This Kelowna nurse won the title at Miss Global event

Update

Back in February, Kelowna nurse Anju Krishnan was getting ready for the 2024 Miss Global Beauty Pageant in Dubai.

She admitted then her attitude about life and the way women should conduct themselves, was probably a reason why the organization had accepted her as an entrant.

Now, over a month later, Krishnan holds the title in the international category of Miss Global 2024.

“It was amazing. It was a very good experience. I was not expecting it,” she told Kelowna10 on a phone call. “That was a really good experience for me. And then it was like an eye opener for me itself [ to win].”

There were plenty of nerves throughout the competition for Krishnan. While the main goal was just to gain experience, she said the nerves certainly increased as things progressed to the elimination phase.

She's a very firm believer that beauty comes from so much more and advocating that other qualities are just as valuable in a person.

“Beauty is just one aspect. But you also have to look at different aspects like your profession. I would rather support beauty with brain rather than just being beautiful,” Krishnan said. “I have a daughter, so I'm going to teach her the same thing. It's how you carry yourself, and your knowledge. [Beauty] is not the skin, it's the brain.”

The winner of the pageant received a cash prize, which Krishnan has donated a portion to a charitable organization in India, while the remainder will still go towards her schooling to become a Nurse Practitioner.

Original story

Kelowna nurse and young mom has wowed the organizers of the 2024 Miss Global Beauty Pageant, a glitzy event with the motto: Empowering Women, Embracing Cultures, Embodying the Beauty Within.

Anju Krishnan, a Registered Nurse (RN) at Kelowna General Hospital, was told about the event in Dubai by a family friend and initially thought it could be scam. But she did her research, looked into the sponsors, and figured the competition matched her values.

“I was asked lots of questions [by organizers] about why I wanted to enter and I’m a strong believer in it’s not necessarily how you look but how you carry yourself with your personality and your values,” Krishnan told Kelowna10.

She went through auditions in Vancouver and around half a dozen rounds of interviews and, or course, some modelling walks.

“I was so happy, I’ve never done that... it’s not me, not my comfort zone, but I have an opportunity to represent myself on a global platform,” she said.

Krishnan will represent India at the big event late February, although she says Kelowna has become a second home for her and her husband.

She’s been in Canada for six years and has spent four of them doing her bridging studies to secure her RN accreditation. She previously qualified as an RN in her mother country.

She has a message for any girls, including her own 15-month-old daughter, for how they should represent themselves.

“I know it’s a very competitive era, where body shaming is predominant these days. Do not worry how you look. You need to know how you carry yourself. Just be bold enough; just be educated enough to prove to yourself that you’re the best,” she explained.

While Krishnan will fully embrace her opportunity at the Dubai pageant, and hopes to claim the $20,000 top prize, she aims to further her studies and become a Nurse Practitioner.

“I’m going to work on my professional goals. I’m not going to leave my profession ever. This [the pageant] is just one side of me, but my profession is going to be there for my whole life.”