Ali Landry Says Hard Work and Pageants Helped Launch Her Entertainment Career

Ali Landry always had a plan for building a better future—and she was willing to work for it.

Long before she became known for acting, modeling and television hosting, Landry began her journey in the pageant world. In a recent conversation with PEOPLE, the 53-year-old reflected on how growing up in a small Louisiana town motivated her to create opportunities for herself.

“Where I grew up in Louisiana, part of the culture there was pageants,” Landry said. “I grew up in a very small town where there wasn’t really a ton of opportunity when I was growing up.”

During her junior year of high school, Landry began thinking seriously about what she would do after graduation. She believed pageants could help her meet people, build connections and find a career.

“I am going to compete for Miss Louisiana,” she told her mother.

Her mother was not enthusiastic about the idea. But Landry was determined to prove she could handle the challenge herself.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything,” she recalled telling her mom. She promised to have a local dressmaker create her gown and even raise the money needed to compete.

Landry kept her promise.

Although she was not especially interested in the glamorous side of pageants, she was highly competitive. Her experience playing sports had helped shape that side of her personality.

“I’m very competitive, very type A,” she said.

For Landry, winning the Miss Louisiana title was more than a crown. She saw it as a way to travel, meet people and hopefully find a job before finishing college.

Her strategy paid off.

Landry was crowned Miss Louisiana in 1996 and soon secured a job in public relations with a seismic data company. While the position was not her dream career, it accomplished what she had set out to do.

“I knew that the seismic data in the oil field wasn’t exactly the dream job, but mission accomplished,” she said.

Her next challenge was the Miss USA competition. Landry approached it with the same determination and competitive mindset.

At the time, she was also deeply interested in motivational speaker Tony Robbins and self-help books. She said she treated the competition as a mental game and once again focused on winning.

That approach worked.

Landry was crowned Miss USA in 1996, succeeding Shanna Moakler. She later represented the United States at the Miss Universe pageant, where she reached the top six.

Her pageant success ultimately helped lead her to Southern California, where the company she had worked for was based. It also opened the door to the entertainment industry.

After her pageant career, Landry moved into modeling and television. She became widely recognized for appearing in several Doritos Super Bowl commercials between 1998 and 2000. She later hosted the NBC reality series SpyTV and appeared on the television series Eve.

Looking back, Landry's story is less about pageants than it is about determination. She saw limited opportunities in her hometown, created a plan and followed through—even when others doubted her.

What began as a teenage effort to find a way beyond her small Louisiana town eventually became the first step toward a career in entertainment.