Iryna Bezsmertna, the Ukrainian beauty queen and pageant coach who was crowned Mrs World International in 2023, just added a new chapter to her growing list of international moments. The reigning Grand Queen and High Point Winner recently touched down in Los Angeles for an invitation-only business seminar hosted by real estate mogul Grant Cardone and his wife Elena Cardone, and she made sure the room remembered her name.
A Different Kind of Stage
The event took place at a luxurious oceanfront hotel in Santa Monica, where a small, handpicked group of high-performing entrepreneurs gathered for two days of connection and strategy. For Bezsmertna, who has spent her career coaching pageant contestants on confidence and presence, the setting was familiar even if the subject matter was new.
“It’s so much more than business,” she shared with her followers. “It’s about relationships, meaningful conversations, incredible energy, sharing experiences, and supporting each other.”
The Microphone Moment
During the session, Grant Cardone passed the microphone around the room and asked each attendee to introduce themselves, a moment that put Bezsmertna shoulder to shoulder with business owners running multi-million-dollar operations. She was candid about feeling out of her depth on paper.
“My financial numbers wouldn’t impress them,” she admitted. “But I had something else.”
What she had was presence. Bezsmertna turned on the same charisma that carried her to a world title, and it landed. Grant Cardone reacted with an audible “WOW,” and gave her an impromptu new title of his own, calling her Miss Universe on the spot.
Ukraine Takes the Room
The moment didn’t end when the microphone moved on. Attendees approached Bezsmertna afterward, curious about Ukraine, the world of international pageantry, and her personal story. For a group used to talking revenue and ROI, her background clearly stood out as something different, and something memorable.
Her Takeaway
Bezsmertna summed up the trip with a lesson she now shares with the clients she coaches. “You don’t have to be the richest person in the room to stand out,” she said. “You need to know what makes you unique and show it.”
