By Barry Wise Smith
Abbie Stockard, a Vestavia Hills native, didn’t grow up dreaming of being Miss America. She was a dancer. “I’ve been dancing since I could walk,” she says. “First and foremost, I’m a dancer and a performer.”
Abbie grew up a student at Birmingham Dance Theatre and served as captain of the Vestavia Hills High School Rebelettes dance team as a senior. When she and her twin brother Bradley graduated in 2021, they went to Auburn with plans to attend nursing school, and Abbie made the Tiger Paws dance team.
One day during her freshman year, as Abbie walked across campus, she saw a poster for the Miss Auburn University pageant that changed her life. At the time, Abbie’s mom Kim, a pharmacist, was working four jobs to put Abbie and Bradley through school. The poster touted the prize of a full year’s tuition for the winner of the pageant, and Abbie was sold. “I signed up the week before the pageant, and I had never done a pageant before,” Abbie says. “Obviously I didn’t win!”
But she came in as the third runner up, and that was all the motivation Abbie needed to continue. She received a notification about another pageant the following week back home in Birmingham, so she signed up again.
This time, Abbie won the title of Miss Cahaba Valley and went on to compete in the Miss Alabama pageant where she came in as the third runner up. In 2023, she won the title of Miss Trussville and was the fourth runner up in the Miss Alabama pageant. “At that point, I wanted to win the thing,” Abbie says. “I’d fallen in love with the organization and all it stands for.” In 2024, Abbie competed and won the title of Miss Hoover.
Throughout her pageant journey, Abbie chose to raise awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis community by using it as her service initiative. Inspired by her best friend, Maddie, who has the disease, Abbie wanted to shine a light on Cystic Fibrosis and do what she could to raise money for research. “Maddie and I have been best friends since we were nine years old,” Abbie says. “There’s no cure for Cystic Fibrosis, and I wanted to do what I could to help. It’s my driving fuel.”
After winning the Miss Hoover pageant and before she competed in the Miss Alabama pageant, Abbie put her passion to purpose by organizing a fundraiser to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Alabama. “It was definitely out of my comfort zone,” Abbie says of planning the event. “I’m a dancer, not an event planner.”
But the event—a fundraiser roast of Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis, along with live and silent auctions—raised $190,000 for Cystic Fibrosis research. “Nothing will ever be more rewarding than giving that big check to the executive director of the CF Foundation of Alabama, whose child has Cystic Fibrosis, knowing the good that the money would do,” Abbie says.
Abbie went on to win the title of Miss Alabama in 2024 and was crowned Miss America on Jan. 5, 2025. “The scholarships (more than $89,000 to date) have changed my life,” Abbie says. “I’ll be graduating debt free from Auburn. I want to shine a light on these life-changing scholarships. It’s such a gift that I can do this for my family.”
Abbie credits her starter success to determination and authenticity. “I’ve been Abbie all the way through,” she says. “I’ve stayed true to myself no matter what. My goal is to be a source of power and light for people. Miss America should be able to engage with people no matter their age or background. I want people to feel seen and valued by me.”
Abbie also wants to encourage other young women who might think it’s too late to try pageants. “There is a misconception that a late start means you won’t be successful. If you dream it, you can do it!”
Since taking the crown in January, Abbie has been in a whirlwind traveling across the country as an ambassador for Miss America, attending Inaugural balls and Super Bowl events. But a trip to Vail, Colo., for the Celebrity Ski Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser and walking the New York City red carpet for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Red Dress Collection Concert top Abbie’s list of experiences. “At the Red Dress Collection Concert, I wore the most beautiful red gown, and Sharon Stone was the host, and I was fangirling out a little,” Abbie says. “But she was so kind and had me come stand next to her. It was surreal.”
When Abbie completes her reign in September, she’ll join her brother in nursing school at Auburn. And she plans to continue her advocacy for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, for which she now serves as a national ambassador. “I want to continue to make an impact,” Abbie says. “Miss America is so much more than wearing a crown and a sash. It’s taking the opportunity to make a positive impact on the world.”
