Noelia Voigt spent seven years working toward her dream of becoming Miss USA. And on Friday night, that dream became a reality.
But Voigt told Insider that her journey to the crown wasn't easy — or quick. In fact, she had placed first runner-up in three different pageants before she made it to Miss USA.
"This is something I've worked toward for a really long time," Voigt said. "It's been a journey of perseverance and not giving up."
"It could have been very easy for me, all those times getting first runner-up, to just say, 'I can't do this anymore, I'm so frustrated,'" she added. "But instead, every time I got first runner-up, it was more fuel to the fire for me to keep on going. And I think that hard work really paid off because now I'm Miss USA."
Although Voigt wanted to begin competing in pageants when she was a child, her mother made her wait until she entered her teens. Voigt won her first local pageant when she was 16. She said her friends then began to bully her for competing in pageants. At the same time, she was dealing with an abusive relationship.
The 23-year-old credits pageants for giving her the strength to move on from her toxic relationships.
"When you're in pageants, you're surrounded by women who are uplifting of one another," Voigt said. "They all have a really good sense of self-respect and they know their worth."
"So once I broke into the pageant world and started to get involved in a lot of community service and achieve a lot of really great things, I started to realize that anybody that was toxic in my life was simply holding me back," she added. "Pageants absolutely helped me realize my worth, and that I deserve respect from myself and also people around me."
It was that strong sense of self that helped Voigt continue to compete after she placed first runner-up at Miss Florida Teen USA 2017, Miss Alabama USA 2022, and Miss Alabama USA 2023. She moved to Salt Lake City earlier this year and competed in Miss Utah, taking the crown and earning her spot at Miss USA.
While it was hard to always be one spot away from the national stage, Voigt said she was determined to make it to her dream pageant.
"A lot of people ask me if it hurt that I kept getting first runner-up, and I just told them the honest truth — that I was really proud of myself for getting that placement," she said. "I always felt very honored that the judges still felt I could do the job if something happened and I needed to step in."
Every time she got first runner-up, Voigt worked even harder for her community and philanthropy platforms. She authored an anti-bullying children's book, educated more than 1,000 students across the US on the warning signs of dating violence, and is an advocate for immigration rights and reform.
"Every year that I hadn't won the pageant, it gave me another year of opportunity to do good things for my community, so I really wouldn't have traded it for anything," Voigt said.
Voigt became the first Miss Utah to win Miss USA since 1960. On November 18, she'll represent the United States during the Miss Universe competition in El Salvador.
"It's really special to look back on my journey and see where I'm at now," Voigt said. "I'm honestly very glad that it took as many years as it did, because it gave me the chance to really grow and expand the seeds I had planted in the very beginning — and see them really grow and flourish."
