New Albany native Alexis Lete competing for Miss USA title

By BROOKE MCAFEE The Evening News

NEW ALBANY — A New Albany native is in Memphis, Tennessee this week to represent Indiana in the Miss USA 2020 pageant.

Alexis Lete, a New Albany High School grad, will soon take the stage to compete for the national title. The 69th annual pageant is taking place this year at Graceland, and at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, the event will be televised live on the cable channel FYI. The winner of Miss USA will go on to compete in the Miss Universe pageant.

Her parents surprised Lete with a drive-thru sendoff Saturday in New Albany as family, high school coaches, friends and others in the community greeted her before she departed for Memphis.

Lete, 24, is an aspiring model and actress who dreams of becoming a game show host, and as Miss Indiana USA, she has been using her platform to inspire others. The phrase “Break the Mold” is her motto as she competes for the national title.

“I feel my purpose is to inspire people to break outside the mold that society puts them in and be whoever they want to be,” she said.

Lete is spending time this week with her fellow contestants, and they will compete on stage for the evening gown and swimsuit portion of the pageant, which will take place in front of a socially distanced audience of reduced capacity. The 51 contestants in the Miss USA pageant receive COVID-19 tests and stay isolated within “pods,” or smaller groups, throughout the week.

In mid-October, she completed her interview for the pageant over Zoom focusing on her platform of women empowerment, including issues such as the representation of women in male-dominated fields. This was the first time in the pageant’s history for the interview portion to take place virtually. At NAHS, Lete was a varsity athlete who participated in volleyball and swimming. She graduated from high school as valedictorian. She received a full athletic scholarship to George Washington University, where she studied broadcast journalism and communications.

She graduated from the university cum laude within 3 1/2 years, and after that traveled to Europe, where she trained and played volleyball in Switzerland. She is now living in Indianapolis.

This spring, she started a podcast called InPowher where she interviews successful women who have overcome struggles, and she has recently become involved in stand-up comedy. She has also been using social media to spread messages of empowerment.

“There’s much pressure on social media, especially now with kids not in school, and they’re focusing all of their attention and value on that,” she said. “It can be a negative place unless people make it a positive place.”

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she has adapted to find new ways to reach people, whether she is presenting live workouts online or talking with students over Zoom, she said.

Lete’s mother, Vicki Lete, said she is excited to see her daughter on stage at the Miss USA pageant. Her daughter always puts in a lot of hard work and determination, she said.

“She’s very well-rounded and she’s not afraid to take risks,” she said. “I think what I’m most proud of is how she sees ways to grow personally and puts herself in situations where she might not feel comfortable. She works hard to make sure she dominates whatever she puts her mind to.”

Lete feels like “God led her to compete as Miss Indiana USA,” and she looks forward to taking the stage at the national pageant.

“I’ll be competing with 50 other amazing women, and it’ll not be as much me competing against them as me competing against myself to see how I can bring out the best version of Alexis Lete,” she said.

https://www.newsbreak.com/indiana/new-albany/news/2094788079033/new-albany-native-alexis-lete-competing-for-miss-usa-title