Maria Rincon’s journey from pageants to purpose: The personal success story of a global communications expert

Maria Rincon: “I used to think success was being on TV. Now, it’s being in alignment with myself.”

By ELIN JOENSSON

Global Business Journalism reporter

By the time public speaking consultant Maria Rincon reached her late teens, she had already been through a quiet transformation most people spend decades chasing. Once a shy, introverted child who found it difficult to express herself in a new country, she began to step out of her shell in a highly competitive beauty pageant setting and in front of the camera.

“I think I could have an alter ego on stage,” Maria recalls, humorously likening it to Hannah Montana. “In my day-to-day, I'm more of the listener. So I was kind of realizing that's what I could play best.”

Born into a multicultural family and raised in Canada, Maria’s journey to self-expression wasn’t immediate. Language barriers and cultural shifts made her internalize much of her early years. But through pageantry and performance, she discovered the confidence she had long been missing, not just in front of a crowd, but within herself.

Winning a pageant at a high level brought both prestige and pressure, and while the glitz and

recognition opened doors, it also pushed her to question what fulfillment truly looked like. Maria, a 2021 graduate of the culturally diverse Global Business Journalism master's program at Tsinghua University, found herself on stage, living her childhood dream, but something didn’t quite feel right.

”That was like a childhood dream of mine,” she says.”I feel very humbled, and I'm happy that I did because it did bring up a lot of opportunities for me. But I was standing on the stage and I realized it wasn't really an environment for me.”

From beauty queen to communication coach

At 26, she made a radical shift: leaving the limelight and television hosting behind to focus on using communication for impact, particularly within NGOs. That moment of clarity was when her personal evolution turned into professional purpose.

Maria Rincon's early career included beauty pageant triumphs and television appearances.

With her previous TV hosting and UN Communications Consultant experience, Maria is now a public speaking coach with several large corporate clients. Her edge? A deep sense of empathetic listening, which has paved the way for a fulfilling career.

And there are three concrete ways to find your own success story, in Maria’s view.

Number one, learn more about yourself.

”Get to know yourself as much as possible and get to know your own values, what you enjoy, what you feel fulfilled by and not focus so much on the exterior,” she states. ”I focused a lot on what my parents thought of me or what society would think of me, and I put a lot of pressure on myself.”

Number two: try new things.

”You never know what other experiences can bring to where you'll be in life,” she says.

And number three: go for it.

”Essentially, you're not stuck,” she states.

For a long time, Maria thought that she had to fit into this mold of only pageant Maria or only TV host Maria, and nothing else.

”And if I wanted to go into the UN, then I had to start as an intern,” she says. ”I'm climbing up the ladder that I always have to do better and better.

But feel flexible enough to reinvent yourself in different ways and don’t be afraid to try,” Maria says.

For her, that has been one of the biggest learning curves. It has catapulted her into finding her authentic purpose and what she can bring to the table when it comes to efficient communication.

The human edge in an AI world

And it’s the human connection aspect that will maintain its irreplaceable value while AI is transforming industries, including communications.

“Empathetic listening isn’t about reacting, it’s about understanding what’s behind the words,” Maria says.

The emotional layer is what sets us apart in a world where technology is advancing faster and faster, while more people are feeling lonelier and lonelier at the same time.

Like many others, she sees AI as a great tool. But the human edge will remain: soft power, emotional intelligence and leadership. She also acknowledges AI as a double-edged sword. It can democratize knowledge, but it can also dilute authenticity. She recounts her partner encouraging her to use an AI-generated avatar to scale her content.

”I don't want to be an avatar to promote videos of me that don't feel authentic and genuine for me,” she states. ”But I'm also confident that AI cannot get to human emotions as we think.

"So while some may turn to AI, that's not going to be the real human, deep connections that we can have with each other or with teachers and coaches.”

Her advice is to embrace hybrid. Just as she blends her Chinese, Colombian, Canadian, and Swedish identities, she believes the future of communication lies in blending tech with humanity.

Maria Rincon delivers her Ted Talk in Hong Kong

Maria Rincon's TED Talk on redefining success

Maria’s story, shaped by vulnerability and reinvention, is also deeply rooted in empathy, purpose, and a steadfast belief that the power of human connection will always outshine the flashiest tech. Her message will take center stage this May in Hong Kong, where she delivered her first TED Talk. The topic was one close to her heart: success – and how to redefine it.

She surveyed 100 people asking what their view of success is, what the first three things that come up when they think of success are, and whether they feel successful. She then explored whether the data comes back to what our own definition of success is.

“We're always searching for it externally,” she says. ”I think it makes the most sense if

it’s internal.”

Maria Rincon used her Ted Talk as a jumping off point for an in-depth blog post.

Her presentation for the globally influential TED Talk video series was deeply personal, reflecting her evolution from beauty queen to coach, from performer to empathetic listener.

“I used to think success was being on TV,” she says. “Now, it’s being in alignment with myself.”

A personal milestone

Following the TED Talk, Maria celebrated a different kind of milestone, her wedding. Maria and her partner planned a civil ceremony in Copenhagen, followed by a summer wedding in Greece. And there’s another GBJ-related moment waiting there for her.

Two of her best friends, both alumni of the GBJ program, will be by her side. The trio has remained close through the years, especially during the COVID pandemic. Now scattered across the globe, one working as a PR specialist in Dubai, and the other working for the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia, they’re reuniting for the big day.

As the trio has shared so much together; from school, to career, to love and life, it’s definitely a full-circle moment to remember.