Arianna

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plan will succeed.” Hello Everyone, My name is Arianna Ford, I am so grateful and overjoyed to be your new Tennessee Teen!! I couldn’t have done any of this without the amazing team behind me. Jaclyn @jaclyn.eskewconsulting . Thank you so much for the hours you’ve spend with me helping me from my walk to my résumé and everything little thing in between. Thank you. Maranda @masterpiecepageantry @marandahatcher_ . Thank you for believing in me when I just started in this small little world called pageantry and for helping me grow. Matt @iam_matt_leverton . Thank you for putting on such an amazing event and for giving girls like me the ability to learn how to shine. Jennifer @elevatedbronze @jenni.donahue Thank you for the best tans I’ve ever seen. The way you tan is literally art. I’m so excited you’ve been able to watch my pageant journey from the very start. Michelle @theparkerhouseonmain @officialmichellemurray Thank you for the MOST STUNNING glam this weekend. You truly made me feel like a princess. And thank you for all the encouragement this weekend. Always gonna have a party in my head for you <3 Mom and Dad. Thank you for the support you’ve given me to be able to shine and do what I love. Thank you for the endless hour put into helping accomplish dreams like this one. Words will never be enough to tell you how grateful I am for the life you gave me. To everyone else who’s experienced this journey with me Thank you so much for believing in me and supporting me while I work towards my dreams.

two years ago today I finally got to learn what loving yourself felt like. • I’ve always been so proud of my scoliosis journey and I’ve never really talked about it on here surprisingly. In 2015 at the age of 10, I was diagnosed with scoliosis. My journey with scoliosis started in 2017 though. I was diagnosed with thoracic-lumbaric scoliosis at a 27° curve. I was then braced into a Boston brace. I had to wear it for 22-24 hours a day. I tried it out for about a month or so and decided it wasn’t for me. I also joined physical therapy to see if it could help me correct my back. I then stopped caring after a month and decided that I was just gonna leave it and do nothing about it. It ended up increasing to a 67° curve over time and my ribs twisted 25° to the left. My self-esteem dropped severely. Seeing everyone on social media and in the industry having a “perfect body” affected me because it made me believe I was less than others because of my deformity. So I did everything I could to hide the fact my body looked so different. I stopped wearing certain clothes, doing certain activities, and posing in certain ways, and even learned how to photoshop myself so it wasn’t visible. I couldn’t physically look at myself in a mirror for years. At the beginning of 2020 after meeting with multiple doctors I decided that I was going to get spinal fusion. So on November 9th, 2020 I had a 6-hour long procedure. I had my T10-L3 fused then had 11 screws and 2 rods added to keep it in place. I went from 67° to 13° and fully corrected rib rotation. • After my surgery, I decided that I wanted to be a role model for young girls who feel just like I did. I wanted to be the role model that I needed and know other girls do too. To teach them that beauty is not a rulebook and to not let their limitations stop them but to use it as fuel to chase after their own dreams. #scoliosis #explore #scoliosisawareness #fighter #scoliosiswarrior #scoliosiswarriors #scoliosisadvocate #Godisgood #scoliosisfighter #NAMnationals2022 #IJMinternationals2022 #growingconfidence #crownofopportunities #thepowerhouse2022 #iamthepageantpowerhouse #tennessee

20 candles 🖤✨ dress: @ashleylauren hair & glam: @glamoure.by.danielle cake: @thecupcakecollection

Loving Little Rock jumpsuit: style: 56404 @sherrihill @ashleyrenes Tan & MUA: @makeupbymegdtx @missbelmontcollegiateamerica @misshighschoolamericaorg #mhsa #mhsapageants #misscollegiateamerica #misshighschoolamerica #missjrhighschoolamerica #misshighschoolamericapageant #littlerock #littlerockarkansas #pageants #sponsor #mhsasponsors #pageants #pageantry #mhsapageant #collegiate #collegiateamerica #misscollegiate #missbelmont #missbelmontcollegiate #tennessee

Christmas Child donations Love getting to help kids all over the world have an amazing holiday season 🫶🏻 @misshighschoolamericaorg @operationchristmaschild #mhsa #mhsapageants #misscollegiateamerica #misshighschoolamerica #missjrhighschoolamerica #misshighschoolamericapageant #littlerock #littlerockarkansas #pageants #sponsor #mhsasponsors #pageants #pageantry #mhsapageant #collegiate #collegiateamerica #misscollegiate #missbelmont #missbelmontcollegiate #tennessee

Stopped at @brooksmuseum to see the Christian Siriano: People are People exhibit. It was truly amazing seeing his work in real life. Looks he’s done for the MET Gala, artists like Taylor Swift & Lizzo, pieces for the first Lady and so many other amazing celebrities. I’ve always used him as inspiration when designing my own pieces so to see it in real life was amazing. If you’re in the Memphis area I highly recommend going!

SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT PART 3: Lastly there’s surgery. Surgery is for those with 45° curves or greater which are very severe cases of surgery. The most common type of procedure is spinal fusion which is where vertebrae are welded together. Then hardware is used to correct the curvature of the spine. Next procedure is osteotomy which the affected bones are cut and thereafter removed. doctors typically use this procedure to treat adults with rigid scoliotic curves, flatback, children with large curves, or in cases in which realignment is necessary following a previous spinal fusion. Next procedure is video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery or VATS. This technique only really applies to patients with a thoracic curvature of the spine and is also very rarely used. As there are many reasons why one doesn’t meet all the requirements for the procedure to be performed. For a VATS procedure, doctors will need to temporarily deflate one of your lungs. During VATS a doctor will cut small incisions into your sides. Next cameras, scopes, and video monitoring devices will be inserted to help guide the procedure. Lastly there is thoracoplasty, it’s a corrective surgical procedure whose goal is to reduce the size of the rib hump. Usually, this procedure involves the partial removal of as many as five ribs. Typically, this procedure is performed in conjunction with other scoliosis corrective surgeries, but it may be performed as a separate procedure. Some will get a less invasive procedure which is known as spinal tethering which is where a cord is inserted through the spine and held down by metal anchors. This procedure is only available to kids 8-16 years of age and have to meet certain requirements to be accepted for this procedure. #scoliosis #scoliosisawareness #tennessee #bentnotbroken #scoliosiswarrior

PART 2 OF SCOLIOSIS TREATMENTS: With bracing there’s so many kinds of braces that can be use. Each brace is used to correct a different form of scoliosis and used for different increments of time. For full time bracing which is 22-24 hours a day there’s the Boston brace, Wilmington brace and the Milwaukee brace. For nighttime bracing which is 8-10 hours there’s the Charleston bending brace and the Providence brace. Also some doctors have different forms of bracing they’ve created. When creating your brace you can get plain white or some offer prints and designs that you can have your brace made of. Bracing is used for children with a 25° or greater curvature in their spine. The purpose of bracing is to keep the curvature from progressing to the point where surgery is required. Some patients have the ability to decrease curvature via bracing. braces can be worn over or under clothing. #scoliosis #scoliosisawareness #tennessee #bentnotbroken #scoliosiswarrior

Did you know that the first scoliosis case was discovered around 400 BC and they only started working on treatments in the 1500’s. There’s multiple ways to treat scoliosis now, which include physical therapy, bracing and surgeries. There’s also so many pathways you can take with those three options. Over this week I’m gonna explain the differences in each and what you can achieve with each. First is physical therapy! With physical therapy you can help strengthen your back causing you to slow down/ stop the curvature of the spine or to even correct it. You can talk to a doctor to help get you in with your hospital’s physical therapy program. There’s also multiple programs you can join that are set to help correct spinal curvature. #scoliosis #scoiliosiswarrior

Bows, Pearls & ASHLEYlauren! My favorite things 🎀🤍 jumpsuit: @ashleylauren for @ashleyrenes earrings: @stefaniesomers shoes: @diversestylebysydnidion mua: @ashleyurbanartistry photographer: @meagangilbertphoto #ashleyrenes #wedressthebest #ashleyrenesgirl #ASHLEYlauren #pageantdress #teamfabulous #pageantgirl #tennessee

My final farewell ❤️✨ Thank you will never be enough. Thank you to Mr. Matt and to the I AM Powerhouse for this amazing opportunity to represent the state of Tennessee on the national stage. This opportunity is beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you for giving a girl who believed her disabilities made her less than realize her true worth. to follow along with everything in my life follow my main page @officialariannaford !! #nam #namtn #nationalamericanmisspageant #nationalsmericanmiss #teentn #tennessee #pageant #pageantgirl #TennesseeTeen2023 #teamleverton #NAMtnteen2023

Last sleep as your 2023 National American Miss Tennessee Teen last night 🥺 in all my feels today as we finish off the day but heading into intros and interviews soon!! #nam #namtn #nationalamericanmisspageant #nationalsmericanmiss #teentn #tennessee #pageant #pageantgirl #TennesseeTeen2023 #teamleverton #NAMtnteen2023