To infinity: Area woman to compete in Mrs. Galaxy Pageant
Courtesy of Sandahl Taylor
Sandahl Taylor uses her Galaxy platform to advocate heart health, which she does through social media campaigns and volunteering with the American Heart Association, including at the annual Heart Ball.
Courtesy of Sandahl Taylor
Galaxy women are supportive, and when a pageant friend requested help collecting donations for the nonprofit Voice of Our Child and Books for Africa, Sandahl Taylor jumped at the chance to help. Through donations to Mrs. Pennsylvania Galaxy, Taylor was able to send 475 books to Kenya and various parts of Africa.
Mrs. Pennsylvania Galaxy Sandahl Taylor donates her time and talents at the Veterans Leadership Program's annual Stand Down event. Taylor enjoys offering free haircuts to veterans and the underprivileged.
Courtesy of Sandahl Taylor
Taylor and her husband, Kenneth, and two children, Anastasia and Blake, pose together with the Pittsburgh-area educator and advocate’s Mrs. Pennsylvania Galaxy 2021-2022 sash.
Sandahl Taylor isn’t shooting for the stars. She’s aiming to infinity and beyond.
When Taylor, a military wife, mother and career woman, takes the stage this August at McAllen Convention Center in Texas, she will be the first Pennsylvanian woman in more than a decade to represent the state in the International Galaxy Pageant.
“The last woman was Wendy Sledd, in 2009. In 2008, Deborah Wright was actually Mrs. Galaxy,” Taylor said over the phone on a recent weekday. “It’s really cool to have a Galaxy title holder and for me to be that person.”
Taylor, a decorated professional and beauty queen who lives in the South Hills, didn’t grow up under bright pageantry lights. In fact, she said she’s late to the pageant party.
“I was never eligible, prior to being married, to compete,” she said, noting that in many pageant systems, the “Miss” title is open to single women without children.
“I had a son when I was 19. The Galaxy organization was the first-ever system to allow single mothers to compete. I didn’t know that back then. I didn’t know I could compete in pageants,” Taylor said.
It wasn’t until Taylor and her “knight in camo armor,” U.S. Army veteran Kenneth Taylor, tied the knot that the 30 Under 30 nominee stepped onstage.
She entered her first Mrs. Pennsylvania America in 2016, at the urging of the pageant’s owner, Raquel Riley Thomas. While she didn’t place, Taylor said she had the time of her life. The following year, Taylor placed second runner-up and was awarded her first of two congeniality awards.
In 2019, Taylor was crowned Mrs. Pennsylvania America.
Taylor, who is a hairstylist, puts her talents to good use, offering free haircuts through the Veterans Leadership Program. She uses her platform to advocate heart health, an issue she’s passionate about: Her father, a Navy veteran, suffered a heart attack and stroke that left him paralyzed on one side, and Taylor herself was diagnosed with a heart condition.
She is also an EmPOWERED To Serve ambassador for the American Heart Association and is training to become a CPR instructor.
After losing her father to complications from COVID-19 and an underlying heart condition, Taylor last year launched the #Showusyourheart social media challenge to help women around the globe reduce their risk for heart disease.
“One out of every 3 women are affected by heart disease. To me, that’s astounding,” she said. “My goal is that no one ever has to feel and go through what I went through.”
To date, women from 19 states and nine countries across four continents have joined the challenge. Taylor attributes many of her successes, including the heart initiative, to her pageant family.
“(The Galaxy system) demolishes the negative stereotypes about pageant girls. These women are phenomenal,” Taylor said. “These are women from every walk of life. It’s kind of surreal to be standing next to them.”
Taylor will once again stand beside her pageant friends at the 20th annual International Galaxy Pageant in August. She has three goals for this year’s competition: to be authentically herself, to clearly detail her plans if she should be crowned Mrs. Galaxy, and to have fun.
“The crown is like the icing on the cake. For me, it’s the opportunity to potentially change lives,” said Taylor, whose biggest encouragers — Kenneth and their two children, Blake and Anastasia — will cheer Mrs. Pennsylvania Galaxy every step of the way.
Follow Taylor through the Galaxy on Instagram at @sandahltaylor or Facebook at @mrssandahltaylor.