Community Spotlight: Miss Central Lakes Shares How Every Smile Is Beautiful

“I always had a big smile, that’s for sure,” Paul said.

No matter what the circumstances were, after being born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, Tiffany Paul was smiling her way through.

“I went a few months without surgeries and so I went through that period with a gaping lip with basically no top lip at all, and my palate was open my nose had no structure at all,” Paul said.

After nearly 15 surgeries structuring Tiffany’s nose, upper lip and jaw, she called the Children’s Hospital her second home growing up.

“So normally every summer I would go to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis,” Paul said.

Through all of that time in the hospital, Tiffany says what helped her through was her faith.

“I think through that God has been able to I believe speak to me in that way and show me that I am more than what this world will tell me that I am, I am priceless,” Paul said.

A message she reminded herself many times when things became difficult.

“In person and online I would get bullied; I got called a monster and so many different things, and I took that to heart and I started to believe that I’m not worth it and I’m not pretty enough,” Paul said.

But now, she has moved past that and is ready to share her knowledge and create awareness.

“I tell them I was just born with some assembly required,” Paul said with a laugh.

A story the Crosby native is happy to share as Miss Central Lakes United States.

“For a while I had a feeding tube and so I have a scar from that, and I had speech therapy as well so there are still sometimes where I still have little things in my speech, but it is a lot better than it used to be,” Paul said.

But it’s something that she is happy makes her stand out in the competition.

“It’s really amazing, I love it when people will stop and listen,” Paul said.

Where Tiffany will remind you that every smile is beautiful.

Contact the Author Sarah Winkelmann

swinkelmann@lptv.org