Mrs. Petite’s ‘19 years’
State winner, USA ‘People Choice’ honoree, opens up about pageants, life in, near Town post-Vietnam
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Christina Nguyen, owner of Angel Nails in Farragut, after being crowned Mrs. Petite Tennessee earlier this year. - Photo submitted
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In her Mrs. Petite USA state-themed attire in Chicago, Nguyen with her husband, Hien Pham, and their daughter, Sophia, 6. - Photo submitted
Christina Nguyen’s interesting journey from her native Vietnam to East Tennessee — a businesswoman in Farragut with a family living in Concord — had another chapter added beginning in January.
Earning the title of Mrs. Petite Tennessee last winter after a “virtual” pageant, Nguyen went on to the Mrs. Petite USA competition in Chicago last month.
“I made it to Top 11 and I won the ‘People’s Choice Award,’” said the owner of Angel Nails, 11110 Kingston Pike Suite 155, about the national pageant.
Her pageant experience “was amazing because, really, it’s just for small people like me, 5(-foot-)4 and under,” she added.
While in Chicago, “I met so many incredible sister queens from all over the nation and I learned so many great things about them,” Nguyen said.
“It’s not just a beauty pageant, but it’s about the sisterhood,” she added. “It’s about encouragement and support.”
A foster mother before adopting her daughter, Sophia, 6, “So my (pageant) platform (reflected being) a foster mom,” Nguyen said. “I saw so many children out of the system with no support. My platform was all about child advocacy.”
Winning Mrs. Petite Tennessee “just made me really proud to be a Tennesseean and represent Tennessee in the national pageant,” Nguyen said.
Vietnam to Farragut
“I was born and raised in Vietnam, but then I got a great opportunity,” she said.
Living along Northshore Drive in Concord with her husband, Hien Pham, and Sophia, the Vietnam native said she’s been in the Knoxville area “about 19 years,” having had her business, where Pham works, in Town almost as long.
“I met my husband online,” she said. “He moved here when he was little with his parents.”
About the Farragut area, “It’s a great community,” Nguyen said. “Everybody js so supportive, so nice, friendly.”
