Ms. Senior America Elisabeth Howard and Pamela Wheeler, the CEO for the Ms. Senior California Pageant program joined me this morning on Get the FUNK Out!. Oh, and did I mention Elisabeth is an opera singer and looks amazing for 72 years of age?! The show aired LIVE Monday at 9am pst on KUCI88.9fm and streaming on www.kuci.org. If you missed it, you can listen to the entire show here.
ABOUT ELISABETH HOWARD
The reigning Ms. Senior America Elisabeth Howard (from Los Angeles) will be giving up her crown at the end of this month in Atlantic City! She represents the American woman 60 years and older for our Nation!
The newly crowded Ms. Senior California is Alise Richel (from Santa Monica). She won the title August 25th and will be going to Atlantic City to vie for the crown of Ms. Senior America October 25th. Alise bested 13 women from across the state of California to win the title. Oh, and did I mention she is 80 years old!
BOTH ladies are opera singers and represent the "Age of Elegance" - those seniors over 60 years of age; Elisabeth is 72 and Alise is 80 years old AND they don't look it or do they act it!
Alise had a standing ovation during her talent competition when she sang Puccini opera Turandot, the aria Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep). It was like being at the Met!
These ladies are a great example of how age is NOT deterring their dreams or stopping them from living life to the fullest! And they certainly don’t look or act like senior citizens!
www.MsSrCalifornia.com
CEO PAM WHEELER
Pamela has a background in corporate leadership, management and relationship development after serving many years in the public sector where she was the Senior Vice President of an Irvine-based staffing company. Upon announcement of the retirement of Marilyn Kohler, former director of the California program, Pamela was selected by the Board of Directors of the Ms. Senior California of America Inc. 501(c)3 to assume leadership of the Board as CEO to include overall responsibility for the rapidly growing California pageant program.
During a successful career in leadership at the California-based firm, Ms. Wheeler was responsible for business development and branch operations for 37 business units. Under her leadership, top line revenue of the organization grew from less than $10 million annually to exceed $100 million in 2005, 2006, and 2007. She was responsible for executive relationship development with all major clients, in addition to leading the ongoing development and refinement of Managed Staffing program protocols for high-profile clients. Responsibility also included contract negotiations with large clients as well as transactional clients. As a senior executive, she participated in setting the strategic direction for the organization. Her leadership role also included her involvement in the development of branch-related performance metrics, customer-oriented protocols and best practices for business units.
Within a few years of retiring from her Corporate Life, she participated in the Ms. Senior California of America Pageant and won the Ms. Senior California title in 2010. Over the course of the past several years, she has directed the Orange County Preliminary Pageant and judged several pageants in other national pageant programs. Her corporate background and leadership experience positioned her well for the CEO role of the California pageant program.
Pamela is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Concordia University Foundation, Irvine, California. Additionally, she is a Board member of South Coast Children's Society, headquartered in Santa Ana, California. She is a member of the Gary Bonner Singers, and as a professional singer, she performs with "Classic Touch" and "The Eternelles."
