ABOUT

Tori Kruse Bio

If you type in “Tori Kruse” in Google you will find a sparkling crown and sash from her days as Miss Missouri USA 2018. You will see she has been featured on ABC, CBS, F0X, NBC, E!, INSIDER, and Cosmopolitan Magazine.  You will see she thrived as a print and runway model, hosted red carpet events, and doing her thing as a freelance sports reporter. What you won’t see is the struggle, the failures, the heartbreak and pain she had to overcome.  Her greatest accomplishment is not what she has achieved, but rather what she discovered along the journey. As former Miss Missouri USA, Tori learned to perform the external life everyone expected. What she did not expect was the internal journey of discovering the unexpected.  She set out to win a title but her greatest achievement was uncovering, unlocking, and unleashing her authentic self. 

Don’t let the high heels fool you, Tori is fierce and relentless in her pursuit to help women live an unexpected life by showing them how to uncover and unlock their genuine purpose and unleash their power within.  When Tori is not out speaking, she’s enjoying sunny Scottsdale, Arizona while coaching powerful women and always making time for what keeps her grounded, faith and family. 

18 Years Old

Tori has been a go-getter since birth. Growing up she was more of a tom boy than a girly girl, always camping, fishing, or playing basketball with her brother. With her competitive mindset growing up, she went on to set her high school's all-time 3-point record her senior year. Before graduating high school, Tori had traveled to 48 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces all in an RV with her family. Once she graduated and moved on to The University of Iowa, she decided to take a leap of faith and compete for her first pageant, Miss Iowa Teen USA.

21 Years Old

As a student at the University of Iowa, Tori's passion for personal growth kicked in high gear.  She was accepted into the selective Tippie College of Business. While enjoying her years as a Hawkeye, Tori Co-Founded and served as President of the Iowa Retail Association. During her leadership role, Tori helped create an internship program with the Iowa-based department store, Von Maur. She went on to serve as the first intern in the program, which still exists today!

22 Years Old

After graduating from college with her degree in Entrepreneurial Management, Tori moved to St. Louis, MO. She took a job as a commercial sales manager for a flooring distribution company. Say what? Yep, you read that correctly. With her business background, Tori was able to excel in her role, as she pursued her new passion on the side -- pageantry. Tori became obsessed with the dream of someday competing at Miss USA, so she signed up and competed for Miss Missouri USA.

25 Years Old

In 2016, after a few years of Tori’s persistence and determination was finally starting to pay off. She finished first runner-up at Miss Missouri USA. But that wasn't good enough for Tori - if you're not first you're last. 🙂 In this moment Tori knew she needed to do something outside of her comfort zone. So she quit her sales job and took a leap of faith -- she moved to Los Angeles. Here she AirBnB hopped for 7 months as she pursued sports reporting - with zero contacts in the industry. Tori was a reporter for the Southern California Special Olympics that summer. During this stint in Hollywood, Tori signed with the modeling agency, CESD, where she did print and runway modeling and was featured on E!. While there, she worked with well-known media coach, Marki Costello, to sharpen her speaking and hosting skills.

26 Years Old

With the next Miss Missouri pageant quickly approaching, Tori packed her bags and left LA for good. Her time out West learning and growing paid off, as she won the Miss Missouri USA crown on her sixth overall attempt! All of the "noes" were finally worth it. Persistence wears down resistance. Tori went on to represent Missouri at the Miss USA competition later that year. During her year as a titleholder, Tori discovered her love for speaking on stages and empowering others through her challenges and breakthrough moments. She made it her mission to speak throughout the nation on her platform, “1st ManUp,” a movement educating young men on the prevention of sexual assault and harassment by means of respecting women. Tori was featured on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, INSIDER, and Cosmopolitan Magazine. In a once in a lifetime opportunity, Tori walked in New York Fashion Week that same year. Everything felt like it was finally coming together.

27 years old

As passionate as Tori was about self-growth, she decided to take it to the next level and hire her first Tony Robbins coach in 2018 and then attend one of his most popular conferences - “Unleash The Power Within.” It was at this conference that Tori became a “Firewalker” as she stormed across a bed of hot coals! Not only did she feel fearless, but in that moment she also discovered her love for live events and personal development conferences.

28 years old

With her lifelong entrepreneurial spirit burning hot, Tori launched her speaking and coaching business, Highlights ‘n Heels. Her goal was simple at the time: empower all women to feel capable and confident in their dreams! In 2019, Tori booked her biggest speaking engagement up to that point. She gave a motivational keynote to 2,000 individuals near St. Louis, MO. Tori also served as an influencer at Rachel Hollis’s first-ever “Rise Business Conference” that same year. Tori’s adventurous side continued to shine through as she also left the Midwest and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in 2019. During a year of so much excitement, it would be unfair not to share the realness of 2019 simultaneously being a time of extreme heartbreak, healing, and finding "Tori" again after experiencing relationship trauma. 

29 years old

In 2020, Tori made the best of an uncertain (quarantine) year. She launched her podcast, “It’s Breakthrough Time,” and interviewed some of the biggest names in the self-motivation space. She spoke at her first international women’s event (virtually), and had her first international client. This was a big year of firsts for Tori, as she launched her first digital course, implemented health coaching into her business, and was a speaker at a virtual business conference.

30 years old

At 30 years old, Tori is just getting started helping elevate womens’ lives. From speaking at business conferences to helping women discover their authentic voice, Tori is on fire to help women believe in their greatest potential. This year, she has further expanded her public speaking into the hosting arena. Tori served as a red carpet host at the most recent Global Beauty Awards. In addition, she has launched "The Unexpected Women's Academy,” an exclusive community dedicated to empowering women to live an unexpected life and become confident in who they are created to be. Tori is ready for the future and excited for all the untapped potential that lies within all of us.

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