Karolyn Martin grew up in a military family moving every year of her life up until high school. In 2019, Martin’s father retired from the Army and her family moved to Pinehurst. Martin fell in love with North Carolina and went to school at Appalachian State University and has not left the state since.
“I didn’t grow up competing in pageants or in the Miss America organization,” Martin said. “It’s funny because when I was five years old my grandma watched a video of me doing a dance recital, and she said ‘That little girl is going to be Miss America one day.'”
Martin found herself in need of scholarship money her freshman year of college at Appalachian State. She learned more about the Miss America organization and her interest began to grow.
“The Miss America organization is the largest scholarship provider for women in the country,” Martin said. “I decided I would compete my sophomore year and spent my entire freshman year preparing for my first competition because in my family if we’re going to do something, we’re doing it right.”
Martin competed in her first local competition as a sophomore in college which won her the title of Miss Moore County. Following her local title, she placed second runner up to Miss North Carolina 2021, Carli Batson. Martin came back in 2022 as Miss Metrolina and won the title of Miss North Carolina.
There are a number categories of competition involved in the Miss North Carolina competition. There is a 10-minute interview that consists of questions around current events, politics, community service initiatives, and much more. Martin said it is her favorite category of the competition.
“I love to talk, it’s my favorite hobby, so getting to go into the interview room and tell the judges about your heart and your story, about whatever your platform or community service initiative is that you want to champion throughout your year, all of that is a lot of fun to me,” Martin said. “Just to go and talk to them, because they are a group of people and they just want to get to know you and the other young women that are competing.”
Along with the interview category, the candidates also prepared for a talent portion of the competition, modeling in evening gowns as well as fitness wear.
“I am a singer, I sing classical music and musical theater,” Martin. “My Miss North Carolina and my Miss America song was ‘This is the Moment’ from the musical Jekyll and Hyde. It’s a song about rising to a pivotal moment in your life and for me that was winning Miss North Carolina and going on and competing at Miss America.”
Throughout the competition, there is a Carolina Princess Program for girls ages 6-12, a Teen Program that is available for young women ages 13-18, and the Miss North Carolina competition for women ages 19-28.
“We have rehearsal for the competition every day throughout the week and we rehearse our Carolina Princess number,” Martin said. “Those are our young girls that are ages 6-12 that come and they get to do a production number at Miss North Carolina with us and that’s a lot of fun because when we have downtime with our Carolina Princesses we get to kind of mentor them and talk with them and have a lot of fun.”
As Miss North Carolina, Karolyn Martin has been able to attend school visits and meet the youth of the state she represents.
“I love school visits, that’s probably my favorite part of my year,” Martin said. “Getting to go and talk with them and get on the floor and play with them is something that always stands out to me.”
Martin also finds herself enjoying smaller, everyday moments that not only bring a smile to her face, but spread joy around her community.
“I met a little girl in the nail salon the other day, and I just thought she was adorable. I was in my sweatpants and I didn’t have any makeup on, but I reached into my purse and I gave her an autographed card. Then I found out it was her birthday, so I went to my car and got my crown and sash and let her try it on,” Martin said. “Those are the moments that really stand out to me as the times that are special because you have the opportunity to make the most regular day for someone, a special and memorable part of their life.”
Throughout Martin’s pageantry experience, she has created her community service initiative called “#SelfKare: Eat to Success.” Prior to winning Miss North Carolina, Martin had written and published a cookbook filled with healthy “dorm friendly” meals for college students to gain inspiration from, the book is titled, The Self Kare Kitchen: Dorm Meals for the Healthy College Student.
“It is all about teaching the community how to eat in a way that fuels our minds and bodies to success while taking the focus off of weight and appearance,” Martin said.
Martin has plans to attend law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after passing down her crown at this year’s 2023 competition. Her dream is to work in intellectual property and trademark and copyright.
“I want to work with women that are starting businesses and brands, and I also want to work with brands that I love, so beauty brands and fashion brands on their trademark and intellectual property,” Martin said.
