Open Letter From Global Beauties Co-Owner
"The right choice is hardly ever the easy choice." After quit a bit of thought and going backwards and forwards with regards to this decision, the time has come for me to bid a fond but sad farewell to Global Beauties. Almost 18 months ago I was given the opportunity to become a contributor for Global Beauties and it's now been nearly a year since I acquired 50% of it.
During this time, my life has changed quite dramatically. I made a big career change when I accepted a job with the Miss and Mister Supranational Organization and this has taken me into a whole new direction in life - one that I have been dreaming into reality since I was 10. While the last few months have been filled with many exciting opportunities for learning and growth, I have also realized that my ability to actively contribute to Global Beauties has been diminishing slowly to basically going into the realm of non-existence.
"Conflict of interests" - I have been hearing and reading these words a lot during the last few months. While I have never had any doubts about my own integrity or ability to separate the two, I do understand that from the outside it might be hard to understand. Or perhaps it is just a really easy excuse to justify more criticism or negativity. I do, however, wish to declare unequivocally that there was never any form of financial gain for me in this at all. On the contrary, it has only set me back greatly financially.
Love it or loathe it, I know a lot of people still value and care about the opinions of this website. As I am no longer in a position to give my full attention to it, it would be selfish to hold onto it and let it become the sole responsibility (and perhaps even burden) of someone else.
My goal or desire was actually always quite simple: to use this platform as a voice that would be a champion for the industry. Sadly, perhaps I did not have enough time to affect real change or maybe I was just really naive. I can, however, walk away from this knowing that it's just money I am losing and not my integrity. I still hope that the negativity and destructiveness in the industry will not end up destroying it for good. Honestly, I am quite concerned about and a bit disturbed by all the viciousness out there that seems to be increasing year by year. Pageants are supposed to be fun and they are supposed to bring people together.
Henrique, thank you for your support and I am truly sorry for letting you down. Keep up the good work - this is your child. Thanks for letting me be a part of it for 5% of its existence. I do hope to find a new co-owner that can help carry the torch but I will always be there on the sidelines to cheer you on. And of course, I will still be checking the news regularly.
Thank you also to all the kind people that wrote or whom I have met along the way. It only takes a few people to make it worthwhile, so thank you to the ones who showed kindness. It's what I love most about this industry - the people, the experiences and the love and light that these things can bring. May they continue to do so for many years to come.
Andre Sleigh
Pageants are supposed to be fun and they are supposed to bring people together!