Phyllis Hain.

The moment she received the news she was nominated to participate in the Ms. Senior Cullman County pageant, Phyllis Hain had no idea the journey she would embark on.

Not only did Hain win the Ms. Senior Cullman County pageant in April, but on Saturday, July 13, Hain walked away with the title of Ms. Senior Alabama 2019.

“It has been such a remarkable journey so far,” she said. “I was shocked and honored that I had been selected to represent Cullman at the state and now national levels.”

Hain had never competed in pageants before, but was no stranger to the spotlight. She has modeled over the years and even authored a book called a ‘Diamond in the Dark: Leaving the Shadow of Abuse.”

A child of a Marine sent home from World War II, who suffered from acute brain trauma, Phyllis Hain’s book frankly chronicles her struggle to survive devastating domestic violence and spousal abuse by creating two personas: one for the darkness of home, the other for the brilliance of life. Diamond in the Dark aims at helping abuse victims speak up, illustrating that “The silence of shame, empowers the abuser.”

In her talent for the pageant, Hain, who is also an artist, took a synopsis from her book and gave an artistic presentation with a monologue captured from her publication.

“When I decided to be in the pageant, I really didn’t have a specific talent designed for competition. However, I wanted to combine my art and writing, both of my talents together, and do something unique.”

Hain was born on her grandfather’s farm in Samson and grew up in the Gulf Coast of Florida. During 21 years of work with the Department of Defense, she worked as a U.S. Navy Sexual Response Coordinator (SARC) and a Family Advocacy Educator, she taught well over 20,000 students.

She did several jobs and spent the first half of with public affairs, as a training facilitator and special event coordinator.

Then she moved to the more serious side of family services carrying a number of different jobs over the next 11 years. She spent several years as the SARC and Family Advocacy Program Educator.

“I worked alongside military and community law enforcement; helped educate first-responders on how to properly document incidents and how to provide sensitive, effective treatment and support to victims of sexual assaults,” said Hain. “We responded to hundreds, if not thousands, of victims in crisis all during my career.”

She also received hundreds of hours of training in the field of domestic violence, child abuse, child sexual abuse, sexual assault and victim intervention, and the correlation between animal abuse and domestic violence.

As a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC), Hain trained a cadre of volunteer advocates, usually between 80 and 120 at a time, while on a 24/7 watch to respond to victims.

Just a few highlights of her work over the years include working on the National Joint Task Force in Washington D.C, which studied the problem of sexual assault in the military; working with the National Organization for Victim’s Assistance; serving as Vice President of Northwest Florida’s Victim Coalition; and being selected NASP’s Civilian of the Year for her contribution to the Sexual Assault Victim Intervention Program.

Inspired by interviewing, and responding to many victims and survivors of abuses, she decided to undergo what turned out to be the multi-year ordeal of writing a memoir about her own tumultuous life as the victim of child abuse, child sexual abuse, sexual assault and spousal abuse.

Hain has been happily married to Captain Robert Hain, Medical Corps, (USN Ret.) for more than 20 years. They moved to Cullman not long after they both retired.

“We love it here and honestly during the course of time we have been here, I have made a lot of great friends, which actually opened up the pageant door for me,” she said.

Hain said through a jail ministry she is heavily involved in, which involves visiting and witnessing to women at the Cullman County jail, she had the opportunity to get to know one of the investigators Brandi Martin Suh.

“She was the one who nominated me for the Ms. Senior Cullman County pageant, and at first I wasn’t sure, but just look at the journey it has taken me on since the beginning,” she said.

Angie Carter, the Ms. Senior Cullman County pageant director, shared she was extremely proud of Phyllis.

“She has represented Cullman very well and we are all extremely proud of her,” said Carter.

Phyllis was crowned by Donna Harris, the 2018 Ms. Senior Cullman County and Ms. Senior Alabama.