Draft:Mischaela Elkins

Mischaela Elkins (born 27 March 1989) is an Indigenous American model, businesswoman, author, and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Miss Peru in 2020 and was named the delegate to the 2021 edition of the Ms. Universe pageant, held in Miami, where she was crowned Ms. Universe 2021.

She represented the "Miss Indigenous America" title at Miss Global in 2022. Mischaela is often described in the media as one of the "Indigenous Supermodels" alongside Ashley Callingbull, Quannah Chasinghorse, and Willow Allen.

As a fashion model, she rose to prominence with a Van Cleef & Arpels campaign featuring her in a 20 by 40 feet (6 by 12 m) billboard in New York City's Times Square. Mischaela gained international recognition as a MAXIM model and after appearing on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar.

Early life and education
Mischaela was born in the United States to an Indigenous American father, Roger and a mother with Norwegian, German, Swiss, and Italian ancestry, Debra.

Mischaela is a member of the MENSA High IQ society. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Indiana University. In 2017, she received an MBA from Instituto de Empresa, IE Business School in Madrid, Spain.

In 2009, as a teenager, she participated in the 2009 Elite New Faces Model Call with Elite Model Management, where she was a finalist. Mischaela left home soon after to pursue modelling in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, and Paris.

Modeling
Mischaela attended modelling school with Barcino Management in Spain and was trained in runway by Mandy Dyonne - trainer for the Fendi, Chanel, Prada, and the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show runways. She attended model finishing school through a program of the famed Lucie Clayton College finishing school taught by Alexandra Messervy. Mischaela is an alumna of the Coco Rocha Model Camp.

She has worked as a runway model for the "Big 4" Fashion Week shows in New York, London, Paris, and Milan. Mischaela has also walked Bridal Week, Couture Fashion Week, and Miami Swim Week shows.

She was the “Miss September” model for Vizcaya Swimwear’s luxury swimwear calendar.

Elkins has worked with photographers like Scott Schuman, Nigel Barker, and Annie Liebovitz's team.

Business
Mischaela is the author of 3 self-help books: "Breathwork at Tiffany's", "Workin For A Birkin", and "Red Bottoms & Rose Quartz".

Miss Teen Indiana USA 2007
Her foray into pageantry began in 2007 during her university freshman year, at age 18, by entering a regional contest for Miss Teen USA in the Miss Universe where she placed 2nd runner up.

Miss Peru 2020
In 2020, after making the cut after two rounds of qualifications and two rounds of eliminations she was crowned the "Miss Peru" delegate to Ms. Universe 2021.

As a Miss Peru, Mischaela was pageant coached and prepared by the team that prepared and developed top placing Miss India delegates Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen, Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra, and Manushi Chhillar for International pageants. She was prepared by former Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova. After winning an international beauty title, Mischaela trained with former Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray.

Ms. Universe 2021
In 2021, Mischaela Elkins represented the title of "Miss Peru" at Ms. Universe and won the title of Ms. Universe 2021.

She placed with a nearly perfect score across the board, with her highest score being the swimsuit competition. In the swimsuit competition she scored only 4/10ths of a point away from a perfect score of 10 across all 40 judges. In pageant interview, her second-best category, she scored 396.6 out of 400 points, almost obtaining double perfect scores in Swimsuit and Interview. Harper's Bazaar Vietnam compared Mischaela to Lara Dutta, who holds nearly perfect scores for her finalist interview and the highest score in any category in the history of Miss Universe.

Miss Elite Beauty Peru
She also took home multiple superlatives at Miss Elite Beauty Peru including “Miss Photogenic”, “Miss Supermodel”, “Best in Evening Gown”, and “Miss Glamorous Beauty”.

Miss Model Beauty Peru
At Miss Model Beauty Peru, she took home the top national title, as well as the superlative title “Miss Natural Beauty”.

Miss Indigenous America 2022
She represented the "Miss Indigenous America" title at Miss Global and took home two honors: making the Top 10 for the Miss Runway award and the Top 5 for Miss Goodwill. Her Miss Goodwill ranking was due to her charity project to support scholarships for young women of Native American heritage to attend film and photography school and subsequently support more Native American and Indigenous representation in fashion, film, and media.