Jillyn Outlaw moved to Ridgefield just two and a half years ago at 46 years old.
She has been crowned as Mrs. Clark County America and has made the most of it in a short amount of time.
“Are there pageants for old people?” Outlaw said she Googled after seeing the enjoyment pageantry brought to her daughter. “And the Mrs. America organization came up, so I decided to do that. Like a lot of other women over the age of 30, many of us are trauma survivors. There’s a lot of women who have gone through a lot of stuff in their life, and at this stage in our lives, we’ve mostly processed, so we’re not doing this to get recognition, scholarship dollars or anything like that. We’re doing it to connect with other people and inspire the younger women and these teen girls that, you know what, you can still rise up with grace, dignity and strength even if you’ve had trauma experiences.”
For Outlaw, pageantry is about the empowerment, advocacy and turning personal healing into community impact.
“Yes, I could just go out there and sign up to volunteer somewhere, but there’s just something about having that title, wearing a crown and sash that lights up the eyes of the elderly, of the young kids. It opens doors,” she said. “That’s pretty much why I decided to go for it and give it a chance.”
Outlaw moved to Ridgefield from Bothell in the Seattle area. She is an elementary school teacher and much more. Her “much more” includes being a mother of three with two in high school and one a sophomore at Washington State University. She’s a divorcee, but happily and proudly remarried. On top of that, she packs two master’s degrees and a professional certification as a school principal.
“I’m finally at the point in my life where I’m like, ‘You know what, I’m really not that bad,’” Outlaw said. “I’ve been told I’m just horrible in every way, basically from birth, but I’m finally at the place where I don’t think I am. And I’m going to prove that to myself, and I’m ready to show the world that you can rise above.”
Outlaw said that it has been inspiring to meet other women who have been through similar life situations, or even have had it worse than her, who are proudly competing in pageantry.
“This is not all about beauty and looking good in a swimsuit,” she said. “This is about telling our stories and having a platform so that the younger generations can see that you don’t have to wallow in self-pity. You can rise above and do good.”
In her first three months under the crown and sash, Outlaw has put her platform forward engaging in numerous service projects. Outlaw’s platform surrounds the world of veteran support, especially for military families, as that was her childhood, and remarrying a veteran, too.
“Well, growing up as a military brat, I have had the opportunity to travel around the world, but at the same time that has brought a lot of trauma of just being a military child,” Outlaw said, adding that she attended nine different schools in four countries by the time she turned 10 years old. “I have not served myself, but I’m a child and wife of people who have served, and I’ve seen what that can do.”
She is partnering closely with the Clark County Veterans Assistance Center and has even utilized the partnership to form a brand new program.
“In which, veterans who have no family, have some sort of support, whether it’s people to come in and bake cookies with at Christmas or just to sit with them and watch the Army-Navy game coming up here in a couple of weekends,” she said. “But they have no support, they have no family, and they are usually elderly, disabled and just lonely people. That’s not how people want to be treated, especially people that have served our country.”
The new program will seek partnerships with other agencies, different volunteer groups, high schools, honor societies and more. She said there will be a background check process for those interested in being involved.
“It would be a new program run by them that we would like to get started so that no veteran is alone, not just at the holidays, but with the rest of their life.”
Between now and the state competition in March, Outlaw will make many appearances in the Clark County area. Follow her on Instagram to stay updated at@mrsclarkcountyamerica2026. She can be contacted by emailing jillyn.outlaw@gmail.com.
