SHE HAD TO HAVE IT –
Aug. 25, 2025 – As a young woman, Sarah Castleberry threw herself into pageants, putting everything she had in order to win the crown.
When she became addicted to alcohol, she went all in on that as well, but that all-or-nothing attitude is also what helped her when she finally decided to quit drinking.
As a little girl, Castleberry said all she ever wanted to be when she grew up was Miss Arkansas.
A 2006 Southside High School graduate, Castleberry entered countless pageants before winning both Miss Batesville and Miss Independence County in 2007. With the scholarships she earned with the titles, she was able to attend the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville, then transferred to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she studied accounting and competed in the Miss Arkansas pageant.
“I studied accounting just because math came easy to me, but it wasn’t a passion for me – it was just the easy route,” she said.
Growing up in a dry county, Castleberry, 37, said alcohol was harder to come by – not to mention she felt like she was “living in a glass bubble,” where she was expected to be a role model for others while competing in pageants.
