to practice law in a corporate setting.

Hailey’s community service initiative is entitled “Speak Up for Social Media Safety” in which she promotes internet safety and educates about the dangers that accompany the online world. Hudson was given the Goodwill Ambassador proclamation due to her social media efforts and impact throughout the state.

Hudson graduated from EBHS in 2019, narrowly escaping having to go through COVID while in high school. She was in her first year at NCU when the pandemic came rushing in like a Carolina hurricane.

“It was my freshman year of college,” Hudson said. “It was the second semester and I was at home for spring break. We got an email telling us that a return to campus was postponed because of the enormity of the outbreak. I stayed home with my parents and they made us move out of our dorms. I stayed home until August when I went back and got an apartment since we still were not allowed on campus. It was so nice, though, being back home with my parents during the trying times.”

As most of the nation involved in areas of education, Hudson got very familiar with the ZOOM classroom.

One of the things that Hudson said she really enjoyed about college was being involved with her sorority.

“I really loved being in a sorority because I had grown up in the world of pageantry,” she said. “So I loved the sisterhood and philanthropy aspect of it. As far as pageants, I started at the age of six. I came home one day with a flier I brought home from my elementary school. The local high school was having a fundraiser pageant. Little Miss Cape Fear. I told my mom I wanted to do it.”

Hudson’s mom Amy also had previous pageant experience which gave Hailey a leg up on the competition.

“She kind of knew what to expect and what to do,” Hudson said. “There were 25 girls in the pageant and it was my first time. I somehow made the top five and thought I was going to pass out and then all of a sudden, I was second runner-up.”

She was hooked. She immediately wanted to do more and has been on that kind of adrenaline rush ever since. She also credits her extensive pageant history for giving her the interpersonal skills that come rather natural to her.

Her very first coronation as queen came a few years later. She remembers it like it was yesterday.

“I was Little Miss Ham and Yam,” she said. “I think it’s around the Benson area at the ham and yam festival. You would have thought I was Miss North Carolina. I was so excited and I loved it. I still have the tiny little crown that they gave me. I moved on to bigger ones because my head got bigger.”

Literally. Not as the joke about having a big head. Hudson has retained a grace and humbleness that you don’t find in many young adults that have found success at an early age. She doesn’t sport a swag – but a quiet grace.

“I have made life-long friends and role models that I still have today,” she said. “It’s not about just winning a pageant, though. The reality of pageants is not just gaining interpersonal skills, but I received scholarships to help me further my education. Winning the pageant last November I received $2500 in scholarship money. That’s one of the big pillars of the Miss Volunteer America organization. Money that is given so that young women can receive help to pursue their dreams.”

Hudson has learned through trial and error, joy and adversity that her voice is not just a voice of beauty, but excelling in the classroom and going on to continue her education in law is proving that she has the voice of intelligence. It empowers women through education.

As her success and her reputation grows as spokeswoman and educator, she points back to her parents.

“My parents have always been my go-to and my rock and foundation,” she said. “My mom is my best friend. She wears many hats from photographer to chauffeur to wardrobe stylist and the straightening of my crown in life. And my dad is one of the hardest working people I know. Without them none of this would have been possible, and I wouldn’t have become the person I am today. I was a first-generation college graduate and I remember being a big Tar Heel fan. Dad was a big Carolina basketball fan. I remember him telling me that I could make it to a college like UNC. He encouraged me and told me if I got good grades, I could do anything. My dad really believed in me.”

Along with preparing for the upcoming pageant in Tennessee, Hudson will be working with Judge Jefferson Griffin on the North Carolina court of appeals. She is expecting to graduate from law school in May, 2026 and knowing her history, she will hit the ground running and will have already focused on the next big thing.

Her advice as a mentor to young girls who have high aspirations to succeed is focused, well thought out and poignant.

“I may look like a princess right now, but I’m a girl who was a victim of sexual harassment and cyber bullying,” she said with a quiet, but focused demeanor. “I’ve washed a trash truck or two with my dad. I’ve seen someone close to me suffer from addiction and I’m a first-generation college student. These experiences have really made me who I am today and without them, I wouldn’t be the woman that I am. While we all have different life experiences, embrace them. They will make you who you are, they differentiate you from anybody else. And really… leaning on yourself and recognizing who you are as a person and then putting your dreams into action, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. Just shoot for the stars, you can be anything you want to be.”