Standing on the stage in Las Vegas, wearing a white formal gown accented with feathers on one shoulder, Qadra Evans gripped hands with a fellow competitor.

When the announcer proclaimed her as the next Mrs. America, her hands flew to her mouth in shock before a wide smile spread across her face. Evans, who has been serving as Mrs. Montana, with a new sash and sparkling crown, took her first walk across the stage at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort on Sept. 3 as the 50th anniversary Mrs. America.  

"I kind of went out of my body for a moment," Evans said, remembering the moment a few weeks later. "I'm not even sure how hard I was gripping hands with Mrs. Alaska. It was sheer elation and surreal. This is what I had wanted and something I had worked for. This was monumental."  

Evans, 46, lives with her husband in the Many Lakes area just outside of Kalispell. She has spent 20 years working in the real estate industry and has become an advocate for introducing girls to careers in construction and skilled trades. 

Montana has only ever won a major nationally recognized pageant 20 years ago, according to pageant officials.  

Competing in pageants offers the opportunity to wear a beautiful gown but also to work on other skills such as public speaking, along with providing the opportunity to share a platform message that is important to the competitor, Evans explains.  

"I have learned to be true to myself," she said of the experience. "That's what is going to take me to the next level. Some competitors want to focus on what the judge or the crowd want to see, but that's not what's going to do it. I have to be true to my own heart."  

Growing up in Littleton, Colorado, Evans was involved in dance from a young age and was on the dance and cheerleading squads in high school. One of her coaches suggested she try out for a spot with the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders. After making the cut out of 600 other women, she spent four years as a Broncos cheerleader and has her own Super Bowl ring from the experience. Her first year with the team was the last for quarterback John Elway. 

"I was 18 at the time and that was a marker experience in life," Evan said. "It's something that I didn't fully appreciate at that age, but looking back, it was a neat experience."  

While working as a cheerleader, she attended Colorado State University majoring in technical journalism and later earned her master's in clinical mental health counseling. Evans grew up participating in pageants and then got back into competitions placing in the Mrs. Colorado pageant.  

"I competed in my mid-20s, but then I put my heels away and didn't think about it until I heard about Mrs. America, which is for married women," she said. "It was something I could train for, do for myself and look forward to."  

Her husband is originally from the Flathead Valley and when the couple would drive back to Colorado after visiting Montana, they would go by his childhood home. They've lived here since 2025, but "fell in love with it long before." After moving to Montana, she decided it was time to try pageants again and earned the title of Mrs. Montana earlier this year.  

From training in advance to getting to wear beautiful dresses that are unlike her daily life, Evans says she enjoys "every single part of it."  

"There's the physical training of staying fit by going to the gym and practicing the specific walk for being on stage," she said. "But there's also improvement in public speaking and preparing to answer questions on the fly for the interview part. There's also getting to play dress up every day at the pageant — doing hair and makeup." 

Beyond the competition, Evans has used her role as Mrs. Montana to inspire young girls to explore careers in the trades through her She Builds, She Belongs campaign and works to amplify the She Built Foundation, a nonprofit serving to inspire the next generation of builders.  

The movement was inspired by a house constructed by a team of women. They came across the country to build the home in Utah with the goal of highlighting the fact that less than 3% of the on-site housing workforce is women, according to the foundation. From the project came a curriculum for educators and "The House that She Built" book that educates young readers about the people and skills that go into building a home.  

Spending time in elementary schools, Evans reads the book to classrooms looking to introduce the idea to students that anyone can build a house.  

"When you go to so many job sites, you don't see any women," Evans said. "And to really see yourself in a job you need to see yourself represented somewhere. It's really fun to see young girls and even women whose eyes light up with the story because they never got to see themselves represented this way."  

Working alongside Victoria’s Voice foundation, the official charity of the Mrs. America Inc. organization, Evans will also be an advocate for raising awareness of the opioid epidemic. 

While spreading the messages of the platforms for the rest of the year, she is also preparing to return to Las Vegas for the Mrs. World competition in January. 

"I'm excited to bring awareness about pageants to the state," Evans said. "And be able to amplify the message for She Built and Victoria's Voice."  

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch can be reached at 406-758-4421 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.