The Spark That Never Left

Katie Loxterman, Mrs. Mont Belvieu America 2026, does not remember the Texas Gatorfest Princess Pageant as a moment of triumph. She remembers not placing. She remembers borrowed circumstances. She remembers being a tomboy with very little self-confidence. And yet, she also remembers something else, the moment when a quiet, internal spark was lit.

As a child, Loxterman and her sister were removed from their parents’ care when they were unable to provide for them. It was a woman in their community, Mary, who stepped in. Recognizing that Katie needed something she could not articulate herself, Mary signed her up for the 1997 Texas Gatorfest Princess Pageant. There was no crown that day, but there was something far more enduring.

“Something changed inside me,” Loxterman recalls. “A little spark was born, and I learned self-worth and poise despite our circumstances.”

That spark never left. It simply waited.

For years, pageantry remained a dream she could not afford to pursue. Financial limitations made competitive participation impossible, and like many girls from unstable backgrounds, she learned early how to place responsibility ahead of desire. It was not until adulthood, marriage, and financial stability that she finally gave herself permission to try.

“Even at 37 years old, I’m healing my nine-year-old self,” she says.

Loxterman’s journey into pageantry as an adult was not driven by titles. It was driven by preparation. Working with coaches. Investing in gowns. Learning how to present herself with confidence and intention. These were not superficial acts. They were acts of reclamation.

That same sense of reclamation would later define her advocacy.

When Motherhood Turned Pain Into Purpose

When her first three children were born prematurely, Loxterman entered a world few parents are prepared for. Weeks in the NICU. Leaving the hospital without knowing if your baby will come home. It is a trauma that reshapes priorities permanently.

Her children survived and thrived, now teenagers and pre-teens, but the experience left an imprint.

“Whatever we have an abundance of, we should share with others,” she explains.

She became a milk donor. When insurance fell short for families in crisis, she raised funds to provide donor milk. In 2015, she founded Pumping for Preemies, creating tangible support for NICU parents navigating the same fear she once lived.

Her advocacy expanded through partnerships with Mother’s Milk Bank, March of Dimes, and hospital systems across Texas.

Visibility Used With Responsibility

Her work has been recognized at the highest levels. The Mayor of Pearland declared February 4 Donor Human Milk Awareness Day in her honor.

Congressman Pete Olson presented her with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition for her advocacy in donor milk insurance coverage.

Medela donated more than 5,000 breastfeeding and pumping supplies through her organization to support NICU families.

Visibility, for Loxterman, is not a performance. It is a responsibility.

Outside of pageant week, she uses her platform to speak at hospitals, support nurses, advocate for policy change, and remind families they are not alone.

During COVID, she partnered with March of Dimes to provide support specifically for NICU nurses, a group she believes often carries invisible emotional weight.

Grit, Faith, and Letting the Future Unfold

Her life is full. Five children in sports. A full-time corporate career. Modeling work. She does not pretend balance exists.

“In our house, we juggle,” she says. “Some balls are rubber and some are glass. It’s my job to know which ones can bounce and which will shatter.”

What steadies her is grit. The kind forged in childhood, reinforced by motherhood, and refined through service.

She remembers being told she would never amount to anything. She remembers believing it. And then choosing, repeatedly, to show up anyway.

Pageantry, she insists, is not about the end result.

“The journey to get there is where self-worth blossoms,” she says. “Invest in yourself. Let your children see you following your dreams, because one day they will be in your shoes.”

Today, Loxterman stands not as a woman chasing validation, but as one extending it outward. Her future plans remain intentionally open.

Projects exist, including a New Mom Survival Guide, but she is unhurried.

“This title is for God’s glory,” she says. “I am His servant, and when He is ready to reveal what’s next, I’ll be ready to live it.”

Katie Loxterman, Mrs. Mont Belvieu America 2026, has learned that sometimes the most powerful thing you can do with a spark is protect it long enough to pass it on.

“Don’t give up on yourself. The journey is where self-worth blossoms.”