Who are Cheslie Kryst’s parents?
THE PARENTS of Cheslie Kryst have chosen to spread an important message following their daughter's death.
Cheslie was pronounced dead after falling from her high-rise apartment in New York City in 2022.
Who is Cheslie Kryst's mom?
Cheslie's mom is April Simpkins, a best-selling author, and an HR employee with over 30 years of executive-level experience.
She is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer of Questco Companies - an outsourcing human resources business that helps small and mid-sized enterprises.
April is recognized for her business skills and has received numerous accolades.
According to , in 2016, she won the Business Leader Magazine's Movers & Shaker Award and the Mecklenburg Times' 50 Most Influential Women Award.
She won the York County Regional Chamber's 2018 Fort Mill/Tega Cay Business Person of the Year Award.
In 2020, she was awarded the Charlotte Business Journal's Women In Business Achievement Award.
Cheslie once shared how her mum had inspired her.
She said: "My mom is my role model. I always look up to her and ask her for her advice.
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"As a state pageant champion, she’s built an incredible A role model, I wanted to follow in her footsteps because I held her highly.
"So did my decision to double major in Marketing and Human Resource Management.
"I vividly remember sitting in my advisor’s office as an undergrad, chose my management major—HR or entrepreneurship.
"My mom made HR sound fun, so that’s what I chose."
Who is Cheslie Kryst's dad?
Rodney Kryst was a Polish-American bodybuilder.
Following his daughter's death, Kryst spoke to the , calling his Cheslie "pure" and stating that he believed family issues had caused her distress.
“She was pure as can be, she didn’t take any kind of drugs or prescription medication. She never had any kind of substance abuse problem.
“I think it had a lot to do with family dysfunction, but it will be awhile before we can talk more. She was sad.”
Cheslie once discussed her father's influence on her, saying, "Today is a special day to show appreciation to all the fathers and father figures who have made our lives special.
"My dad introduced me to athletics. He took my siblings and me to the track every weekend when we were young when we didn’t want to.
"And he told us endless stories of his body-building days.";
What has April Simpkins said about Cheslie Kryst's death?
Medical examiners conducted an autopsy on Monday, January 31, 2022, and a day later, Cheslie Kryst was confirmed to have died by suicide.
Following Cheslie's death, a statement from the Kryst family released a statement calling the former pageant queen a "great light" that "inspired others around the world with her beauty and strength."
"She cares, she loved, she laughed and she shined," continued their statement.
"Cheslie embodied love and served others, whether through her work as an attorney or fighting for social justice, as Miss USA and as a host on EXTRA.
"But most importantly, as a daughter, sister, friend, mentor and colleague - we know her impact will live on."
In the 2019 Miss USA pageant, Cheslie took home the crown as Miss North Carolina.
She was an attorney and later worked as a correspondent for Extra after winning the title.
In March 2021, Cheslie penned an essay in which she recounted how she had been working herself to death and about being trolled.
In the essay, she said that she “cringed” at the thought of turning 30.
She wrote: “Society has never been kind to those growing old, especially women.
“…Turning 30 feels like a cold reminder that I’m running out of time to matter in society’s eyes - and it’s infuriating.”
She detailed her struggle with “the relentless tick of time” and being enamored with “20 under 20” and “30 under 30” lists that linked achievement to being young and successful.
According to Cheslie, that mindset created an unfortunate side effect on young people, who may have been encouraged to accomplish feats as fast as possible.
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Cheslie's memoir, By the Time You Read This: The Space Between Cheslie's Smile and Mental Illness, was released on April 23, 2024.
April co-wrote the book and, according to , she "carried out her daughter's last request, and in hopes of reaching out to others wrestling with mental illness."