Nina Davuluri on Breaking the Mould

Brown Game Strong

In this episode, we sit with Nina, the first South Asian woman to be crowned Miss America in history. This year, she celebrated 10 years since being crowned, and we spend some time reflecting on those days as well as discussing all the advocacy work she now does to help women embark on their self-love journey.

When Nina became Miss America, it never occurred to her that she would face immense backlash, both from media outlets in the US as well as in India, where she was deemed too ‘dark-skinned’ to ever be crowned Miss India. Nina took her time to process the negativity and returned with a strong, intentional message.

She delivered a TED talk, opening up about her experience and the price she paid for being the first among her demographic to hold this title.

She created ‘COMPLEXion’, a documentary aiming to challenge the archaic notions that exist around global perceptions around skin colour.

She also wrote to CEOs of major CPG companies including Unilever, the creators of skin lightening cream formerly known as Fair & Lovely, as well as L’Oreal which she now sits on the DEI board of. She was instrumental in the companies ditching terms such as ‘fair’ and ‘light’ in their product marketing.