After five years of competing for the title, 27-year-old Erin Houston was crowned Miss Virginia USA 2025 earlier this spring. The marketing and brand manager from Oakton speaks of the perseverance that made her dream a reality and how she balances the responsibilities of the title with her busy life.
What made you start doing pageants?
Being a young girl, watching the Miss USA pageant on TV was something that I always loved doing. For me, that was the epitome of being a woman — someone that was intelligent, well spoken, graceful, confident. As I grew up, that was something that I always aspired to be. That was a goal and a dream that I always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to pursue. I became financially independent, and then could support myself through the entire process, so I just kind of leapt into it. And it has given me so much more than I could have asked for.
Tell me about your journey to Miss Virginia USA.
If you look back at the video, my face says it all. Just absolute shock, but absolute peace. It’s something you work so, so hard for. So when you dedicate five years of your life to pursuing that dream and you finally get it, it’s like, ‘Oh my goodness. How can this be?’
What did you learn after each competition?
This journey has been a huge lesson on confidence, discipline, and the purpose that comes with it. I got addicted to pageants because each year I felt like I was becoming a stronger version of myself. Pageants really push you in ways that I think not a lot of hobbies or sports can do — in the sense of knowing how to use your voice, connecting with incredibly accomplished, like-minded people around you, and challenging yourself to get outside of your comfort zone and be vulnerable with people.
How are you able to balance school with pageants?
I do have my full-time job. Then my nighttime job is graduate school, and I do modeling on the side. Now with Miss Virginia USA, everyone’s always asking, ‘How do you do it all?’ My mom taught me about work ethic. I got that from my mom and my grandmother. They really taught me the power of discipline and time management, so how to pursue your passions and pursue your goals. I don’t see them as competing priorities. I think all of them sharpen each other, and my ability to adapt and show up fully present.
For the last four years, Miss Virginia USA has been from NoVA. What do you think that says about the region?
I think what it says about Northern Virginia as a whole is that we are creating incredibly intelligent, incredibly accomplished women. And we’re empowering them to continue on that legacy.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Feature image courtesy Miss Virginia USA
This story originally ran in our May Issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
