Before Savannah Elias-Beaulieu competed in the Miss Teen Canada Globe pageant in Toronto last month, she remembers thinking she lived too far north to even enter her name.
When she finally took the plunge, making it successfully through the application stage and interview process, she faced a $10,000 fundraising hurdle just to get herself there.
After months of fundraising and pinching pennies earned working at Northmart, the 14-year-old's efforts have paid off.
Not only did Elias-Beaulieu earn this year's overall audience choice award, she's moving on to an international pageant in Honduras later this year, where she'll be the first NWT teen to represent Canada in the global competition.
“I'm very excited but nervous to go all the way over there,” said Elias-Beaulieu.
The Toronto pageant, which ran from August 16 to 27, was her first ever.
“I've never been out of the country and it was my first time in Toronto,” she added.
Elias-Beaulieu got the good news that she'd be jet-setting once again while sitting on a plane in Edmonton with her mother following the pageant.
A woman from the event messaged her to say one of the runners-up could not fulfill her position, bumping Elias-Beaulieu into her spot as the Miss Teen Canada fourth princess, or fourth runner-up.
“She was just so happy I was just about crying, thinking of all the fundraising we've done,” said the teen's mother, Eleanor Elias.
While the international competition is another expense that will mean more fundraising for the teen, it's been a dream of hers for some time.
“I always wanted to be in a beauty pageant since I was a little girl,” said Elias-Beaulieu. “It was tough, but I mean, I enjoyed it, just hanging out with all those girls.”
On most days, the girls woke up for breakfast at 7 a.m. and trained until 1 a.m. the next morning, or later, the girl's mother said.
They were coached in speaking, walking and confidence and took part in swimsuit, evening gown and three-minute talent competitions.
Elias-Beaulieu also got to showcase her region in a national costume competition, where the girls wore outfits representing their different cultures.
Elias-Beaulieu sported an atikluk, polar bear mukluks and a matching headband, as well as ulu earrings made by relatives.
But it's not just about how pretty the dresses are, said Elias-Beaulieu.
“It's more how you carry yourself,” she said. “It was very long days, but it was all worth it.”
During another portion of the pageant, she had a chance to speak about a cause close to her heart – Moyamoya disease. The rare disorder took her father's life when she was just 10 years old.
In her role as the fourth runner-up, Elias-Beaulieu must recruit five new delegates for next year's 2018 Miss Canada Teen Globe pageant.
“A lot of other girls are interested and are messaging me,” she said.
Elias-Beaulieu will head to Honduras sometime in November.