Claudine: How exciting winning Miss England! What a great title – but how did it all start? 

Jessica: Despite being bullied for being a redhead when I was in school, I began a modelling at the age of 15. I loved it so much, and continued with it until I went to university. While doing my degree in Engineering, I noticed a lack of women in my course, so I decided to make it my mission to educate girls in this field and let them know where it can take them. In the second UK lockdown at the start of 2021, I started creating social media content to educate people in STEM. Once we were allowed to go out and about, I would go into schools too. It was around this time that I was scouted for Miss England.

Claudine: You were scouted? How does that work? 

I got a message on Instagram saying I’d been scouted for Miss Lancashire. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was real, so I was apprehensive, especially as I didn’t know much about it. But it was real, and that’s where it began. People assume it’s a beauty contest, as I did, but it’s not. They said they were looking for a role model for young women, and I wanted to inspire young girls to consider careers in STEM, so I thought this could be a great platform for that. There’s so much that engineers can do, and I wanted people to know more about it. I chose to study aerospace engineering because I love planes, but the skills you learn are also used in many other industries. So, it is very transferable. 

Claudine: Tell me, what does that aerospace engineer entail?

Jessica: A lot of maths! It’s all about the science of flight, machines, planes, materials, microstructures, fluid mechanics and aerodynamics. It’s mind-blowing! The thing is, I would never want to put someone off because this sounds really overwhelming, and you don’t need to be a mathematician to study engineering. I did very well in school and got As in Maths, but once I started college and studied Maths at A-Levels, I flopped and branded myself ‘bad at math’s’. I say this because I don’t want to give people the misconception that you need to be amazing at maths. I ended up dropping my Maths A level because I really struggled to keep up. However, I firmly believed in myself and knew I was capable of much more, so I enrolled on the course, jumped in at the deep end, and went for it.

Claudine: What did your parents think about you studying aerospace engineering? 

Jessica: My parents have always been so supportive about everything I do. My dad worked as an engineer for years, and he would always say, ‘Jess, you’d make a great engineer’, and I just kept thinking, why would I want to do that? However, my perception of the industry was very different from what it actually is. I chose this course because I wanted options because I genuinely didn’t know what I wanted to be, and engineering opened many doors, giving me more scope for my future. 

Claudine: What happened next with Miss England?

Jessica: So, before I could actually qualify for Miss England, I had to win Miss Lancashire. There are lots of heats on the run-up to Miss Lancashire, with lots of different tasks. One included Marine Commando training, which almost killed me (laughs). Another was a charitable event, and this is where I came up with Fancy Dress Jess! Every evening, I would put two outfits up on my socials and ask my followers to choose one for me to wear while running the following day. The next day I would dress up in the fancy dress selected and go out running; this went on for some time and was so fun. I won Miss Lancashire twice and came in second in Miss England 2021, before winning first place in 2022/23!

Claudine: So, what’s next?

Jessica: At the moment, I’m focusing on Miss World – this would be an incredible title to win and would completely change my life. We don’t know when it will be yet, maybe later in the year. If I won that title, I would be the first redhead to win, the first engineer to win, and since the UK hasn’t won in 40 years, it would be an immense achievement for our country as a whole.

Claudine: And what about after that?

Jessica: I’d love to go into kid’s TV educating on engineering, but if that doesn’t happen, I will go back into engineering, perhaps revisit the idea of achieving my master’s degree in aerospace and then work in that industry somewhere. I may even try to become an astronaut!

Claudine: Whoa, an astronaut?

Jessica: (laughs) It’s so hard to become an astronaut, but one of the routes is a master’s degree and three years of work experience, and you have to do all that before you can apply, but that’s a whole other direction I could go in  – the world is my oyster at the moment.  

Claudine: That’s brilliant! So, what about modelling? Are you still doing that?

Jessica: I would never burn my bridges with modelling; I absolutely love it! I do want to use my degree at some point too, but my priority right now is being a great Miss England and focusing on Miss World. Then after that, I have the backing of my degree, which is a key in the door to many other opportunities.  

Claudine: Amazing! What piece of advice would you offer our readers?

Jessica: You’ve got to be your own cheerleader. The whole world can believe in you, but you won’t get very far unless you believe in yourself. And lastly, if you’re going through a bad chapter in your life, remember, it doesn’t have to last until the end of the book.