Theresa Spooner, Founder and Executive Director of Sunburst USA, Inc. had competed in beauty pageants as a teen and had also coached and entered her two daughters in various competitions in the state of Florida. Both had won many local, state, and national competitions. Because of this, Theresa had a complete understanding of the many benefits derived from the interaction with others, the poise, confidence, and self-esteem one gains from appearances in front of a crowd. While she recognized the many benefits, she was also aware of things she found to be undesirable in most of these events; unorganized, not on schedule, not delivering prizes, lack of opportunity, and chaos.

It was with the benefits that she recognized, along with the short comings that she experienced, that Theresa founded Sunburst Beauty Pageant. She was determined to accent the positives and eliminate the negatives, and vowed that the only complaint one could have after competing at Sunburst would be, “I did not win.” She felt that if this was the only complaint one had after a Sunburst event, then she had conducted a great event; as she had no control or input into who won. That decision rested in the judges alone.