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Yendi’s Infinite Universe
Style Observer
Sunday, July 11, 2010
From her Long Mountain balcony, newly crowned Miss Jamaica Universe Yendi Phillips looks out over hazy Kingston. Her expression pensive, she's perhaps reminiscing on her second stint as a national pageant queen.
The former Miss Jamaica World joins only two other local beauties -- Christine Straw and Sandra Foster -- who have worn both crowns.
 
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It's been a week since the 24-year-old beauty got the nod over the 18 contestants vying to rep The Rock at the 2010 Miss Universe slated for Las Vegas next month.
Still, it's like déjà vu... only this time, she's a household name.
"Even with experience as a former Miss Jamaica World, I didn't take it for granted that I'd win," Phillips admits, noting that though she wasn't exactly surprised she won, the possibility of another girl being named was likely.
"This time was different from World, in that, there was a lot more pressure... the last competition, nobody really knew me."
Now, she's known as the beauty queen-cum-former Digicel Rising Stars host who gave up her seemingly cushy TV job to chase an international modelling career -- most recently she completed a stint in South Africa. She's also known as Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell's belle, but she's mum about that part of her life and is instead more eager to focus on her many other blessings.
"I believe that for each person to maximise his or her potential, he or she must realise that the world we live in is filled with limitless opportunities, infinite possibilities and abundant blessings and we must all in Jamaica focus on the big picture" she tells SO.
She believes that Jamaicans spend too much time focusing on the little things instead of the big picture.
"As a people, we hold each other back in fear of what others may perceive," she said. "I would like us to break from that mould... each person will have his or her own glory once that is done."
But enough of what feels like an Iyanla Vanzant tutorial; it's what's keeping her hot that's still a mystery.
The svelte figure, the wider smile, the darker head of hair and perfectly arched eyebrows that reference Kim Kardashian, what accounts for it all?
"My beauty regimen," Phillips shares, adding that she's 20 lbs lighter and on a no-carb diet (save for an odd piece of sweet potato).
"I go to bed before 8:00 pm, I'm in the gym by 5:30 am, and I do kickboxing in the evening," she confesses, noting that eight bottles of water with a squirt of lime complete her daily meal plan.
The new queen is excited, too, about the prospects of having the competition in Las Vegas; for her, it means the possibility of more Jamaicans turning up.
What's she expecting from 'The Donald' and the rest of the MJU organisers?
"A superb experience," Phillips shares, "and I'll definitely give it all I've got... I'll certainly wave the Jamaican flag very high."
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7/11/2010
Well said, Yendi! You'll definitely ROCK Vegas!! Peace love and much blessings. How you doin'?!
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