Gannon student walked in NY Fashion Week, defends women's health through pageants

For Waterford's Haley Poe, the last three years have managed to be challenging, frustrating and exciting all at the same time.

From starting her pageant career, to being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), studying pre-med at Gannon University and walking three weeks ago in New York Fashion Week, the 19-year-old has managed to balance it all.

But Poe has big aspirations for becoming both a successful model and a doctor of osteopathic medicine.

"It’s cool to have both because I would be mentally exhausted if I was in the lab all the time but I would be mentally exhausted if I were modeling all the time," she said. "When you do a lot you learn to handle a lot, so doing both at the same time has really gotten me used to figuring that out."

Poe found confidence through competition at different beauty pageants

At 16, Poe started competing in beauty pageants. She didn't win her first one, but she gained confidence.

"People don’t realize that the reason girls compete in pageantry is not because they’re over-confident or want a title, it’s because of the confidence they get out of doing it, because in order to compete you have to know yourself so well and work on yourself so much it kind of gets rid of some of those issues," she said.

Around age 17, her participation in pageants began to get noticed by big gown stores, like Bridal Elegance in Erie and Henri's, based in Columbus, Ohio. Poe started modeling their dresses, as well as gowns for Sherri Hill, an American fashion designer.

Her modeling career took off when Rene Bionat, founder of Beauty It's Everywhere and Art & Beauty magazine, chose her as the issue's NYFW edition cover model several weeks before the big show.

"From watching me compete on live streams and being at competitions we linked up and eventually he (Bionat) was like, 'I’m going to give you the cover for this and you’re going to walk in these (NYFW) shows," Poe said.

A weekend at New York Fashion Week

In early September, Poe arrived in Manhattan for NYFW, where she was greeted by her own billboard in Times Square.

Seeing photos of herself featured in Times Square was only the first highlight of the weekend for Poe.

"I walked in seven shows, which everyone else at that show capped out at five," Poe said. "My toes are still numb and it was (several) weeks ago, so I would call that a success."

All seven of Poe's shows took place at The New Yorker Hotel, an art deco hotel in midtown Manhattan. Poe said she walked the runway in front of a crowd of nearly 100 people.

"My favorite (show) was probably That’s My Dress Prom & Pageant, which is a store based out of Virginia and I did an evening gown for them," Poe said.

After one of her walks, Poe was presented with a blown-up version of her NYFW cover.

"I was screaming when they gave her her cover, it was the sweetest thing," said Christy Sensor, Poe's mom. "It was a surreal moment in her career, it all came together."

The weekend was a memorable experience for Poe, but her dedication to her studies at Gannon keep her humble.

"I was driving home from NYFW and I was on FaceTime with my grandmother and she was like, 'Are you going to have a big head about how you’re a model now? and I was like, 'No, obviously not, I have a fetal pig dissection on Monday, I’m too busy to be in that headspace,'" Poe said.

Creating a personal platform from a personal struggle

When Poe's not strutting down runways, she's working toward becoming a doctor of osteopathic medicine.

Her interest in holistic medicine stems from her personal struggles with PCOS, a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges.

"I started having symptoms when I was 11 and they passed me onto family doctors, dermatologists, I even consulted with a plastic surgeon," Poe said. "Everyone just kind of brushed it off."

It wasn't until Poe was 18 that she finally got her doctors to run tests to determine if she had PCOS.

"I at least wanted to know because it had affected my self-esteem and self-image so much when I was growing up," Poe said.

Poe was sent to an endocrinologist, who discovered from her blood results that she could either have PCOS or a pituitary gland tumor.

"We did another blood test and it was PCOS," Poe said. "I knew it was going to be fine because I had done enough research, but that was really ridiculous to me that we’re at a place in women’s health where someone can have something for seven years and you missed it enough ... what if it had been a brain tumor?"

Poe doesn't want other women to face the same obstacles she has, which is why she plans to dual specialize in endocrinology and gynecology. She also made PCOS her pageant platform, advocating for women's health.

"You don’t necessarily want to get on stage and talk about something that personal, but I feel like I’m in a position where I should," Poe said. "It felt obvious to me that it needs to be my platform because I struggled with it so much myself.

"If I can get someone to talk about it we talk about it ... what’s interesting is that every time it happens I always find someone who has it or knows someone who has it or they think they have those symptoms."

Sensor has witnessed her daughter's journey navigating this disorder and the confidence she exudes when she talks about it during competitions.

"She took it and she owned it and I think it shows a very strong character of a person ... to talk about something like that, because it’s very female-oriented and a break-down-barriers-type conversation," Sensor said.

To Poe, having it all doesn't seem that hard to grasp.

Now attending Gannon, Poe is reaching for the stars

As a sophomore at Gannon, Poe is a chair of the Gannon University Honors Program, the editor of Honors Student News and a recent inductee into the Gamma Sigma Epsilon National Honor Society.

After completing her bachelor's degree, Poe hopes to attend medical school at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. She also plans to continue building her pageant platform.

"I want to set up my own website," Poe said. "I’m not sure exactly how I want it to look yet, but it could have workout plans, diet plans for PCOS. I’m also thinking more modeling for sure."

Over the next few weeks, Poe plans to apply to modeling agencies with the hope that she'll be sent out to different jobs, like walking runways or participating in photoshoots.

It might seem like a lot to take on to some, but Poe is confident she can handle it all.

"I love doing it and people don’t realize how well they work together because you get paid to model and medical school is expensive," she said. "I might compete for Miss Pennsylvania USA coming up in the spring, but it kind of depends on my school schedule because I can’t miss any labs."

Baylee DeMuth can be reached at 814-450-3425 or bdemuth@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @BayleeDeMuth.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Gannon student Haley Poe in NY Fashion Week, supports women's health