Sanitation Worker by Day, Beauty Queen by Night: How One Woman Is Challenging Perceptions

When Nicole Doz isn’t competing in beauty pageants, the 23-year-old is working for the New York City Department of Sanitation. 

She trades her pageant outfits for a uniform and operates a street sweeper, winding her way through the city keeping things clean.

“It's a dirty job, but it doesn't bother me,” she told Inside Edition. “I like to get out there and do something different. I can do the glamorous stuff after work."

Doz is the only woman in her Brooklyn unit and she's following in the footsteps of her dad, who has worked in the sanitation department for nearly 20 years.  

"I said, 'Let me try it,' and I absolutely love everything about it,” she said. 

Her boss has also given her high marks, saying she is a diligent worker. 

At home, her room is pageant central and a far cry from a sanitation garage. She has competed in multiple pageants since 2013. 

"I’m more used to wearing these gowns than my uniform, but my uniform is more comfortable,” she revealed. 

Nicole will be putting on a sash again in January where she hopes compete in her next pageant in Staten Island but in the meantime, she loves her blue-collar day job.

"It’s very exciting for people because it's out of the ordinary,” she said. 

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