From Broken Home to Beauty Empire

Summary

Living Your Legacy – “From Broken Home to Beauty Empire”

Host: Rudy Mawer
Guest: Brandy Pope (“The Glam Bell”)
Date: June 25, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features Brandy Pope, a resilient and faith-driven beauty influencer, former Mrs. Virginia, and the creator of The Glam Bell. Host Rudy Mawer (and co-host Jason Hamilton) facilitate a candid and inspiring conversation where Brandy shares her journey from an unexpected entry into pageantry to building a thriving online platform powered by her faith and commitment to empowering women. Through stories of embracing one’s authentic self, overcoming fear, and remaining rooted in purpose, the episode provides actionable advice and heartfelt encouragement to anyone seeking to leave their mark.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Brandy’s Unexpected Pageantry Journey

• Origin Story: Brandy never imagined herself in pageantry; it was her husband’s encouragement and, as she credits, divine guidance that put her on the path to compete.

  “Never in a million years thought that I would ever grace a pageant stage. It was not on my radar, but it was on God's radar.” (Brandy, 00:00 & 02:59)

• Victory and Evolution: Winning Mrs. Virginia America opened new avenues: she became a pageant director, and, ten years later, competed again at Mrs. United States.

  “Not only did I win that first pageant, but that led me on an entire pageant journey... 10 years later, I ended up on another pageant stage, Mrs. United States.” (Brandy, 03:27)

2. Directing Pageants: Lessons in Leadership & Organized Chaos

• Behind the Scenes: Brandy chronicles her unexpected leap into directing state pageants, highlighting the immense behind-the-scenes work required: production, coordination, marketing, and family teamwork.

  “Organized chaos is the perfect way to describe putting on a pageant. It is a year full of just work... It’s all of these things.” (Brandy, 05:34)

• Family’s Role: Her pageant production became a family affair, involving her daughters, mother, and husband.

  “When it came pageant weekend, it was a family affair. My daughters were doing ticket sales... my husband's... trying to direct people.” (Brandy, 06:14)

3. Social Media Success as “The Glam Bell”

• Transition to Online Influence: Pageantry helped build her confidence and paved her way to online content creation.

  “Through pageantry and directing is what gave me the confidence to even start on social media.” (Brandy, 07:00)

• Platform Growth & Community: With about 700,000 followers, Brandy emphasizes her focus is impact, not just numbers.

  “It’s about the impact. The community...is consistently showing up for me...I have the opportunity to pour into so many people’s lives.” (Brandy, 08:34)

• Real-World Impact: Tells a story about being recognized as “The Glam Bell” by a fan on a flight between Greece and Turkey.

  “A girl sits down beside me and she said, ‘You're the glam bell.’... I'm literally in Greece and on a plane in Greece.” (Brandy, 09:55)

4. Faith as the Foundation

• Purpose-Driven Influence: Brandy’s faith is the core of her identity and work, informing every action, online and offline.

  “Everything that I do, I do to glorify God. Literally everything... My faith is who I am. It is infused in everything I do.” (Brandy, 10:50)

• Faith and Community: She sees her content as a way to connect others to a message beyond beauty—offering hope, encouragement, and authentic inspiration.

  “It's the beauty that draws them in, but then the Lord impacts them through what I do and what I share from the faith side.” (Brandy, 11:47)

• Host’s Reflection: Jason briefly shares his own journey of faith, appreciating the inspiration Brandy provides.

  “I love having these conversations... being reintroduced to people who are walking so strongly in their faith.” (Jason, 12:33)

5. Key Takeaway: Overcoming Fear

• Brandy’s Advice: The main message for listeners is not letting fear prevent them from walking in their purpose and identity.

  “Never let fear stop you from pursuing purpose and walking in your full identity and your full destiny... Don't let fear stop you.” (Brandy, 12:56)

• Resilience: She highlights that while fear may cause setbacks, perseverance is what matters. She encourages listeners to run their unique race and not look back with regrets.

  “Fear may have made me stumble. I may have failed a few times, but I kept getting back up. I kept running the race, which produces perseverance.” (Brandy, 13:56)

6. Faith vs. Fear

• Host’s Reflection:

  “Faith is the antithesis to fear... If you walk in faith, then you have no reason to fear negative outcomes.” (Jason, 14:16)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Identity and Authenticity:

  “You don't want to hear about Jesus, then don't have a conversation with me. Because it's just, it's in me, so it has to come out of me in some way.” (Brandy, 10:58)

• On Impact:

  “The community that I have built... They do not miss a video. It feels so good… that I have the opportunity to pour into so many people’s lives, people that I’ll never meet.” (Brandy, 08:34)

• Surprise Recognition:

  “I sit down in my seat on the plane and a girl sits down beside me and she said, ‘You're the glam bell.’” (Brandy, 09:55)

• On Running Your Race:

  “I want everyone out there to never have to look back at their life and say, man, I wasn't even running the race that I was supposed to be running in.” (Brandy, 14:06)

• Host’s Powerful Statement:

  “Faith is the antithesis to fear... negative outcomes are going to come... But if you have faith that your steps are guided by God… Who cares where I end up? It’s his plan, it’s not mine.” (Jason, 14:16–14:49)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00–03:27: Brandy’s introduction to pageantry
• 04:03–06:35: Directing pageants, organized chaos, and family support
• 06:54–09:06: Brandy’s growth as a social media influencer and stories of recognition
• 10:50–12:01: Faith as the foundation of Brandy’s life and work
• 12:56–14:06: Brandy’s central message: don’t let fear stop you
• 14:16–14:49: Discussion on the relationship between faith and fear

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Where to Find Brandy

• Social Handles: @theglambell on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook
• Website: theglambell.com

“The Glam Bell is what people know me as... there’s so much more in store.” (Brandy, 15:10)

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Conclusion

This episode is a powerful testament to turning adversity into advantage, leading with purpose, and maintaining faith through every stage of building a legacy. Brandy Pope’s story encourages listeners to step beyond fear, embrace authenticity, and pursue their unique calling with resilience and conviction.

Transcript

[A]

I competed for the 2012 title. Never in a million years thought that I would ever grace a pageant stage. It was not on my radar, but it was on God's radar. And that's how I ended up on that stage.

[B]

Brandy Pope is a resilient, empowering and purpose driven beauty influencer, former Mrs. Virginia and the creator of the glam Bell. Through her work, she empowers women to embrace their authentic beauty, strengthen their confidence, and live with greater self, love, resilience and authenticity.

[A]

So my faith is who I am. It is infused in everything that I do. I always say, if, if you don't want to hear about Jesus, then don't have a conversation with me. Because it's, it's just, it's in me. So it has to come out of me in some way. I have brought that to every space, every video, everything that I do. Even if I'm not putting that as the forefront of that particular video, that light still shines through me. And God has used that to draw an audience that I can really reach so much further than just for beauty.

[B]

If there's one key takeaway, one key message that you would have for the audience based on everything that you've shared in your episode, what would that key takeaway be?

[A]

I think through my interview, I would just say it spans the globe like a super high cold Internet Elvis Presley.

[B]

Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone. It's not over until I win the living your legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary. The impossible has happened. Oh, that is sensational.

[A]

Jordan, open Chicago with the lead.

[B]

You said Paul is the fastest man on the planet.

[A]

You can live your dream.

[B]

Welcome back, guys, to another episode of the inside success podcast where we go into inside the success of all of our clients. And today I have with me, Brandy, Brandi, you just finished filming your episode. Tell me a little bit about what our viewers are going to be able to learn from your story.

[A]

I think they're going to be able to learn a little bit about my entire life, from my upbringing to how I got into pageantry and how that led me into the online space and how I've been able to grow and become successful in the beauty and faith space online.

[B]

And you mentioned pageantry there. Like, as we can see, you are very well put together. Somebody clip in the Will Smith meme, just like, hello, are we seeing this? Talk to me a little bit about pageantry. How did we get here? How did we get to this version of Randy that's sitting across from me.

[A]

It's a crazy journey. It would take me a while to tell you about all of the ins

[B]

and outs, but I'll keep for long stories. I love a long story.

[A]

I always say short story long. But essentially, my husband is the one that. That encouraged me to compete for the title of Mrs. Virginia America back in 2011. I competed for the 2012 title. Never in a million years thought that I would ever grace a pageant stage. It was not on my radar, but it was on God's radar, and that's how I ended up on that stage.

[B]

Won't he do it?

[A]

Won't he do it? And, man, not only did I win that first pageant, but that led me on an entire pageant journey of directing. And then 10 years later, I ended up on another pageant stage, Mrs. United States. And that eventually led me to this chair right here with you.

[B]

Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, we have royalty in the studio with us. Pageant royalty. Now I want to talk. You mentioned that you were a director for a second, and my. My director brain perked up. I was like, o with one director to another.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Talk to me a little bit about direction. What does that mean in the space of pageants?

[A]

You know what? I never, I never saw myself on a pageant stage, let alone becoming a director of a state pageant for one of the biggest pageant systems out there for married women. But I stepped into the role as Mrs. Virginia, America's pageant director, and I did that for five years. And I learned so much about production, about putting on. Really putting on a show, connecting with women, hearing their stories. It's crazy. And you probably do literally, that's as you're saying.

[B]

And I'm like, you know the struggle. Yes. You know, you know how it can be. You know, for me personally, like, I've been working in production for the last better part of a decade, and it's. There's so much behind the scenes that people don't see. There's so much that goes into it. The planning, the pre production.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Scouting location. I mean, in pageants, you got to look for these huge stadiums or auditoriums that you have to fill the. How's the lighting gonna look?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How is my audio gonna sound? Where am I getting my audio from?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Do I have an AV team? Do I have a video team? What is everything gonna look like at the end of it? What's my post production process like? Talk to me a little bit about, like, it's organized chaos is what I love to call it. Talk to me about your. Your experience with organized Chaos.

[A]

Organized chaos is the perfect way to describe putting on a pageant. It is a year full of just work and trying to rally contestants to be. I mean, it's marketing. It's all of these things.

[B]

It's everything everywhere all at once. Shout out. Shout out my favorite movie.

[A]

Oh, my goodness. It is literally everything all at once. And what I will say is there's absolutely no way that I could have ever done it without my family kind of come in and locking arms with me and saying, hey, this is going to be a family effort. Yes. I was the director, but I could not steer that ship alone.

[B]

It takes a village.

[A]

Yes. And so even though I was behind the scenes and putting in all the work throughout the year, when it came pageant weekend, it was a family affair. I mean, I had. My daughters were doing tick sales, and my mom's in the bag zipping up zippers and my husband's, you know, trying to direct people where to go. It was a whole. It was a whole thing.

[B]

It was. It was. It was a whole thing.

[A]

It was an adventure.

[B]

I want to. I want to kind of pivot now into the today. Where is Brandy right now? Because I kind of overheard. I was. I was in here editing as you were kind of getting into the last part of your episode with Kofi, but I kind of overheard that you might be a Internet micro celebrity.

[A]

A little bit.

[B]

A little bit. What's the social media life looking like right. Nowadays?

[A]

So right now, I will say that I have seen rapid growth over the last few years. I've been in the online space, really, through directing is what gave me pageant. Excuse me. Through pageantry. And directing is what gave me the confidence to even start on social media, because that was never on my radar. Never saw myself sitting in front of a camera and. And speaking.

[B]

And yet here we are.

[A]

But yet here we are. God can do a lot with our obedience. Right? And so through, you know, through years and years and years of being online and slow growth, the last few years, I've seen an accelerated growth, and I just see so much for the future. Like, I feel like I'm still just experienced the beginning of all of this. The doors that he's already open is just incredible. Like, I sit back, and I'm just in awe of everything that I've been able to experience, everything that I've been able to do. I've been able to grow my platform. I'm not like, oh, my Gosh, I've got 10 million followers, and it's never been about the followers.

[B]

It's Yet. Yet.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

So you guys stick a pin. Stick a pin.

[A]

There. There's always a but, right? There's always a yet. Yet. God said, I'm gonna, I'm gonna grow your audience. Right? And so he's been able to grow my audience to what it is. And I have such a dedicated community. I probably, across my platforms, have close to 700,000 followers or so.

[B]

See, the. A meal is right around the corner.

[A]

Right, right. And it's not even about that for me. It's about. Just like I was saying in my interview, it's about the impact. And so the community that I have built that is consistently showing up for me. They. I mean, they do not miss a video. And it is. It feels so good to me that people even want to watch me first of. But that I have the opportunity to pour into so many people's lives, people that I'll never meet, you know, but. But I get to make an impact.

[B]

It's so funny how God works because you think to yourself, these are people that I could never meet. And then you go to the grocery store one day and it's somebody, hey, I follow you on social media. I love your videos. Do you have any experience with that happening?

[A]

Yes, it's happening more frequently now. Kind of bugs me out still. Like, who. This is really weird. One of the, the most. Well, I say the most recent. It was about a year ago. But one of the weirdest I would say is my husband and I were flying from Greece to Turkey. We had done like a whole two week tour of different countries. I sit down in my seat on the plane and a girl sits down beside me and she said, you're the glam bell. And I was like, hold on. I'm literally in Greece and on a plane in Greece.

[B]

Different country entirely.

[A]

Yeah. She was like, I have followed you. Not just. I've just started following you. I have followed you from the beginning of your social media journey. This is so crazy. She had curly hair. Of course. She's like, you're. You've been my curly hair. Go to, like, what do I do with my hair? So that was really wild. And of course, my husband was with me, so he was like, what? This is wild.

[B]

We love, we love the curls in this house.

[A]

That's right. Come on. Ain't nothing like a curly haired girl.

[B]

I know it. I know it. And so throughout this entire process, one of the key, you know, narrative through lines that I've noticed is your emphasis on faith. So I want you to talk to me a little bit about how does your faith inform the brandy of today? How does your faith inform your actions, your decisions? Where does that faith piece come in?

[A]

Everything that I do, I do to glorify God. Literally everything. I don't care if I am in the whoops. I don't care if I'm in the online space. I don't care if I'm on a pageant stage. I don't care if I'm mopping my floor at home. It's all for the glory of God. So my faith is who I am. It is infused in everything that I do. I always say, if. If you don't want to hear about Jesus, then don't have a conversation with me. Because it's just. It's in me, so it has to come out of me in some way. And so that's just. It's who I am. So I have brought that to every space, every video that I do. Even if I'm not putting that as the forefront of that particular video, that light still shines through me. And God has used that to draw an audience that I can really reach so much further than just for beauty. You know, it's the beauty that draws them in, but then the Lord impacts them through what I do and through what I share from the faith side. And it's been. It's been incredible to watch that unfold.

[B]

He's. He's using you. He's using you as a microphone.

[A]

Yeah. Yes.

[B]

And you know, what. What. What a blessing it is to be an amplifier for God's message.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Right. You know, I. I've just now reawakened in my faith. I grew up, you know, very Christian background. Grew up. And then I had, you know, a period of time where I was just, you know, astrayed. Yes. I was not walking the path. I was not really. I just didn't want to hear it anymore.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I got tired of it. And I love having these conversations because I love being able to be reintroduced to people who are walking so strongly in their faith. So thank you for that. I appreciate that.

[A]

Divine appointments.

[B]

If there's. If there's one key takeaway, one key message that you would have for the audience based on everything that you've shared in your episode, what would that key takeaway be?

[A]

I would. I think through my interview, I would just say the key takeaway is to never let fear stop you from pursuing purpose and. And walking in your full identity and your full destiny. Because I'm telling you, I think a lot of people they. They put themselves in a box because they feel like they have to look a certain way or they have to sound like someone else or I can't be successful because this is what success looks like in this space. But it looks like that because you're not there yet. The world is waiting for you and your part in this space. And so I would just say to people, don't let fear stop you. I think that's my biggest message, is if I let fear stop me, I would not be where I'm at today. Fear may have made me stumble. I may have failed a few times, but I kept getting back up. I kept running the race, which produces perseverance. Right. And ultimately, I want to finish this race strong. And I want everyone out there to never have to look back at their life and say, man, I wasn't even running the race. That was. That I was supposed to be running in.

[B]

It's not how you start, it's how you finish.

[A]

That's it. That's a whole word, how you finish.

[B]

And I said this in a podcast with probably a year and a half ago, but it's one of my favorite clips. And it didn't even do anything on online. But I said that faith is the antithesis to fear. Come on, walk in faith. Then you have no reason to fear negative outcomes. Negative outcomes are going to come to you regardless. That's a part of life. Things are going to go wrong. Things aren't going to go according to plan. But if you have faith that your steps are guided by God.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

Who cares where I end up? It's his plan, it's not mine.

[A]

Come on, come on.

[B]

So faith is the antithesis to fear. Now, before we go ahead and wrap up here, where can everybody find you on social media? We want to grow that audience even more. We're trying to. We. Guys, we need to get her over a mil. Yeah, that's the goal of. If this podcast accomplishes one thing, it should be that. So where can people find you?

[A]

They can find me anywhere online at the Glam Bell. So I have a website. It's theglambell. I've got my tick tock, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, all the platforms, everywhere, all, everywhere under the Glam Bell. You can find me at Brandy Pope, too. But the Glam Bell is what people know me as. And, yeah, there's so much more in store. So people do not want to miss. Like I'm telling you, God is scratching the surface.

[B]

We got to keep it rolling.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

Keep it rolling.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

All right, guys. Well, that's another episode here of the Inside Success podcast. I'm your host, Jason Hamilton, here with Brandy Pope. We will see you guys in the next one.