UM Entrepreneur Encourages Young Women to Find Their Success

By Emma Carney
Hottytoddy.com intern
emcarney@go.olemiss.edu

Ole Miss student Emma Beth Corkren wants her peers to see her as a strong, independent business owner and woman. 

As a business administration and marketing management student, one of her accomplishments was bringing her business, Legally Bronzed, to the Oxford community. It is a mobile spray tanning salon that allows customers to get a spray tan in the comfort of their own homes.

Emma Beth Corkren is a business owner and barrel racer who wants to empower women to define their own success. Photo provided.

The mobile aspect takes away all of the hassle associated with getting a spray tan in a store-front salon. It eliminates the worry of getting caught in bad weather and rubbing off on car seats, she said.

The idea came to Corkren when she heard how, in larger cities, the concept of mobile spray tanning is very common. The idea just happened to accompany her calling as an entrepreneur.

Corkren has competed in many different pageants throughout her life, including the Miss America Organization. She is used to the glam and she strives to be a strong role model for all young girls that she gets the chance to meet.

“It has been very important to me that as a titleholder to pave the way for the girls behind me. I try to leave each title better than I found it,” Corkren said.

Having this outlook comes with responsibility. She gives her time on the weekends to volunteer for domestic violence awareness, as well as to the communities that she represents as a titleholder.

“It really and truly is about so much more than big hair and fake eyelashes,” she said. “Being able to work so hard to obtain a title and then giving yourself to that community for the entire year is a feeling unlike any other.”

Corkren also has an interest in the sport of barrel racing and has competed in many rodeo events since an early age. This sport held a special place in her heart because being with her horses at her barn was the best part of any day for her.

This was also a way for Corkren and her family to spend time together. They would ride all of the horses, practicing every day to perfect their skills.

“I feel so blessed to have grown up so close to my family through our common interest,” Corkren said.

When Corkren is competing in a rodeo, there is a lot of hard work that goes into it. It requires her to wake up early in the morning to load her horses in the trailer and then drive three or more hours to the location of the rodeo. There is rarely someone there to keep her company when she is preparing for her events, and this helped her in many ways to become a more independent woman.

“I can do everything from changing a tire to wiring trailer lights, as well as doing most stuff that a veterinarian can do. It’s a pretty great feeling to be so self-sufficient and often remarkable for a 21-year-old girl,” she said.

“Emma Beth is a dedicated individual. Whether it’s raining or freezing cold, she works hard to crush her goals. Being able to see how she can take these horses and break down their insecurities is pretty cool,” her business partner, Lizzie G, said. 

Corkren learned she does not want to have to depend on other people for her own happiness, but create it herself.

“When I was a little girl, I would sit at the rodeos and admire the women that I like to think I have grown into. The women that were strong and completely self-sufficient, living to the beat of their own drum,” said Corkren.

The activities that she has been involved in have given her the chance to compete against and be surrounded by hundreds of strong women who have the same goal to bring out the best in each other.