Denise Brown’s inspiring pageant story

What started as a simple enough error when she did not stop to read, ended with a poised and confident 56-year-old strutting across the stage as a Miss Universe Jamaica St Ann and St Mary contestant in June 2026. Educator and environmentalist Denise Brown wowed the huge crowd gathered at Lavender Moon Villas and showed them that age is indeed just a number.

The Gleaner recently spoke with the educator, who lectures in natural and applied sciences at the Moneague College, about her experience standing beside other women young enough to consider her as a mother figure.

“The group camaraderie was solid. I had an 18-year-old who instructed me on how to stand and where to line up, and I got nods of approval when I did right; or, if I messed up, I had to do it again,” Brown said

For Brown, what she thought was just an invite to walk in a local fashion show became a full-blown pageant experience, complete with intense coaching.

“On campus, there is a class on ethics ... and my duty was to show the students what to wear and what not to wear, and so I came into the session, modelling alongside someone else. When I came back I met Miss Sarah (Kow) who had come to find students who were willing to enter the MUJ pageant, and she spoke to me, but I wasn’t really listening, so I went thinking she was just having some fashion thing. I didn’t get the full information until I was there, and it was too late to back out.”

Brown further added that she found herself in a contest, competing against one of her own students.

As a member of the Jamaica Literacy Association, one of the big ironies is that someone who always admonishes her students for not reading and listening, ends up in a beauty pageant without it being intentional. This is not lost on Brown, who, good-naturedly, said it was possibly fate that led her down that particular path.

Overall, she found the experience to be very positive. She enjoyed the coaching, and shared that the training forced her to have the self-discipline to stop and just be present in that space.

“Also, fashion is a huge part of my life; indeed, it may be in my DNA. You must always dress up, even if you don’t feel like it, and look the part that you want to play. Both of my grandmothers were seamstresses and both were well dressed. People say I look like my grandmother, tall and skinny, so it is a family affair in terms of loving to dress up.”

With the full support of her principals, fellow lecturers, students and past students, Brown, who also won the Most Courageous Award, said that she would definitely recommend the pageant to others.

“I did not know that I was being so well supported by the public. I have family members who have been in New York Fashion Week, and they would send me tips on how to walk, etc. However, I have two aunts who were not for it ... but everybody else was on board,” she said.

A NEPA volunteer and founder of Good Citizen Club (Moneague College), Brown shared that one of her biggest takeaway from the pageant is that one is never too old to have dreams.

nicola.cunningham@gleanerjm.com