Greenville Technical College student Olivia Walls was recently crowned Miss South Carolina U.S. Supranational 2018 and now has a chance to compete for the national title in Florida next June.
Walls, a cosmetology student, is vice president of Greenville Tech’s Student Government Association. Her platform is volunteering, and she hosts shoe drives for Shoes4Water, a Greenville, S.C. non-profit, that collects shoes for affordable resale in Kenya, Haiti and South America. While creating an economic building block in these developing countries and offering protection and overall foot health to the new owners, the funds raised from sales supports the drilling of water wells, filtration devices and related supplies in Kenya.
Walls’ explains her support of this non-profit grew out of a childhood experience with sponsoring a child in a low-income country.
“Our family sponsors a child who lives in Uganda through World Vision. Years ago we did a fundraiser and sent him an extra $200 that month. One of the things his family bought was a holding tank for clean water,” explained Walls. “In doing research, I became interested in helping provide clean water for Third World countries. I come from a family of runners so we always had extra shoes to give. So far, I have collected almost 1,000 pairs of shoes. I hope to eventually expand this opportunity to the whole college community.”
If Walls wins the national title of Miss U.S. Supranational, she’ll then have the opportunity to compete for the international title in Poland. Her previous titles include Miss Powdersville USA 2016, Miss Piedmont USA and Teen Miss Greenville County. As Miss Powdersville USA, she competed in the Miss South Carolina USA pageant in Charleston, which is part of the Miss Universe competition.
While not a scholarship pageant, Walls did receive free wardrobe (swimsuit and evening dress) and entry to the national event, make-up and coaching lessons, fitness training and business cards as part of the beauty pageant title.
Walls is completing an Associate in Applied Science in General Technology with a focus on Cosmetology, Marketing, and Business Management/Entrepreneurship from Greenville Technical College. She also owns and operates a family portrait and wedding photography business, Wallz Photography, LLC., and she has been modeling since 2009.