Gannon student Haley Poe in NY Fashion Week, supports women’s health
For Waterford’s Haley Poe, the final three years have managed to be difficult, irritating and thrilling all on the identical time.
From beginning her pageant profession, to being identified with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), learning pre-med at Gannon College and strolling three weeks in the past in New York Vogue Week, the 19-year-old has managed to steadiness all of it.
However Poe has massive aspirations for changing into each a profitable mannequin and a health care provider of osteopathic medication.
“It’s cool to have each as a result of I’d be mentally exhausted if I used to be within the lab on a regular basis however I’d be mentally exhausted if I have been modeling on a regular basis,” she stated. “Once you do loads you be taught to deal with loads, so doing each on the identical time has actually gotten me used to figuring that out.”
Poe discovered confidence via competitors at completely different magnificence pageants
At 16, Poe began competing in magnificence pageants. She did not win her first one, however she gained confidence.
“Folks don’t understand that the rationale ladies compete in pageantry shouldn’t be as a result of they’re over-confident or desire a title, it’s due to the arrogance they get out of doing it, as a result of with the intention to compete it’s important to know your self so nicely and work on your self a lot it sort of removes a few of these points,” she stated.
Round age 17, her participation in pageants started to get observed by massive robe shops, like Bridal Magnificence in Erie and Henri’s, primarily based in Columbus, Ohio. Poe began modeling their attire, in addition to robes for Sherri Hill, an American designer.
Her modeling profession took off when Rene Bionat, founding father of Beauty It’s Everywhere and Art & Beauty magazine, selected her as the difficulty’s NYFW version cowl mannequin a number of weeks earlier than the large present.
“From watching me compete on dwell streams and being at competitions we linked up and ultimately he (Bionat) was like, ‘I’m going to provide the cowl for this and also you’re going to stroll in these (NYFW) reveals,” Poe stated.
A weekend at New York Vogue Week
In early September, Poe arrived in Manhattan for NYFW, the place she was greeted by her personal billboard in Instances Sq..
Seeing photographs of herself featured in Instances Sq. was solely the primary spotlight of the weekend for Poe.
“I walked in seven reveals, which everybody else at that present capped out at 5,” Poe stated. “My toes are nonetheless numb and it was (a number of) weeks in the past, so I’d name {that a} success.”
All seven of Poe’s shows took place at The New Yorker Hotel, an art deco hotel in midtown Manhattan. Poe said she walked the runway in front of a crowd of nearly 100 people.
“My favorite (show) was probably That’s My Dress Prom & Pageant, which is a store based out of Virginia and I did an evening gown for them,” Poe said.
After one of her walks, Poe was presented with a blown-up version of her NYFW cover.
“I was screaming when they gave her her cover, it was the sweetest thing,” said Christy Sensor, Poe’s mom. “It was a surreal moment in her career, it all came together.”
The weekend was a memorable experience for Poe, but her dedication to her studies at Gannon keep her humble.
“I was driving home from NYFW and I was on FaceTime with my grandmother and she was like, ‘Are you going to have a big head about how you’re a model now? and I was like, ‘No, obviously not, I have a fetal pig dissection on Monday, I’m too busy to be in that headspace,'” Poe said.
Creating a personal platform from a personal struggle
When Poe’s not strutting down runways, she’s working toward becoming a doctor of osteopathic medicine.
Her interest in holistic medicine stems from her personal struggles with PCOS, a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges.
“I started having symptoms when I was 11 and they passed me onto family doctors, dermatologists, I even consulted with a plastic surgeon,” Poe said. “Everyone just kind of brushed it off.”
It wasn’t until Poe was 18 that she finally got her doctors to run tests to determine if she had PCOS.
“I at least wanted to know because it had affected my self-esteem and self-image so much when I was growing up,” Poe said.
Poe was sent to an endocrinologist, who discovered from her blood results that she could either have PCOS or a pituitary gland tumor.
“We did another blood test and it was PCOS,” Poe said. “I knew it was going to be fine because I had done enough research, but that was really ridiculous to me that we’re at a place in women’s health where someone can have something for seven years and you missed it enough … what if it had been a brain tumor?”
Poe doesn’t want other women to face the same obstacles she has, which is why she plans to dual specialize in endocrinology and gynecology. She also made PCOS her pageant platform, advocating for women’s health.
“You don’t necessarily want to get on stage and talk about something that personal, but I feel like I’m in a position where I should,” Poe said. “It felt obvious to me that it needs to be my platform because I struggled with it so much myself.
“If I can get someone to talk about it we talk about it … what’s interesting is that every time it happens I always find someone who has it or knows someone who has it or they think they have those symptoms.”
Sensor has witnessed her daughter’s journey navigating this disorder and the confidence she exudes when she talks about it during competitions.
“She took it and she owned it and I think it shows a very strong character of a person … to talk about something like that, because it’s very female-oriented and a break-down-barriers-type conversation,” Sensor said.
To Poe, having it all doesn’t seem that hard to grasp.
Now attending Gannon, Poe is reaching for the stars
As a sophomore at Gannon, Poe is a chair of the Gannon University Honors Program, the editor of Honors Student News and a recent inductee into the Gamma Sigma Epsilon National Honor Society.
After completing her bachelor’s degree, Poe hopes to attend medical school at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. She also plans to continue building her pageant platform.
“I want to set up my own website,” Poe said. “I’m not sure exactly how I want it to look yet, but it could have workout plans, diet plans for PCOS. I’m also thinking more modeling for sure.”
Over the next few weeks, Poe plans to apply to modeling agencies with the hope that she’ll be sent out to different jobs, like walking runways or participating in photoshoots.
It might seem like a lot to take on to some, but Poe is confident she can handle it all.
“I love doing it and people don’t realize how well they work together because you get paid to model and medical school is expensive,” she said. “I might compete for Miss Pennsylvania USA coming up in the spring, but it kind of depends on my school schedule because I can’t miss any labs.”
Baylee DeMuth can be reached at 814-450-3425 or bdemuth@timesnews.com. Comply with her on Twitter @BayleeDeMuth.
