Mallory Hagan

Early life and education

Hagan is from Opelika, Alabama and is a 2007 graduate of Opelika High School. She was influenced by her formative years spent with a mother who ran a dance studio in the Auburn-Opelika area, where she was raised. Her grandmother had run a dance studio in Tennessee, where Hagan was born. She is a former student at Auburn University, where she spent a year studying biomedical science. She was also a member of the sorority Pi Beta Phi Alabama Gamma chapter, becoming the fourth Pi Beta Phi to become Miss America (Marilyn Van Derbur, Jackie Mayer, and Susan Akin).

She moved to the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn in October 2008. At the time of her arrival, she had $1000 and a dream of beauty pageant success. Several sources stated that Hagan was a Park Slope resident when she won Miss America. The Wall Street Journal ran a correction, corroborated by The New York Times, that she was a resident of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn at the time. Hagan had lived in six different Brooklyn neighborhoods between her arrival in 2008 and her Miss America victory in 2013, including Sunset Park and Williamsburg.

At the time of the 2013 Miss America competition, she was a Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) student, where she studied advertising, marketing and communications with aspirations of a profession related to cosmetic and fragrance marketing. At FIT, she was a part of the Presidential Honors Program. Her three placements in the Miss New York competition provided her with sufficient scholarship monies to pay for her entire FIT tuition. She trained several different methods to prepare for the pageant. Her trainers included Richard Talens of social fitness network Fitocracy, Sohee Lee, and Mark Fisher of Mark Fisher Fitness. One of her training elements was also CrossFit exercise programs.

Pageants

Hagan won Miss Brooklyn on March 28, 2010. Her prior pageant experience has been reported to include runner-up placements in the Miss Alabama's Outstanding Teen and the Miss Alabama competition. However, Hagan stated that in the Miss Alabama 2008 competition, which was her only attempt at that title, "I did get a non-finalist talent award." She competed in Miss Alabama's Outstanding Teen from the ages of 13 to 17.

Hagan was the first runner-up in both of the Miss New York 2010 and Miss New York 2011 pageants. She then went on to win the title of Miss New York 2012 (in which Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri was the second runner up). During Hagan's reign as Miss New York 2012, her platform was child sexual abuse awareness and prevention. Her contest bio stated that "Hagan has chosen to honor the women in her family who have been victims of sexual abuse by sharing their personal stories and encouraging others to take a stand." According to statements made during an Associated Press interview, her mother, Mandy Moore, convinced her to tackle child sexual abuse since it had affected her mother, aunt, grandmother, and cousins. Hagan has stated that she has experienced the ripple effects of child sexual abuse. Hagan's mother, father, Phil Hagan, and 32 friends and family members from Opelika attended her crowning. Her grandfather, Stan Hagan, says that Mallory's comments regarding gun control represented most of her family. At the time of her victory, she was also supported by her then boyfriend, Charmel Maynard from New York City. Hagan is the fourth Miss New York, second individual from New York City, and first individual from Brooklyn to serve as Miss America.

2013 Miss America pageant

Hagan was crowned Miss America 2013 on January 12, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada by outgoing Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler, beating out first runner-up Miss South Carolina 2012 Ali Rogers. Due to the decision to move the pageant back to Atlantic City, New Jersey, her reign was cut short by four months and ended on September 15, 2013. Although Hagan follows a few other Miss New York contestants to earn the Miss America crown, she is the first Brooklynite to win. The 2013 competition was Hagan's final year of Miss America Organization eligibility. Her introductory quip to the Miss America 2013 audience at the beginning of the on-air broadcast was "Sandy may have swept away our shores but never our spirit." During the Miss America 2013 competition, she performed a tap dance routine to James Brown's "Get Up Offa That Thing" while wearing a latex rodeo outfit. Other elements of her winning wardrobe included a black string bikini and an asymmetric white evening gown. At the time of her Miss America victory, she was 24 years old and a resident of Brooklyn. Part of her prize package was a $50,000 scholarship.

Miss America role

Hagan promoted awareness of child sexual abuse, and in her first 24 hours as Miss America, she was in communication with United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Her first initiative as Miss America was to become spokesperson for the IHOP's 8th Annual National Pancake Day Celebration in which they hope to raise $3 Million for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. As Miss America, Hagan claimed to travel 20,000 miles (32,187 km) per month. She was derided in the press for gaining weight a few months after becoming Miss America. Hagan responded: "I'm human…and I'd like to equate getting ready for the Miss America pageant, you know, to getting ready for a boxing match [...] We get into shape and then afterwards life goes back to normal."

Career

Hagan used her scholarship money to complete her education at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where she earned a degree in Advertising, Marketing and Communications.

After her reign, Hagan shifted her interest from marketing to television hosting and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a television career. She later returned to New York City and started a personal branding business called Define with Claire Buffie, Miss New York 2010. Hagan currently works as a morning news reporter at WLTZ-TV in Columbus, Georgia and is also a student at Auburn University.