Sullivan's views reflected that of current Miss New Zealand and former Christchurch woman Georgia Waddington, who says pageants are about more than just beauty - and help people "learn so much about yourself".
Said Sullivan: "I found out that half of the score is made up of community work, and I thought I was already doing that anyway."
At 22, Sullivan was one of the youngest in the world to become a Rotary president.
She is now hoping that experience will help her win Miss Canterbury, 66 years after her grandmother claimed the title.
"The reason why I entered was that I found out my nana (Dianna McFarlane) was Miss Canterbury in 1958.
"It is more so focused on who you are as a person, rather than, I guess - probably back in the 50s when nana did it - what you looked like,” Sullivan said.
Entering the Miss Canterbury pageant was "very new to me and quite outside of my comfort zone", she said.
She now lives in Halswell but is still heavily involved in the Rotary Club of Lincoln. Sullivan is its immediate past president, holding the role from June 2022 to July last year.
"I joined the club when I was 18 and was involved in a number of different leadership roles.
"I feel like I’ve been raised by a lot of the older members in our club, so they were all so supportive when I took on the (presidency)."
As part of the Miss Canterbury competition, Sullivan is running a fashion show to raise money for I Am Hope.
"I have big goal which is $10,000, I don’t know if I’ll make it to that, but I thought I’ll just set it high and see what happens,” Sullivan said.
The Miss Canterbury final is on March 17, with the top five competitors set to be selected the day before.
- Paige Sullivan’s fashion show will be held at the Lincoln Event Centre, 15 Meijer Drive, on February 29, 6.30pm to 10pm. Tickets can be purchased at Fashion for Hope at Humanitix for $30 each or $300 for a table of 10.
