Black Business Month: 'Crown Bound' Pageant Consulting

In 2014, Ciera Nicole Butts remembers what it felt like to accept the crown of Miss District of Columbia USA. "I think that was my biggest goal just because I knew I wanted to get to the Miss USA stage," Ciera said. "10 years later, the Baltimore native and City High School graduate is helping other girls on the path to achieving their own goals on stage with her Crown Bound Pageant Consulting agency."

"I understand how to really work with these kids and bring out the best in them," she said. "I think of myself when I was a young girl. All the things I needed, thats what I give to them."

Crown Bound offers aspiring pageant queens help in their walking and on-stage presentations, prepping them for interviews, and building their platforms, along with mental prep, clinical mentoring, fitness, nutrition, and make-up tutorials. She says it's her opportunity to give girls from Baltimore something she didn't have when she was coming up in the ranks.

"When I first started competing, I didnt see anybody in Baltimore doing pageants. I thought, ok, these girls on the Miss USA stage are untouchable. You dont see that here. When I first told people that I wanted to do it, they thought I was crazy."

Unlike the girls that Ciera will take under her wing, she was self-taught.

"I couldnt afford a coach, so I did everything on my own," Ciera said looking back on training herself. [I was] just trying to figure out what a true pageant queen was. How does she compete? How does she show up? I took that and just put 'Cieras spin' on it."

Ciera wants all of her clients to know she's going to try to pull excellence out of them, whether that means a win on the big stage or not. "Even if they dont win, the fact that they put themselves out there, theyre confident enough to get on the stage," she said. "That makes me feel good as a coach."

She's already had the opportunity to coach Miss Black USA 2024, Kennedy Lucas, Ms. Black USA 2023, Kelley Reed, Little Miss Maryland Grand Supreme 2024, Denver Gibson, and more. She hopes to one day give Crown Bound its own studio to groom more future pageant queens. In the meantime, she brings her services to her clients at Revolve Wellness Studios: Location: 5621 Old Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD

You can learn more about Crown Bound Consulting and how to book with them HERE

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