Kimberly Aiken Cockerham: Life under the crown

In 1993, Kimberly Aiken made headlines as the first African-American Miss South Carolina. She would further cement her stiletto heel in history in 1994 as the fifth African-American woman to win the Miss America title. She was only 18.

Now, at 42, Kimberly Aiken Cockerham, a married mother of two teenagers living in suburban New Jersey, has many successes under her belt. After earning her accounting degree at NYU, Cockerham had a career as an accountant, a small business owner and a full-time mom.

“I’ve done it all,” said Cockerham. “For the bulk of my life, I was a pageant winner; that has been the thing that defined my life. I was a teenager, not even 20 years old, had not experienced much of life before this big thing happened to me. It was a defining moment in my life, something I think so positively on. I know a lot of people have negative reactions to pageants, and I know that there are some young women and some families that have experienced negative, but that was never my experience.”

Now that her kids are older, she handles the finances for her parents’ health care business, is a board member for the Miss South Carolina pageant and, in line with her platform from more than 20 years ago, works with the Interfaith Hospitality Network. It’s a local group of churches that provide short-term housing for families that have fallen on hard times.

“A lot of shelters will take women and children but not men. But keeping families together during such a traumatic situation is so important,” she said.

When asked what advice she would give this year’s contestants, she offered some thought for those considering whether to compete again next year.

“Dig deep and go back and do the things you know will make you a better contestant, a better student, a better person. And that will make you stronger when you come back,” she said. “And if you don’t win the crown, all of those things you’ve done to prepare for Miss South Carolina are only preparing you to be a better young woman in your career and in your community.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Kimberly Aiken Cockerham: Life under the crown."