Valentina Mishra of Bhubaneswar has been a part of the fashion industry for the last 12 years training kids who participate in beauty pageants in India and abroad. Apart from grooming beauty pageant contestants, she has also acted in some television commercials.
Valentina rose to prominence as a model groomer after her protégés performed well in the Little Miss and Master Odisha (International) 2018 in July this year. She is now training the aspirants for Miss Queen of India and Miss Asia. She also helped Ojasvi Pathak and Afraa Sayeeda of Bhubaneswar, who won in different categories in the ‘Top Child Planet India 2018’ held in Tbilisi, Georgia. She has been a part of kids’ cultural festivals held in different parts of the world, including ‘Little Miss & Master Galaxy’ and ‘Little Miss & Master United World’ among others.
Daughter of Sarla and RD Mishra, Valentina has walked the ramp at fashion shows. Besides, she is a good classical dancer. In the early part of her career, she won a few titles at fashion shows, the last one being Mrs Asia India International World held in Kuala Lumpur in 2015.
Valentina says, “Sushmita Sen was crowned Miss Universe when I was in high school. I was captivated by her achievement and started participating in beauty pageants. I got the opportunity to be groomed under the guidance of Kaushik Ghosh who trained Sushmita Sen. In 1998, I won my first crown and never looked back again.”
About her profession, she says, “I firmly believe participating in beauty pageants provides financial and cultural upward mobility and opportunities. Success in these pageants helps contestants achieve success in other fields too.”
About the training, she says, “Fashion industry jobs are not as easy as it is made out to be. It is not only important to have basic knowledge of the profession, one must learn how to handle a viva-voce test and public speaking and look cool in front of cameras.
The contestants should also be good at self-introduction and stage presentation. This apart, they must learn other aspects such as posture, poise, runway walking, sitting, makeup application, skin care and wardrobe planning among others.”
“Kids are like soft clay and can be moulded into any shape. The children in Odisha are also capable of representing the state at national level. Once I spot children with some spark in them, I encourage them to perform on bigger stages. I make it a point to offer free training to the deserving candidates. It is not all about walking the ramp, a fashion model can use his/her talent and make a name in other fields also. Some people have the wrong impression about the fashion industry. When kids come to me with such notions, I ask their parents to guide them in the right direction so that they can achieve their goals. If a person has the talent and skill to perform, he/she should avoid negative conceptions about the industry. Competing for a beauty pageant will give you the confidence to achieve anything you want to do in your life,” Valentina added.
SOYONG,OP