“Visibility is incredible, but impact is meaningful.”

The last words Anna Hall spoke were said with intense conviction during her final on-stage question. On Friday night, she was crowned Miss Missouri’s Teen 2026 in Mexico at the 56th Miss Missouri pageant.

Hall, daughter of Scott and Melisa Hall, is a Branson native who competed this year as Miss Southwest’s Teen. Competing for four years and being named runner-up last year made winning that much more special.

“My reaction was basically just, ‘What just happened?’”

When she heard her name called, Hall said her first thought was, “Thank you, Jesus.”

“It was a big step to come back and know that maybe God wasn’t done with my story,” she said. “Tonight is proof of that. I am very excited for what I’m going to have this year.”

Her community service initiative, Project Wallflower, focuses on helping young women and girls overcome social anxiety and build confidence through mentorship.

“The way I plan on growing is by contacting global game changers and getting an in-person curriculum created,” Hall said. “I can only be in so many places at once as Miss Missouri’s Teen, but local titleholders across the state and in the country can be in more classrooms. They can use that curriculum and use those tools and do incredible things that I’m not just capable of alone.”

Hall used to struggle with anxiety — something the audience may not have been able to guess by the way she commanded the stage.

“In middle school, I struggled with extreme social anxiety so bad I couldn’t even go to youth group,” she said. “I was left crying in the corner places because I just did not have any confidence.”

Hall said she was able to overcome her anxiety thanks to her mentors, and she is passionate about her CSI because she doesn’t want anyone to feel like she did.

“Each person is created uniquely and they deserve to feel that way,” she said.

Overcoming anxiety led Hall down the path to Miss Missouri’s Teen and gave her the strength to sing for her talent in front of hundreds of people.

“This has been an incredible season of preparation for me.”

For her talent, Hall sang “Gimme Gimme” from Thoroughly Modern Mille, a song she had never performed before. But all her hard work paid off when Miss Missouri’s Teen 2025 Greta Clark placed the crown atop her head.

Clark said crowning the next Miss Missouri’s Teen was a bittersweet moment.

“It really is sad to step away from something that I’ve been doing for such a long time, but to be able to cheer on the next girl is something that’s truly incredible,” Clark said. “I’ve been able to compete with Anna for years, and it’s just so amazing to see her get to this point.”

Hall said she would call every single girl on stage with her a friend.

“I could not have done this without you,” she said. “There’s no mean-girlieness, there’s no bitterness — this was a year of sisterhood like I have never experienced before. I am proud of each and every one of them, and I am so proud to represent them this year.

See more photos in The Mexico Ledger's online photo galleries.