Riley Hedstrom, who hails from Minnesota, was the 3rd runner-up of the 2025 Mister Global competition. He chatted with #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos about his experience in this recent international male pageant, which was held in Thailand.
Hedstrom is also a prior winner of the title “Mr. America Global,” and a prior Top 10 finalist of the 2024 Mister USA competition.
Mister Global experience
On his experience at the Mister Global competition, Hedstrom said, “It was good! It was really great. It was just a really cool experience getting to meet all the other contestants and they brought us to all these really awesome events. We got the travel around the country a bit.”
“The people, the culture, and the food there just really blew me away,” he admitted. “It was just such a cool experience. The competition itself was really well done too. It was super organized. Everything was very professional. They had all of their logistics and events planned out very well.”
“I think this was their 11th year doing Mr. Global, so they had everything really dialed in and organized,” he said. “So, that was really cool, just to actually have a really solid plan of what events we are going to be doing, where we need to be, and when.”
“Everything was just very clear and transparent to us, so it was good,” he added.
Mister Global brotherhood
On the Mister Global brotherhood, he said, “It was good, but it felt a little more cutthroat than any of the previous pageants that I was a part of. The brotherhood of the Mr. America Global competition was a lot friendlier and nicer. I’m sure this is common with other international competitions, but it was just a little more cutthroat.”
“I mean, I still had great relationships with 98 percent of the different contestants out there at Mister Global, so it was fun,” he admitted.
“It was nice knowing a little Spanish because I could actually interact the contestants from the Spanish-speaking countries, so I definitely got to utilize my Spanish with them a bit, so that was nice,” Hedstrom elaborated.
“I felt I made some really good bonds and relationships with a lot of contestants, so overall, it was overwhelmingly positive experience as far as the brotherhood goes,” he added.
He credits Mr. America Global for preparing him well for the Mister Global competition. “We had been training for this for almost a whole year, so we did a great deal of online media training and Q&A training, and I am just grateful for all of the extra training that we did,” he explained.
“When I was actually out there at the competition, it was so much less stressful and it all felt very natural, and overall, it was great,” he acknowledged. “Mr. America Global definitely prepared me for Mister Global very well.”
“I was very grateful for the Mr. America Global team for everything they did, especially getting me ready for the Mr. Global competition and for helping me out. My national director, Julio Tatis, was such a huge help,” Hedstrom said, effusively.
New York Fashion Week
For Hedstrom, it was a thrill to be a part of the 2025 New York Fashion Week, where he walked for fashion designer Alonso Maximo.
“That was awesome,” he exclaimed. “That was my very first New York Fashion Week show, so that was a really special moment for me. The jacket that I wore at New York Fashion Week was the same one I wrote for Mr. Global. I loved that jacket so much.”
Lessons learned from the Mister Global journey
On the lessons learned from the Mister Global journey, he reflected, “I mean, it really just taught me that I am capable of anything that I set my mind to.”
“There was lot of practice and training going into it. I mean, it just really made me value, the time and effort that I spent preparing for it,” he noted. “It also just really made me value the relationships that I made,” he said.
“It was just very cool to be able to connect with so many people from so many different cultures all around the world and get to learn about their life experiences and just hear some cool things about their day-to-day lives, which are different than what I know and what I grew up with,” he elaborated.
“It certainly instilled the importance of really going outside of your normal social circle and trying to meet and connect with people from all over the world, because you can really get some cool insights from them and you can learn a lot about yourself through that whole process as well,” he expanded.
Passing on the Mr. America Global torch to Rowan Musick
Hedstrom is thrilled about getting to pass the Mr. America Global torch to Rowan Musick. “Rowan is going to have a blast out there in Thailand,” he admitted. “I was chatting with him while I was out there a little bit.”
“Rowan is going to have a really good time out there,” Hedstrom noted. “I am excited for Rowan to take over the title now and get to work with Julio and Tony, because he already killed it at the Mr. America Global competition. I am very excited to see how all of that plays out for him.”
To learn more about Riley Hedstrom, follow him on Instagram.
