Terri Utley

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Not to be confused with Tori Amos.

Terri Utley (later Terri Amos) (born 1962) is a beauty queen and motivational speaker.

Utley won her first major pageant title, Miss Arkansas USA, in late 1981. She went on to win the title Miss USA in the nationally televised pageant held in Biloxi, Mississippi in May 1982. Utley was twenty years old at the time.

Utley went on to represent the United States in the Miss Universe pageant in Lima, Peru in July the same year. In that pageant, she finished fourth runner-up to Karen Dianne Baldwin of Canada.

Utley's most recognisable feature was her short hair cut, which differentiated her from the long-haired beauty queens of her generation. She is also remembered for her exuberant reaction when she was announced as the new Miss USA, as she had the next-to-lowest preliminary score among the semi-finalists.

Utley's win was Arkansas' first at Miss USA, and as of 2006 their only victory. After she won the title, no women from Arkansas placed in the pageant until Jessica Furrer's semi-finalist placement in 2005. Both women are members of Alpha Sigma Tau.

Utley was also the first Miss Arkansas USA to hail from Cabot, and the only winner until Kimberly Forsyth of the same town won the title in 2006.^[1]

As a young woman, Utley was involved in the American Legion Auxiliary Girls State program.^[2] She was also vice-president of the Cabot High School class of 1980.^[3]

Soon after passing on her title, Utley studied journalism, becoming a writer and field producer for a west coast news station. She then became a spokeswoman for Mazda. Utley then worked as a news anchor on Movietime television (now known as E!), which gave her the opportunity to cover such events as the Academy Awards and the Cannes Film Festival.

Now Terri Amos, she left the entertainment industry to spend time with her husband and family, which included three young children. Her life was adversely affected by the death of her father, which led her to confront the anger issues which she claims affected her role as a wife and mother. She became involved in traditional healing, and studied energetic healing, meditation, and spiritual consulting in Santa Monica. Amos currently works as a spiritual coach and motivational speaker in Destin, Florida.