Mrs. Connecticut America using pageant as platform to give back

Tatiana Kharina was crowned Mrs.Connecticut America, on June 4, and is using her new title to amplify and expand on the charity work she’s been doing.

Kharina, originally from Russia, lives in Farmington with her husband, Andrie, and her son, Daniels. She is a nurse practitioner and runs her own business, Self-image MedSpa in Farmington.

While busy with work, family, and her new title, she still dedicates much of her time to helping charity organzations, including Moya Ukraine (which helps families affected by the war), Relay For Life, St. Jude’s and Connecticut Children’s Hospitals, and the Breast Cancer Society.

She said her upbringing and the people who helped her have fueled her desire to give back.

Kharina was raised by her mother, and despite getting good grades in school, could not continue to pursue higher education. She applied to college anyway, and when she went to apply for financial aid, she was told by an English professor that he found sponsors for 10 students. A couple from America sponsored Kharina’s full tuition for four years.

“It was a miracle. It was a changing moment,” she said.

She then came to America at age 20, with $200 and one piece of luggage.

“I survived in this country, all by myself,” she said. “I could barely speak English. Didn’t have family here, friends, a job, nothing. I searched for jobs, looking door to door. It was through trial and error, going through this process, but I did it. That’s what made me who I am today.”

Clare Courter, who runs an event planning company, Completely by Clare, has partnered with Kharina, to help manage her pageant preparations and charity events.

“We decided that we have the same vision for creating this collaborative community of women entrepreneurs, supporting each other and the same goal of creating a charity-based community, as well, and tying all of these things together,” Courter said. “A big part of what Tatiana is doing is having public events and making these appearances where the details, logistics, and planning of it are in-and-of-itself another job. It’s nice for her to have help from me on the back end, planning these events.”

Kharina also recently joined the World Vision Organization, which aids children in impoverished parts of the world, and sponsors two children – one in Tanzania, and one in the Dominican Republic.

She has also visited Africa, to see some of the children who are being sponsored, or are in need of being sponsored.

“I’ve been living very good and comfortable. I’m successful, happy, and healthy,” she said. “But, I’ve never forgotten where I came from. I just want to help as much as I can, whenever I can. It all comes back to you one way or another.”

Busy preparing for the national competition in Las Vegas, on Aug. 26, Kharina said it’s both stressful and fun to prepare, including working on wardrobe, jewelry and a state costume, working with sponsors, getting photo shoots done, and responding to event invitations.

“It has its ups and downs, but it’s very rewarding, because it’s definitely helps you grow. Every day, I feel like I become better. I’m a different person than I was two months ago, and I know a month from now I won’t be the same person I am today,” she said. “Pageant world is different. You have to get out of your comfort zone. That’s where the growth comes in.”

Wearing the pageant crown, she said, gives her more of a microphone to reach others about supporting charities like the ones she does.

“When I talk as Mrs. Connecticut America, I always talk about my platform. When I speak on the national stage, I will be talking about my platform and I hope that people will get the message,” she said.