![]() It was shared as if this was fantastic, that all these people throughout the organization had been interviewed and everyone was very excited to celebrate the 100 years of Miss America. I had been told, when I first sat down as CEO, that there was 100th anniversary celebratory series that was coming out. ![]() I’ve only been doing this a few months, but would I do it again? Absolutely.Ī&E says the Secrets of Miss America series, premiering July 10, will be “exposing the shocking scandals at its core.” When did you first find out that this would be the docuseries? I have to say that’s definitely been part of the learning curve. Most of that drama happened not around me. Was there ever a moment when you were like, “Do I really want this much drama?” That sort of got me curious and I threw my hat in the ring. I had run into a girlfriend who was doing production for Miss America, and she had told me they were really in bad shape and in need of new leadership. That whole reinvention storytelling piece appeals to me. As an empty-nester, I was looking for something to deploy all the things I love to do. I have a daughter and a son, and they’re both young adults now. With all of your experience as a creative entrepreneur, what made you want to step into this role as CEO of Miss America - especially now? By 2009, you were a dress sponsor for the Miss Florida state competition. ![]() In the early 2000s, you launched a dress shop in Wellington, Florida, and it catered to women buying gowns for balls, galas, weddings, as well as pageants. Robin Fleming: The very first introduction to the pageant world probably was sitting on a couch eating popcorn with my mother, watching various pageants that were doing live productions on TV … Miss America, Miss USA. What was your first introduction to the pageant world? “To know who you want to be, you have to be able to look backwards and see where you’ve come from.” Shortly before Secrets of Miss America premiered, Fleming chatted about her thoughts on the series and how she plans on bringing Miss America back to the future. Instead, she’s listening and learning because “you really can’t fix something unless you know it’s broken,” she says. For Fleming, recasting Miss America into more favorable light will not hide its checkered past. Through interviews with more than 20 past title holders, the four-part limited series unveils the toxic culture of body shaming, misogyny and bullying that led to MAO’s scandals. Now, seven months into the job, Fleming is prepping for the backlash surely to flood timelines as A&E’s Secrets of Miss America airs July 10. Last January, Fleming, a fashion entrepreneur who was the official eveningwear designer for Dancing With the Stars for three years, was named its first full-time CEO.Ī+E Networks Group Chief Paul Buccieri Joins Elton John AIDS Foundation Board As the Miss America Organization (MSO) was gearing up for its 100th anniversary in 2020, interim CEO Shantel Krebs was holding down the fort. Hopper, then president and CEO, resigned six months later. Their impact was short-lived: After public accusations by the 2018 Miss America Cara Mund of alleged bullying, Carlson stepped down in June 2019. Former Miss Americas Regina Hopper and Gretchen Carlson (Fox News host from 2005-16) were brought in to salvage the fallout through an extensive rebranding called Miss America 2.0 and instituted one significant change: nixing the bathing suit competition. In 2017, CEO Sam Haskell, once exalted for reviving the program to its glory days as must-see TV, was revealed to have been sending disparaging and misogynistic emails about the weight and sexual history of past winners. Over the past six years, America’s oldest beauty pageant nearly crumbled under the weight of its former executive leaders. When Robin Fleming posted on her LinkedIn that “the first 90 days as CEO of Miss America Organization has been a whirlwind,” she wasn’t lying.
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