Meet The Ambassadors
Rheanna Cartier
Miss Cotswold - Miss London Finalist - Miss England Finalist - Law Student
Rheanna is 18 years old, and she's from England. Her journey with bullying first started when she was 13 years old. It got so bad that she had to move to a boarding school in Denmark when she was 14.
Rheanna recalls how bad and scary that year in England when she was 13 was. She would take paracetamol every day because she would have unbearable migraines, which she later found out was because of the stress. She also developed a bad relationship with food because of it. She had no friends back then and would go to the bathroom every 10 minutes to avoid seeing people. People would call her names in the hallways and her classes.
Initially, she stayed silent but when it all became too much for her to handle, she told one of her teachers about it. Her teacher didn't do anything about it - and she then started skipping school and stopped caring about her school work.
She developed behavioral issues. When she first started school, she was quiet and focused. Within a few months, she was on every report card, put in isolation, and was having meetings with her parents & the head teacher.
It got so out of hand that the school gave her a small room where she had to go and sit in silence all lunch. She was also put in an isolation room on regular school days.
Ultimately, her school tried to send her to a special school for people with behavioral problems which is why she went to Denmark where she had a transformational experience.
Because of her time in her school in England, she suffered from social anxiety, a tic (from someone kicking her in the head), behavioral problems & eating disorders.
Fast forward to today, Rheanna is a law student, a model and has taken part in various pageant competitions and uses her platform to help empower victims to defeat bullying.
Looking back, Rheanna states "I recovered by focusing on myself. Doing lots of work on myself & building up my self esteem. I really want to be an ambassador because I want to support people by helping them to recover from the affects. I would love to help people build up their confidence & support them."
A quote that she lives by is "life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it."
Kennedi Brumsey
Former Miss Teen East Coast Petite - Miss Mid-Atlantic Petite - Founder of Sparkle with Kindness
Kennedi is 21 years old and is from New York City. Her journey with bullying began back in middle school - around the age of 14. At the time it was more subtle since she was being bullied by her best friends through isolation and indirect comments. Coming from her best friends, she was really hurt and told them to stop. But her friends continued and told her that she was too sensitive and couldn't take a joke - deep down, Kennedi knew that they were just trying to make her feel less than.
She was bullied by people who she just knew about her weight, teeth, height, etc. This bullying escalated onto social media, making it harder for her to escape it. She started avoiding the cafeteria at school because she was too anxious.
She naturally struggled with anxiety, and constantly being picked on by her best friends did not help her anxiety. It reached to the point where she would sit in the nurse's office to escape the bullying. Her friends kept saying that it was just a well-meaning joke, but Kennedi knew that it wasn't. Their verbal and innocent form of bullying is extremely common and often overlooked, especially when it comes from your best friends.
Fast forward to today, Kennedi is studying psychology and has won several pageant titles. She has created her own platform to spread kindness (@sparklewithkindness) and she also shares valuable tips and resources on mental health and bullying.
Kennedi truly believes that everyone deserved kindness, and even the smallest acts of kindness can brighten someone's day.
She states that "One of my main goals is to help bring awareness about the different types of bullying and how you can defeat it. Bullying has detrimental effects on victims, and can be prevented. I want to use my voice for the better and help anyone who is struggling with bullying and mental health. I am beyond excited to work with Let's Defeat Bullying to achieve my mission!"
