Pageant News Bureau - Teresa Harlan

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u

A beauty's biggest fan

Photos by Joe Whiteko / PNB

What's more powerful than a mother's love? Money, did you say? Very funny. If you were really that cynical, you wouldn't cry every time you watch "Dumbo." (And you wouldn't be watching "Dumbo" three times a week.)

A mom is a special person, but a pageant mom is beyond special. Let people complain about those allegedly frustrated women who watch their daughters onstage. Without the genuine passion of countless mothers, there would be no pageant business.

Teresa Harlan is a pageant entrepreneur, and a famous beauty in her own right, but being a pageant mom is what energizes her these days. She has two lovely daughters who are her life.

Her daughter Kimberly, a former Miss Georgia Teen USA, appeared live on "Star Search" for two consecutive weeks in January 2003. Back home, her mother was watching, along with a few friends. As Kimberly smiled angelically for millions of TV viewers, her mother went through an emotional wringer in front of a small circle of sympathizers.

The first week, Kimberly won. But the second week, after a competition that was painfully close, she lost. The red-haired girl on the television screen seemed equally comfortable in victory or defeat, but you could read the tides of fortune on her mother's face.

You will see Kimberly again, if only on a magazine cover. But if you ever run into Teresa Harlan, tell her you understand.

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u