Juliette Valle is no stranger to the stage. She fell in love with musical theater at age 10, when she played "Mary Lennox" in The Secret Garden. Since then, the UM alumna has graced many Miami stages in shows such as Showboat, Bonnie and Clyde—The Musical, The Sound of Music, and Beauty and the Beast, where she played Belle. She dreams of someday playing Christine Daaé in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Meanwhile, Valle is playing a different role: Miss Florida at the next Miss America pageant, becoming the second Hispanic woman Miss Florida to run in the National Pageant's 100-Year history.
In conversation with Valle, she shares her excitement about her bright future and the impact her UM family has had in her life.
"When I say my UM family, I mean my family. We are a University of Miami family in every way. My sisters went there—one as an undergrad and another as a law school grad. My father, now a professor of Medicine at the Miller School of Medicine, and my mother, a transplant nurse, studied and met my father there. My uncles also went there, and my grandmother worked there, too. So, for me, there was no other option but to go to the U," Valle says, laughing.
When Valle first came to the University of Miami, she majored in musical theater, and halfway through her sophomore year, she opted to pursue political science. In May of this year, she received a bachelor's in political science, a minor in broadcasting journalism from the College of Arts and Sciences, and a minor in musical theater and vocal performance from Frost School of Music, where she worked alongside Lecturer Jeanette Thompson.
For two years, Valle worked on UM TV, the University of Miami's award-winning channel, a show that's a collaborative newsmagazine between UM faculty and students. She participated in Pulse, NewsBreak, and CanesCast. In addition to being a TV personality, performer, and pageant titleholder, Valle has been active in her charity work. She advocates for the power of chronic kidney disease prevention and the Miami Transplant Institute to help promote organ donation.
In the last three years, Valle has used her musical talent to create Christmas music, with all the proceeds benefiting charities of her choice. Her initial single, "Winter Wonderland," was released in December 2020, and a hundred percent of the proceeds from this single were donated to Donate Life America. Inspired by its vast success, Valle produced the "Joyfully, Juliette Valle" album featuring ten-holiday songs and released it on all major platforms in December 2022.
Taking on a new role, Miss Florida is her current full-time gig. "My main job is to secure appearances, promote sponsors on social media, get more sponsors, and raise money for the organization," explains Valle. "We broke our record this year by giving $100,000 for the scholarships to the contestants. I received a $20,000 scholarship when I won Miss Florida."
Valle's primary focus for the next six months is preparing for Miss America. She holds the distinction of being the second Hispanic woman to win the crown in the 87-year history of Miss Florida. In the 100-year history of Miss America, there has never been a Hispanic Miss America, and Valle is steadfast in her determination to change this statistic.
"We need more diversity in our country, so it is imperative for me to promote and get that message out there," she says. "One of the things I loved about the U is the vast amount of diversity that exists on our campus."
Since her first pageant at 14, she's been labeled a classic Hispanic beauty. But being a teenage girl, she was hard on herself, as any other teenager can be. However, she used her love for singing and performing to master the stage.
"I never thought that I had a look, per se. One day, I was watching the Miss America pageant, and Miss Georgia was an opera singer. I had just started training with the Florida Grand Opera as a protege. So, my opera talent was new to me. Watching her perform, I thought, 'I want to do that on stage one day.' She made opera look cool. At the time, before I was exposed to the world of the music at Frost, I was alone in that because I didn't know anyone that fit into that genre."
Her father, a native of Peru, and her mother, originally from Brooklyn, New York, inspired their daughter to pursue her dreams, whatever they were. "I was taught to be kind, real, and true to my roots."
In 2021, during her sophomore year at UM, she competed and won the Hispanic Woman of Distinction Award presented by Latina Style Magazine. "I was much younger than the other, much more qualified nominees. But they awarded it to me because they saw that I had grit even though I was younger. I wanted to represent the community."
In her essay, she wrote about Hispanic women in TV and film. "We're either not showcased at all or placed in marginal roles. We're not seen as the powerful, creative, and intelligent women that we are," says Valle, who also hopes to change that stereotype.
In a state so heavily populated by Hispanics, she follows the steps of University of Miami alumna Lisette Gonzalez. In 1998, this music major was the first Hispanic woman to be crowned Miss Florida. Today, she's the head weatherwoman on CBS Channel 4.
Twenty-five years later, Valle is the second Hispanic woman to hold that title. "Twenty-seven percent of Florida is Hispanic," concludes Valle. "To me, it is important that young Hispanic women, whose parents are immigrants, see themselves represented. That's something I plan to promote on the Miss America stage. Whether I walk away with the crown or not, which I hope I do, my message will be clear. The Hispanic community is prevalent in this state and country, and we deserve to be showcased."
