1 of 5
Tylar Sutton
2 of 5
Tylar Sutton
3 of 5
Tylar Sutton
4 of 5
Tylar Sutton
5 of 5
Tylar Sutton
At first glance, Kaamilah Wahid looks perfect. The reigning Miss Akron United States 2019 has all the aesthetics of a beauty queen: trim figure, flowing locks, gorgeous smile, poise and elocution. But she’s had her share of challenges to overcome.
“My biological dad has been incarcerated all my life,” says the 23-year-old. “We’re close, though.”
Raised by her mother and stepfather, Wahid didn’t meet him until she was 9. While he has been in and out of prison since, Wahid keeps their relationship going on visits and doesn’t harbor any resentment toward him.
“It’s good to learn forgiveness at a young age,” she says with the insight of someone much older. “Losing my grandmother to cervical cancer at age 13 taught me that life is short and to look at what I already had and say to myself, I’m blessed. [My father’s] absence made me stronger.”
With her sights set on being a TV news anchor, the Ohio Center for Broadcasting grad sees pageants as a way to not only build her resume but to promote giving back.
“The crown — that’s the small goal,” she says. “The big goal is when you inspire your community.”
Wahid’s doing that by regularly volunteering at Haven of Rest Ministries — where two of her uncles got help for alcoholism and mental health issues — as well as through her charitable program, Prom Promise. She donates one of her pageant dresses along with shoes, makeup and hairdressing service for one young lady’s high school prom every year. For this year’s inaugural gift, she’s connected with a Buchtel High School student with financial need, a high GPA and a strong written statement.
“My prom was magical,” Wahid says. “How could I go home and have all these dresses and not do anything with them?”
This month, she’s launching KommotionAllure online, her own brand of lash extensions, so others can get a dramatic pageant-worthy look too.
When she’s not prepping for pageants or working as a promotions assistant at Radio One in Cleveland, the Akron resident is constantly looking to improve. She even gave up her favorite Cold Stone Creamery cheesecake ice cream for Lent — and that was tough for her.
“If I was on a date, I’d tell you to take me for ice cream before we could do anything else,” she says.
