Bio
Larissa Meek is a former beauty queen who competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants and who starred in the reality competition series Average Joe: Hawaii.
The St. Louis, Missouri native has lived in Los Angeles since 2002, undertaking a variety of artistic pursuits from web design to painting to 3-D animation to acting and modeling.
Meek attended both The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and St. Louis Community College and plans to finish her art degree in Los Angeles. Meek is also developing a marketing company and expanding her website which features her artwork.
Of her decision to appear on Average Joe: Hawaii, Meek said, “Reality television is a unique phenomenon in our society that will be written about in history books, and only a handful of people will get the opportunity to be a part of it.
"As an artist, I wanted to participate in our pop-culture and history, and leave with an incredible event to inspire my art, which I have. The best part is: I found something many people search a lifetime for.”
As a child in the 80’s, Meek loved watching cartoons such as The Smurfs and Voltron and was inspired by them to develop her talent for animation. The influence of animation carried over to her painting.
As an accomplished artist, her paintings can be seen in private collections, have appeared in galleries and are featured in the luxury home in which she stayed while taping the show.
Confident in her artistic abilities, Meek decided to enter her first pageant as a teen to strengthen her communication skills and to earn scholarship money for art school.
Though her family was initially skeptical, Meek’s mother helped her make her first pageant gown for the Miss Missouri Teen USA pageant in 1997, which she not only won, but also took home first place in the evening gown competition.
Meek went on to represent Missouri in the Miss USA pageant in 2001, placing fourth runner-up. Her pageant experiences led to modeling and acting, and the eventual move to Los Angeles.