Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Kennedy.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have always loved dogs since a neighbor of mine had a little rat terrier while was in the first grade.
I’ve also always been interested in the arts since childhood, and as a teenager started entering beauty pageants, as little girls do, to become known in the local music industry, and held various titles and performed on stage and in bands in Louisiana, Tennessee, Missouri and Nebraska through adulthood.
Just before moving to Austin I lived in New York City where I made a living as a makeup artist, pageant emcee, singer, and actress. In 2006, as a part of a non-profit theatre company, I came up with the idea to combine my love of pageantry with my love of dogs for a fund raising event, and The Barking Beauty Pageant was born!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road. While The Barking Beauty Pageant has been successful every year we’ve put one on, there have been some snags, mainly because of gaps in my preparedness.
While the theatre company was in existence, and for a few years afterward, I had a dedicated team of people who loved the pageant and worked behind the scenes to make sure everything was funded, there were prizes for our winners, we had contestants, etc. I was the one who was the face and the creator, but that dedicated team really did all the work. I brought in some sponsors and contestants, but handed them off to them to organize.
Shortly after the theatre group disbanded, my right hand person who guided this team, got married and had a child, and since she was also working full time, decided to back out of working with the pageant. It was just too much, and I completely understand. However, I didn’t know what to do to make the pageant work, so we took a hiatus for a few years after 2011.
I later got married and my husband and I started the pageant up again in 2017 in the Hamptons, NY area. It was a huge success! But of course 2020 hit and took some of the steam out just as we were expanding nationwide again.
After my husband died, I moved to Austin. We had a successful pageant in 2022, but we had to cancel our 2024 pageant because there were not enough registrations. I think it was due to the fact I was still so new to the area and had depended on affiliated business contacts where I worked, rather than my own to drive the earlier Austin pageant.
I learned a lot from these experiences and am so proud that our 2026 Austin pageant is really working out well! We already have 8 contestants, and a month from the pageant is when most of the contestants seem to come through, so I expect this year’s event to be very exciting!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished in my artistic career. I’ve always had a band I was lead singer for, always performed on stage and in TV commercials, I owned a modeling and talent agency, and was a working artist my entire time in NYC. Even though I never became a big star, not too many people can boast that they were a working artist in NYC.
The events I’m most proud of are having emceed over 40 state and 4 national pageants, performed as the lead in 7 theatre productions, performed in 2 Off-Broadway productions including starring opposite Barry Williams (Greg Brady of The Brady Bunch) in the Off-Broadway musical “Growing Up 70’s,” hosted a TV show called “Helping Hands”, and starred as an ensemble member of the TV show “Doggie Moms.” I’m also extremely proud of being able to help raise over $50,000 for our affiliated charities with The Barking Beauty Pageant. The upcoming Austin pageant (scheduled for October 18th) will be our 19th pageant overall.
Right now I’m using my ability to stay focused while multi-tasking as the Program Manager for an online Master’s program. My experience in entertainment helps me accomplish the task at hand while planning and working toward other goals at the same time. My experience and degree in music, has given me the understanding of the physical vocal mechanism, which aids in my communication and understanding of some of what the faculty are teaching in the SLP Program I manage for the university.
I think what sets me apart from others is my drive for varied experiences mentally and artistically. I really like to challenge myself by sometimes taking on, and being successful at, more than what most people would be interested in trying.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I think life is inherently risky. There are dangers everyday that we as humans face. Certainly those risks have diminished over time as we’ve subdued nature, but everyday risks still exist – walking across a busy street, falling in love, opening a new business, walking down a dark street – there are always risks. This is why I don’t consider myself a risk taker.
However, if you were to ask my closest friends, I think they would say that I definitely am a risk taker. I have moved from place to place, I have opened businesses, started new jobs I wasn’t necessarily trained for, auditioned for artistic endeavors, and put my reputation on the line every time I start up a new pageant each year. All of these things are risky and scary for most people. To me they’re exciting challenges! A mountain I must climb!
Pricing:
- Sponsorship packages range from gifts ($0.00) to Diamond Level Presenting Parner level at $3000.00
- Contestant entry is $65.00
- Adult General Admission Tickets $25.00
- Children under 12 $15.00
- Children under 4 and leashed pets free
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.BarkingBeautyPageant.org
- Instagram: @BarkingBeautyPageant
- Facebook: @Barking Beauty Pageant
- LinkedIn: @Barking Beauty Pageant
- Twitter: @BarkingBeauty
