A 54-year-old Naperville woman is asking for your vote in an online Fab Over 40 competition from Colossal Management.
Lou Stejskal saw an advertisement for the contest on Instagram but what convinced her to enter, she said, was the money raised by the DTCare charity through online voting is donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, which helps those affected by breast cancer through early detection, education and support services.
What was unexpected, Stejskal said, was that she’d do so well in an international contest drawing thousands of women.
She has been in first place in her group through the preliminary rounds.
“I mean, not bad for a stay-at-home mom from Naperville,” she said.
People can vote for the person of their choice free once daily or donate money to the foundation at $1 per vote.
Last year, the contest raised $2.2 million, which helped the foundation fund more than 5,000 cancer patient care packages, provide more than 4,000 mammograms and work with more than 36,000 patients.
The next round of competition eliminations is this week when the group is narrowed to 10.
Every week a new list of contestants is narrowed until the finals week of Dec. 9-15.
The grand prize is $40,000 and a trip for two to an Arizona spa resort worth $10,000. The winner also will be photographed for a double-page feature in NewBeauty magazine.
In online profiles, contestants were asked to provide their favorite tip to stay fabulous.
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Stejskal said while a lot of weight is placed on how women look through beauty regimens and eating right, most of the work comes from within.
“Understand who you are and what’s important: beliefs, family, who you surround yourself with, setting standards and goals, and how you spend your time,” she wrote.
In addition, she encourages people to acknowledge and celebrate small victories.
It’s something Stejskal said she learned after 2010, when she was widowed at age 42 and her three children were just 5, 9 and 11.
“The community of Naperville was so supportive,” she said.
Complete strangers provided meals, offered rides for her kids and gave her children gifts.
“Someone mowed my lawn for a year,” Stejskal said. “It just was wonderful. … I think that really helped me heal.”
Although her subdivision is filled with married couples, Stejskal stayed because she knew her children would thrive in the neighborhood and the schools, she said. “And they did. They’re all doing well. I think they’re all going to be OK,” she said.
The older two have graduated from high school, and her youngest is now a senior.
Should she win, Stejskal said she plans to use a portion of her winnings to return the favor by paying it forward, perhaps paying for a lot of coffee in the drive-thru lanes.
The rest, she said, will go to her kids’ college tuition and bills.
“But, there has to be something fun too,” she said.
Stejskal’s profile can be found at votefab40.com/2022/lou-stejskal.