Right Place, Right Time

By Sidney Eculla

I’ve always been asked as to how I got myself in the Miss Universe New Zealand Organization. I would always say, I was in the right place at the right time.

Two years ago, when the Miss Universe pageant was held in the Philippines, a gala night fashion show was held featuring the designs of Filipino designers. I wasn’t one of them. I thought: “How would it feel to be actually designing dresses for a Miss Universe candidate?”

Two days later, I got a call. An unregistered number. To the shock of my life, it was the CEO of Miss Universe New Zealand, looking for a designer and wanted to meet me. He asked me to meet him in Cebu. He told me that he saw my designs in Edgar Allan in Glorietta, at the same store where I started my fashion career way back.

Two days after our conversation, I found myself hopping on a plane to Cebu first thing in the morning. I was actually 4 hours early for the meeting. And as I waited, I secretly thought to myself: What if I was pranked? But a few minutes before our agreed time, they showed up. The only thing the CEO told me was: “For you to fly to Cebu from Iloilo without any assurance means that you are serious with this. Welcome to Miss Universe New Zealand”.

Moral of the story: Sometimes, the universe hears our desires. And when it does, you just have to show up and accept the challenge.

And that was it. Three editions have gone by. Three editions of friendships. Three editions of competitive faces.  Three editions of chasing the “universe.”