BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — Piper Sharp is no stranger to the spotlight.
"I know more than 140, I know I've done more than that. I've done a lot of pageants," she said.
Piper, 9, started competing in pageants around age two and has lots of crowns and sashes to prove it.
"My favorite thing about pageants is making new friends," she said.
When Piper's competing, the gowns may change but the shoes she wears have one thing in common.
"All of my shoes that I wear under my dress for pageants are usually Marc Defang," she said.
Marc Defang is a new designer who makes mainly purses and shoes. His shoes are popular among younger pageant contestants.
"I just know that Marc, the designer, wanted me to walk for him and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world," said Piper.
Defang wanted her to walk for him in his fashion show during New York Fashion Week.
"For one, it's New York," said Piper. "For two, you're modeling in front of millions of people and it's not just, it's not millions of people inside of the room. But there's millions of people watching the television watching it happen."
Piper and her family went up to New York City this September for the show, where she got the full super model treatment with hair, make up and wardrobe before stepping out on the catwalk.
"I was really excited and then I didn't know what to feel. And I'm like, I know how to model but for some reason I'm forgetting how to model," said Piper.
Those nerves didn't last long and Piper was up to the challenge.
She's used to modeling pageant gowns, but said that's a whole different style.
"It's fun doing the model face, the walk, and getting to pose because it's not pageants where whenever you're in your ball gown, you have to go very slow. You're supposed to go fast," she said.
Piper got to keep the outfit she modeled. It's a coral jumpsuit and rhinestone green purse that she plans to wear in upcoming pageants.
The outfit also serves as a reminder of the experience of a lifetime Piper knows she's lucky to have.
"I think that that's crazy that I got to and I'm only a nine year old, not even 10," she said.
Piper said she'll model again in the future, but her main goals right now are to focus on singing and basketball.