Mrs. Classic Universe Jennifer Lynn Robinson is a 40+ beauty queen from Haverford

Jennifer Lynn Robinson’s path to Ms. Classic Universe, an international pageant crowning women over 40 beauty queens, began 14 years ago when she was hit by a truck.

Robinson, a trial attorney for AAA Mid-Atlantic, was on her way to a routine medical appointment in May 2008 when she fell to the ground. “I tried to get up, but I couldn’t,” Robinson said. “I saw flashes of my life.”

Robinson suffered several broken bones in his face, eight broken ribs and a collapsed lung. His left eye hemorrhaged and he lost peripheral vision. He tore his Achilles tendon and required four surgeries to repair it. Robinson spent a week in the intensive care trauma unit at the University of Pennsylvania and more than a year in physical, cognitive and speech therapy. He lost his balance and suffered a mild traumatic brain injury.

Six months after the accident, and despite doctors’ warnings, Robinson returned to work part-time, but never again practiced as a trial attorney.

In 2012, she started her first business as a fundraising and event consultant. That business became Purposeful Networking, where she teaches business professionals and corporate leaders how to activate the charm in social settings. Three years later, she decided to try public speaking because she missed connecting with people. She landed hundreds of corporate jobs and gave a virtual TEDx talk at the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 2020.

In 2021, she decided to enter the Mrs. Classic Universe pageant and last summer she won.

“Her story and her desire to share it is what makes Jennifer such a wonderful Ms. Classic Universe,” said Lynda Samuels, CEO of the Arizona-based Classic Universe franchise. “She didn’t look at herself and think, ‘I don’t have what it takes.’ ”

These days, Robinson is a regular on Philadelphia red carpets and glitzy parties in her gold-trimmed crown and sash. We recently chatted over lunch and discussed survival, life’s unexpected twists, and the near-collapse of Robinson’s contest.

Answers have been edited for clarity.

Why would a woman with no experience in beauty pageants want to do one at 40?

I am about to turn 50 years old. Participating in this beauty pageant that traditionally celebrates not just a 5-foot-10 woman with blonde hair, who is young and slim, appealed to me.

What was your platform?

Help people with invisible injuries. After I was physically healed, people didn’t notice my brain injury and would say things like, “Well, you look good.” If a person can’t do something, he will never want to turn around and say, “You look good, why can’t you?” I want people to know that they are not alone.

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