Mother - Stacy (57)

Daughter - Summer (32)

Sevierville, Tennessee

The Pageant Queens

In the birthplace of Dolly Parton, the songstress who famously said "the higher the hair, the closer to God", this mother-daughter duo took those words as gospel! Stacy and Summer are quintessential, “Southern Belle beauty queens" who lead a glamorous life filled with big hair, lots of makeup, and sequins as far as the eye can see. This duo hasn't always had the close relationship that they have today. When Stacy divorced Summer's father when she was 16 years old, Summer chose to live with him. Summer shut Stacy out of her life, which pained Stacy so badly. Though Summer wasn't interested in having a relationship with her mother, Stacy would show up to every single one of Summer's school and sports events to support her daughter. Summer knew Stacy was there but would not acknowledge her mother. Stacy fought to have a close relationship with Summer and with time, Summer realized that her mom loved her. Summer began to open up to having a relationship with her mom and the two began to rebuild their bond.   

Summer began competing in beauty competitions when she was 21 years old. Summer is competitive and immediately fell in love with the pageant world. Summer jokes that there is a pageant every weekend in Tennessee and she started to compete in all of them. Stacy would follow Summer around so she could see her daughter compete and the duo found that their relationship strengthened when they had a hobby to do together. When Stacy was 50 years old, Summer signed her up for a pageant without her knowledge. Stacy was scared to compete, but Summer coached her mother and though she had never competed before, Stacy won! Stacy got the "pageant bug" after her big win and then she decided that she wanted to join her daughter in competitions. The duo are currently national titleholders! Summer is the National Modern Miss queen and Stacy is the Elegant US Women's queen. They love wearing their matching crowns together, especially around the house. Summer loves having her mom with her in the pageant world and that they are carrying on the tradition with Summer's daughter, Sadie-Ray who is also competing in pageants. The three generations are traveling to pageants nearly every weekend to compete and they love "collecting crowns" together! Summer and Stacy love to spend the night in hotels together when they are traveling for pageants. It drives Summer crazy that Stacy likes to walk around the hotel room naked, but Stacy doesn't see what the big fuss is about!

Summer says that she doesn't have any friends because she is so close to her mother. Summer runs a successful beauty pageant consulting business and has a great track record of "creating queens." Summer teaches classes on pageants and coaches students on how to "secure the crown" when competing. Stacy helps Summer with running her business and Summer considers her mother to be her, "right hand." About a year ago, Summer and her husband, Trey (30), decided that they wanted to start a business together. Trey is a master distiller (that's the fancy term for moonshiner!) and he had always dreamed of opening a distillery and restaurant. Summer felt like her experience with marketing paired with her husband's expertise in distillery would be the recipe for success. One of the things holding them back from starting their business was their need for childcare. Summer and Trey have three children - Summer's son from her previous marriage, Mac (11), their son, Cullen (2), and daughter Sadie-Ray (1). Summer had the brilliant idea of asking Me-Maw Stacy to become their full-time nanny. In October 2019, Summer and Trey opened Junction 35 Spirits down the road in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. 

Stacy loves being the nanny for her grandchildren, especially because she gets to spend more time with Summer. Summer is grateful that her mom has been able to help out with her kids so that she and Trey can focus on their new business together. Having her mother be the nanny does come with some drawbacks and friction though. Summer feels like Stacy is too lenient with the kids and she wears her Me-Maw hat too much and doesn't really discipline the children when they are acting up. Summer gets frustrated that her mom's parenting style is different from hers and the two can butt heads over how to raise the children. Summer and Trey are paying Stacy to take care of the kids and they feel like Stacy doesn't always follow orders. Additionally, Summer feels like she has to be the mediator between her mom and husband because their communication styles are vastly different from each other. Trey is a "straight shooter" and Stacy is overly sensitive and gets her feelings hurt easily. 

Stacy has been dating her boyfriend, Trevor for a couple of years. Summer has never been a fan of her mother's choice in men and doesn't quite understand what her mom sees in Trevor. Stacy is fit, health-conscious and always dolled up which is a stark contrast to Trevor, who is an outdoorsy truck driver! Summer doesn't have the stereotypical, "sweet as sweet tea" southern belle personality. If she is thinking it, she is saying it! Summer is a straight-forward personality and letting her mom know exactly what she is thinking can be a lot for Stacy to handle, especially when it comes to Summer not liking whoever Stacy is dating. Trevor gets frustrated that Stacy is always at Summer's beck and call. Trevor is gone for days at a time for work and he looks forward to getting alone time with Stacy on his days off. Since Stacy and Summer are so intertwined in each other's lives and rarely make a decision without each other, it means when they aren't together, they are in constant communication. Stacy and Trevor are really happy together and both are in it for the long haul, but Trevor’s conservative Baptist family would prefer that the two get married so that they aren’t living in sin. Trevor and Stacy have both been married before and aren’t sure if they want to re-open that particular door.

Rain, sleet or snow won't keep Stacy and Summer from being together (especially at a pageant!) They love being involved in each other's lives and sharing a bond that others envy. Stacy tells people that she "wants to be Summer when she grows up" and she is so proud of her daughter. Summer loves having her mom be her "right hand" because she feels like there is nothing they can't accomplish together. No matter what life throws at them, these beauty queens are always ready to win and take home the crown!