TATUM, Texas — Alexis Salgado is blazing a trail for many to come in Tatum as she is the first ever Miss Texas Latina contestant to represent the East Texas town.
Salgado's story is a part of CBS19's continuing coverage and celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Salgado got the title of Miss Tatum Latina by applying online and then went on to compete in the Miss Texas Latina pageant. To her, she wanted to be the representation for the silent in Tatum and be the light to young women as she opens up her new clothing business.
"This is my Miss Tatum Latina sash. When you are an official title holder, you’ll get one with your city on it. Really proud of this one…I am the first Miss Tatum," Salgado said. "Really Miss Tatum Latina is just somebody who still wants to make an impact in her community as well as her platform. She’s striving to be the best Latina representation. Not just for Latinas but for women and little girls in general."
And for her, this was more than just competing in a pageant. It was about representation and being that voice for a community.
"It's really important considering there isn’t a lot representation especially here in Tatum," Salgado said.
Moreover, it was about debunking a stereotype, proving that one can be more than what they thought they could be.
"We can break the generation curses. We are more than labor workers. We’re business owners, we’re pageant girlies, we do things and we create things," Salgado said.
And creating a statement is what Alexis did.
"I made this by hand, so I order all the pieces and I made it," she said.
And as she looks back at all her memorabilia form the pageant, she made sure to include her culture in her competition staple.
"This is my heritage costume. I went as a Catrina from el Dia de los Muertos and it was really important to showcase roots in that sense so this is my little collection of items," Salgado said.