Interview with Briana Siaca, Miss New York USA 2021

Briana Siaca, the reigning Miss New York USA 2021, sits down with Meg Rose, Lead Account Executive at Queenly. Get the scoop on Briana’s journey to capturing her state title, her trip to Cancun with the Miss USA Class of 2021, and her key to confidence!

Meg: Thank you for joining me today! Congratulations on Miss New York USA! That’s so exciting!

Briana: Thank you so much. It’s really been such a rewarding experience so far. I still can’t believe it sometimes, but it’s amazing. This is my life now!

M: It’s going to be so exciting! How are you preparing for Miss USA? What have you guys been doing mentlly to get ready for this?

M: I know it’s huge to have a team behind you like that. I hope you don’t mind, I was doing a little research about you and you have an incredible story about the road to getting Miss New York and now going to Miss USA. It’s one of persistence, grit and a lot of hard work. Could you tell everyone a little bit about your road to getting Miss New York?

B: Of course! At first it was something I was ashamed of, you now, competing for the title and getting so close and “losing,” but now I’m so proud of it and that’s mostly because of how much I’ve inspired others and just not giving up and staying true to myself and persisting for something I’ve always dreamed of. The first year I ever competed for a pageant was in 2016, I went straight to the top, I went straight to Miss New York USA. I didn’t do any other pageant.

It was such a crazy experience, but each year I got better and better and I stayed focused on my personal growth. When they say timing is everything, they’re right. I think each year leading up to my winning year I don’t know if I would've been ready for Miss USA. That last year I went in, I was so calm, I was just so prepared and I really took advantage of the experience. I was in the right mindset and I knew that I was ready for Miss USA that year. So, timing is everything. In retrospect, I’m so happy I didn’t win all the other years. This was my time and now I understand that.

M: I think hindsight is 20/20 and it sounds like this was a surreal experience for you and it was just meant for you at this time. I also heard that you guys went to Cancun with all the girls! How was that?

B: Oh my gosh- it was amazing! Crystle Stewart is just a powerhouse human being, that’s all I’m gonna say. She put together this insane trip for all of us and it was the most luxurious, beautiful experience and my favorite part about it: we got to be in an atmosphere that wasn’t competitive. We got to build relationships and bonds and get to know each other.

M: I love that! I would say you’re going into a very exciting competition so it’s nice that you guys got to have that moment to learn about who the people are that you’ll be with the whole weekend. So, I would love to hear a little bit about your platform!

B: I grew up in a low-income community in Long Island, New York and I feel like in these communities not many success stories exist and opportunities to advance are very rare. So, I made it my mission to make my own success story and throughout that process I felt like it was important to inspire other young women who come from these communities and show them that they can create their own destinies and rewrite their own story no matter who they are, no matter what their circumstances are, that they are worthy of their dreams.

I got to work with so many amazing organizations like Girls Inc, which is an organization that inspires young women to be strong, smart, and bold, and gives them the skills and the tools to break the cycle of poverty. I think these organizations are so important because a lot of the time, these young women, that’s all they have- they have these mentorship programs. A lot of the time they don’t have role models and parents, so I think using my platform is the perfect opportunity to be that role model in these young women’s lives and show them their potential to succeed.

B: I would say to not compare yourself to other women and to just focus on yourself because it took me a while to learn that the biggest competition is truly yourself. I realized that each year I would be like “oh, you know, she has a better body or she has better hair and constantly comparing. As soon as I stepped into the best version of myself and stopped getting in my own way and focusing on what really matters and that’s just being my true self is when I succeeded. I wish someone told me that before I started competing in pageantry. Just be true to yourself and to focus on yourself because that’s your biggest competition at the end of the day.

M: I completely agree and I think that’s a great message for people because comparison is the thief of joy and at the end of the day you can only be the best version of yourself and you need to focus on what you’re doing and what you can bring to this world. That’s fantastic advice! So, what inspired you to compete in the beginning?

B: Honestly, the first year that I competed in 2016, I feel like my insecurities from my childhood kind of carried over into my adulthood so I wanted to achieve something and to kind of break out of my shell and challenge myself. So, I signed up for this pageant. Growing up, we face bullying and we face mean kids.

I had this crazy, frizzy hair and these big glasses that took over my entire face! My mom says it was because of the 90s and it was the style, but I think it’s cruel that she did that to me! Kids were so mean and I wasn’t the most confident version of myself and I wanted to get there so I started competing in pageants and once I started feeling so beautiful and confident I decided to channel that and use it towards a bigger cause.

M: I’m laughing at the 90s glasses because I believe I had a very short pixie cut with bangs and it was all curly.

M: Oh yeah! She said it was the style, she said I looked adorable in it. I’ve seen the pictures, it’s generous to say, so I totally get it! But, I love that you pushed yourself and you just decided this was something you were going to do to gain confidence. That’s huge! Not a lot of people do that today, to just push themselves outside of their comfort zone to grow like that.

B: It’s so important! I feel like that’s the number one key to confidence, is breaking out of your shell and challenging yourself and pushing yourself to do something you wouldn’t normally do. A lot of my work with Girls Inc is showing these young women that they’re capable and they can challenge themselves to do whatever they want and it’s so important to do something different and to take risks. That’s just the key to confidence in my opinion.

M: Let’s end on this: What’s one thing you don’t think people realize about Miss USA?

Thank you, Briana! Check out the full interview here and make sure to follow Queenly on Instagram for more exclusive interviews.