INTERVIEW with Nikki Weaver || Ms Galaxy Australia National Finalist 2024

Above: Photo by Samantha de Souza

SD: Hi Nikki. Can you introduce yourself to my readers who don’t know you yet?

NW: Hi readers! Thanks for welcoming me into your world! I’m Nikki Weaver. 
My most recent achievement was being crowned Ms Galaxy Fremantle 2024, but I’m also a mum, a published author, a branding expert and a psychic. In my daily life, I’m known as The Brand Medium. I help businesses (and business owners) grow and flourish by correcting and perfecting their brand energetics. 

SD: You’re a finalist for Ms Galaxy Australia 2024. Can you tell us more about it?

NW: Oh wow, where to even start?! The pageant scene is a whole new world to me but such an exciting journey!!

Yes, we get to wear lovely dresses and strut down the runway, but it’s about so much more than that. 

Australia Galaxy Pageants is the system that I’m proudly a part of, and their goal is not just to celebrate women achieving amazing things, but also to give back to the community and improve the world around them. 

As part of our role as National finalists, we’re tasked with supporting local causes, fundraising for charity and raising awareness for our local community, mine being the beautiful port town of Fremantle, in Western Australia. 

SD: How did you become interested in pageants?

NW: Honestly, I never in my wildest dreams expected to be competing in a beauty pageant!! 

When I applied for Ms Galaxy Australia, I didn’t actually expect to get in, so I was shocked when they called me up to book an interview! The only thing I knew about the pageant world at that point was what I’d seen in the movie Miss Congeniality! 

Late last year, while I was running a fundraising event for a local charity called Worthy Australia, I met Amy (a current National finalist in the Mrs division), who encouraged me to enter the competition. She’d been a finalist several years in a row and was convinced that I’d love it.

At first I laughed, thinking she was joking because I certainly didn’t believe I was pageant material, but Amy held fast and continued to encourage me to apply.

As weeks went on and the application deadline loomed, I still had her words in my head, and then a few days before the applications closed, she tagged me in the final call-out post and I knew I had to enter. 

At that point I still didn’t think I’d get in but I knew, with every fibre of my being, that I was supposed to apply. 

And now, here I am: Heading to the Nationals and embarking on this amazing journey of personal growth! 

SD: What’s in your makeup bag right now?

NW: I’m not your typical beauty queen, my makeup bag is very minimal as I only glam-up for shoots, events and media appearances! I have more skincare than makeup, so my supplies are pretty modest, but I choose quality over quantity.

My makeup bag consists primarily of the Isaada brand. I love their products and have found them great for my skin type as they don’t cake or crack. I’ve got my redness reducer primer; a couple of shades of foundation; eyeliner; mascara; blush; and (most importantly for a blonde!) my eyebrow pencil. 

My eyeshadows are where I go a bit cheaper as I don’t wear it often - I’ve got one set I bought from Primark when I was in London a few years ago, and a very similar kit in different shades from K-Mart! 

Above: Photo supplied by Nikki Weaver

SD: What is your vision of success?

NW: I love this question! Success can be such a loaded word as everyone has their own idea of what that looks like. For me, it’s leading a happy and fulfilled life. Achieving the goals you set out to achieve (whatever they might be), being surrounded by people you love and leading a wonderful life that you don’t need a holiday from. 

SD: What do you admire in a woman and why?

NW: Honesty, integrity and the drive to encourage others around her. I’m very much a ‘keep it real’ kind of girl and being big on energetics, I feel inauthenticity immediately. For me, the women that I find inspiring are the ones who embrace themselves for who they truly are; embody their beliefs; and cheer for others as they do the same. After spending two decades working in a male-dominated industry I know how important it is for women to support and encourage each other! We don’t lose any of our light by shining it on others, we just add to the sparkle.

SD: If you could give one piece of advice to your 14 year old self, what would it be?

NW: Firstly, ‘go get tested for ADHD and Autism’! If I’d known about my neurodiversity back then, life would have been a whole lot easier. 
However, essentially it all comes down to self-love so that would be my message.

I hated myself on so many levels, for so many different reasons. I was a weird, chubby kid who was badly bullied, so by the time I was 14 I was pretty much ready to not be part of this world. I felt worthless, hopeless, useless and like I didn't belong. It was such as waste of a beautiful heart and mind.

The only thing I'd be able to do for that damaged little soul, would be to give her a huge hug and say ‘I love you, and one day you will too. You’re going to do amazing things so just keep believing in yourself, even when no one else does.’ 

I’m not sure if 14-year-old me would believe current me, but at least, for a moment, she’d feel a glimmer of hope and stop hating herself so much.

SD: Who are you most inspired by in the Pageant World and why?

NW: Being quite new to this world I haven’t yet discovered all of the amazing women who have walked this path before me, but I think the one woman who has had the most impact on me personally, as well as my pageant journey, would have to be Amy Basnett.

She is an amazing and inspirational human who overcame some huge hurdles to compete in Nationals.

Amy was the person who encouraged me to enter the Ms Galaxy Australia pageant in the first place. Until she suggested it, I would never have thought myself capable of doing something like this, but knowing that she had belief in me gave me the bravery to do it. 

SD: How have beauty pageants impacted your life and your career?

NW: Having only just begun my pageant journey, it’s hard to judge the full impact it will have on my life and career in the long-run, but I can say that it’s been a game changer. It’s an intense but amazing experience that can’t not change you!! 

For me it was the final piece of the Nikki puzzle, or maybe more like the key that’s unlocked a hidden level of Nikki I never knew existed. 

If you ever get a chance to be involved, I highly recommend it, especially if you’re the sort of person who would never in a million years dream of doing something like this! Trust me, you may have moments where you wonder what you’ve got yourself into, but I guarantee you’ll be glad you did it! 

SD: What is your best beauty secret?

NW: Can I be really tacky and say confidence? There are a lot of amazing products out there that can make you look good on the outside, but if you don’t feel good about yourself from the inside, then it shows. 

There have been times in my life where I’ve been thinner, had better hair and younger skin, but when I look back at those photos, all I see is a sad soul hiding behind those big green eyes. No matter how much I achieved, I didn’t love me and it showed. 
These days, I’m curvier, squishier and older but I think I’m at my most beautiful. I have an inner glow now that I never had in my younger years because I love myself and the woman I’ve become.

Nikki’s Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkiweaverofficial/
Nikki’s batyr fundraising link: https://www.batyr.com.au/my-fundraising/155/nikki-weaver
Website: https://www.nikkiweaverofficial.com

Above: Photo supplied by Nikki Weaver