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Founder of "You Define Success"
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Carly acknowledges the power that social media holds, and believes in using it in a positive way. She founded her platform “You Define Success” in 2018, her mission statement “Success is not about reaching the top, but how far you ran to get there.” Is a representation of her own beliefs, and the mentality that she hopes to inspire others to have. She launched her social media and website @YouDefineSuccess and YouDefineSuccess.org in 2020 to further expand her mission of self love, anti bullying, and inspiration. With weekly posts of affirmation and one of her most recent project launches, the “BRAVE Blog.”
BRAVE is an acronym which stands for: Building Respect And Values for Everyone. With the launch of her “BRAVE Blog” Carly has teamed up with other titleholders from across the world to share their experiences of overcoming bullying. Since Carlys Brave Blog was launched in October 2020, her message has reached over 23 different states and countries and counting. As Miss Gulf Coast USA 2021, Carly plans to continue to speak to school children across Texas about the importance of being BRAVE, and to be inclusive of everyone despite their differences.
Carly is in the beginning stages of her latest project, “BRAVE Buddies”. A pen pal program for elementary students to write about their favorite hobbies, future goals, and the things they love about school. Carly hopes this pen pal program will not only be an opportunity for students to learn proper letter writing technique, but also an opportunity for them to talk about the things that make them happy to a titleholder that they can consider a friend in this period of distance and virtual learning.
Being “BRAVE” isn't Carlys only passion. She also is extremely passionate about being involved in the community. Another project she founded is #ThoughtfulThursday, a social media campaign to inspire others to volunteer. Many of Carlys peers wanted to volunteer, but didn't know where to start, which is where the idea for this campaign was born. Carly began sharing different causes and organizations on her social media with details on their missions and how to get involved, with hopes that people would find a cause to connect too and dedicate their time to volunteering with.
One organization that Carly enjoys sharing and spending the most time with is the Kailee Mills Foundation. In July 2015, Carly lost her friend Tavin Parker in a car accident. Carly never considered that maybe, if Tavin was wearing his seatbelt that he would still be here. Until October 2017, Kailee Mills was 500 yards from home when she took off her seatbelt in the backseat of a car with her friends. The driver lost control and the car began to flip, Kailee was ejected and did not survive. The 3 other passengers walked away from the accident. Kailees family wanted to prevent this tragedy from happening to other families and founded the Kailee Mills Foundation in their daughters honor to raise awareness of seatbelt safety. Despite not knowing Kailee, Carly knows the feeling of losing a friend in such a tragic way. She shares the same hope, of wanting to prevent another family of losing a loved one. So much so, Carly started her own non-profit project to raise money for their cause.
Carly is on a mission to change the world and save lives. One campaign, one act of kindness, and one seatbelt at a time. To her, a crown and sash isn't a reason to do that job, it is just a way to make that job easier, her voice louder and her outreach bigger.
BRAVE is an acronym which stands for: Building Respect And Values for Everyone. With the launch of her “BRAVE Blog” Carly has teamed up with other titleholders from across the world to share their experiences of overcoming bullying. Since Carlys Brave Blog was launched in October 2020, her message has reached over 23 different states and countries and counting. As Miss Gulf Coast USA 2021, Carly plans to continue to speak to school children across Texas about the importance of being BRAVE, and to be inclusive of everyone despite their differences.
Carly is in the beginning stages of her latest project, “BRAVE Buddies”. A pen pal program for elementary students to write about their favorite hobbies, future goals, and the things they love about school. Carly hopes this pen pal program will not only be an opportunity for students to learn proper letter writing technique, but also an opportunity for them to talk about the things that make them happy to a titleholder that they can consider a friend in this period of distance and virtual learning.
Being “BRAVE” isn't Carlys only passion. She also is extremely passionate about being involved in the community. Another project she founded is #ThoughtfulThursday, a social media campaign to inspire others to volunteer. Many of Carlys peers wanted to volunteer, but didn't know where to start, which is where the idea for this campaign was born. Carly began sharing different causes and organizations on her social media with details on their missions and how to get involved, with hopes that people would find a cause to connect too and dedicate their time to volunteering with.
One organization that Carly enjoys sharing and spending the most time with is the Kailee Mills Foundation. In July 2015, Carly lost her friend Tavin Parker in a car accident. Carly never considered that maybe, if Tavin was wearing his seatbelt that he would still be here. Until October 2017, Kailee Mills was 500 yards from home when she took off her seatbelt in the backseat of a car with her friends. The driver lost control and the car began to flip, Kailee was ejected and did not survive. The 3 other passengers walked away from the accident. Kailees family wanted to prevent this tragedy from happening to other families and founded the Kailee Mills Foundation in their daughters honor to raise awareness of seatbelt safety. Despite not knowing Kailee, Carly knows the feeling of losing a friend in such a tragic way. She shares the same hope, of wanting to prevent another family of losing a loved one. So much so, Carly started her own non-profit project to raise money for their cause.
Carly is on a mission to change the world and save lives. One campaign, one act of kindness, and one seatbelt at a time. To her, a crown and sash isn't a reason to do that job, it is just a way to make that job easier, her voice louder and her outreach bigger.