By Susan Shinn Turner

For the Salisbury Post

When Taylor Loyd was 13, she had to shop in the plus-size section of the girl’s clothing department. It was pretty slim pickings, she admits.

That didn’t stop her from competing in pageants — braces and all.

“I was not as much of an outlier as I thought,” says Loyd, who turns 23 next month.

During the next decade, Loyd garnered an impressive list of titles, including Miss North Carolina 2023. At the Miss America competition, Loyd scored a top 10 finish and the preliminary talent award, something that North Carolina contestants haven’t accomplished for 17 and 13 years, respectively.

Since giving up her crown, Loyd has put her knowledge to work to assist other young women, launching Taylor Loyd Consulting (TLC) July 5. She’s already working with clients, with nearly two dozen inquiries submitted within the first five days her site went live.

“I have learned way too much not to share,” Loyd says. “That information won’t be used if I don’t pass it on. Not sharing what I’ve learned would be like taking a file cabinet of trade secrets and throwing it away. I have worked too hard to do that.”

The majority of her clients are young women ages 12-13 who want to get started in pageants, Loyd says.

“It’s a misconception that you have to look or be a certain way to compete,” she says. “The point is not solely to win. It’s to have a good showing, have fun, earn scholarship money and make friends.”

It’s about learning to interview, how to present yourself, how to walk into a room.

“It’s about helping a girl or young woman develop her confidence and fall in love with herself,” Loyd says. “Let’s become the best version of ourselves. It’s cliché, but that’s really what it is.”

She continues, “It’s about developing your own personal file cabinet full of information about yourself. You have to be able to answer questions, but also so the judges may learn something about you. No matter the questions, you have something to share about yourself.”

Other titles include Miss Statesville Dogwood 2023, Miss North Carolina Rhododendron Queen 2021, Miss Charlotte Teen 2019, Miss Carolina Foothills Teen 2018 and Miss Rowan County Teen 2017.

When Loyd won the swimsuit award at the Miss Rhododendron contest, she says she wasn’t “the skinniest woman on stage.”

“My confidence has to be that of a Victoria’s Secret model. It’s about cultivating confidence, not perfection. If you have confidence, you have that sparkle.”

Loyd is the daughter of Ashton and Cinamon Loyd of Mooresville. They met when her mom was Miss Fayetteville Dogwood 1997 and her father was her chaperone. Cinamon Loyd was also named Mrs. North Carolina 1999. Loyd has a brother, Preston, 19.

“My parents fell in love through that process,” Loyd says. “It was introduced to me as a community, which made me see pageants in a different way.”

Loyd is the great-niece of Sammie Hinshaw of Salisbury and the late Wayne Hinshaw, longtime Salisbury Post photojournalist.

“Taylor has always worked hard to meet the goals she set for herself,” her great aunt notes. “When she decided she wanted to sing opera, she worked with many teachers to help her excel in this art. When she decided to enter pageants, she again met with people who would help her to be the best she could be in all phases of competition. Once she knew what she needed to do, she put in the work to make it happen.”

Becoming Miss North Carolina was a longtime dream, Loyd acknowledges. “I really understood what the job was, and I was prepared. But you don’t understand what it entails until you do it.”

Her year of service was full of “fun and joy.”

She made more than 200 appearances and logged more than 50,000 miles in her sponsored vehicle.

“That didn’t count the appearances that my family drove me,” she adds. “That’s probably another 10,000 miles.”

Loyd made as many appearances as possible, simultaneously preparing for the national pageant.

Kannapolis native Janet Ward Black was crowned Miss North Carolina 1980. She is principal owner of Ward Black Law in Greensboro, one of the state’s largest woman-owned firms.

“It would be incredibly valuable for a contestant to have someone like Taylor,” Black says. “There are so many facets of competition. To have a coach who has been successful all the way to the Top 10 at Miss America would be a gift.

“It is somewhat similar to training for the Olympics and having last year’s gold medal winner as your coach.”

Black attended the recent Miss North Carolina scholarship awards breakfast at the High Point Country Club. Her firm has presented a scholarship to the program for the last decade.

“That morning, more than $35,000 in scholarships — about 20 of them — was given not for appearance or talent but to contestants who are already making a difference in their community. No matter the pressure by forces such as social media that I didn’t face, they are remarkable young women. Gives me great hope for the future.

“Miss America is still the largest scholarship provider to women in the United States. These scholarships helped me finish at Davidson College and Duke Law School.”

Loyd is a 2019 graduate of the N.C. Virtual Public Schools. In December, she’ll graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a double major in music with a concentration in classical vocal performance, and psychology.

“This business is definitely something I see myself doing longterm,” she says. “I’m always going to have space to help a young woman activate her confidence. With my entrepreneurial spirit, it would be hard for me to stop.”

Contact Taylor Loyd at tinyurl.com/taylorloydnewclient.

Freelance writer Susan Shinn Turner lives in Raleigh.