About
Paulina Vega Dieppa was crowned Miss Universe 2014 at only 22, but the Colombian model’s story has grown far beyond a single dazzling night on stage. Born on January 15 1993 in Barranquilla, she parlayed her reign into a multifaceted career as a television host, brand strategist, philanthropist, and—most recently—a first-time mother. Today she balances work in New York and Bogotá with entrepreneurial pursuits such as her role as founding partner of Flora Beauty, a clean-skincare line nested inside cannabis conglomerate Flora Growth Corp.
In early 2025 she shared the joyful news of her daughter’s birth, saying the experience has “re-centered everything I do.” A scroll through her six-million-strong Instagram feed shows campaigns for Alo Yoga, BMW, and Falabella alongside candid travel snippets and wellness tips.
Before Fame
Paulina grew up in a lively, extended household in Barranquilla, the eldest of eight siblings born to cardiologist Dr. Rodolfo Vega and homemaker Laura Dieppa. She attended the bilingual Colegio Alemán and later the Deutsche Schule in Bogotá, acquiring native-level Spanish plus fluent English, German, and French along the way. A tall, poised teenager, she landed her first catalog shoot at eight and kept modeling through high school. Pageantry found her in college: representing Atlántico, she won Señorita Colombia 2013 with record-high scores. Less than fourteen months later, in Doral, Florida, she out-performed eighty-six contestants to seize the Miss Universe crown—becoming only the second Colombian to hold the title after Luz Marina Zuluaga’s 1958 win.
Trivia
- Polyglot on the go. Paulina’s four languages helped her navigate a whirlwind reign that logged visits to at least a dozen countries on five continents.
- Global hunger advocate. The day after handing over her crown she signed on as Global Food Security Ambassador for Stop Hunger Now (now Rise Against Hunger), lending star power to meal-packing drives from Las Vegas to Johannesburg.
- Reality-show front-woman. From 2017 she hosted the prime-time singing competition A Otro Nivel on Caracol Televisión, steering elevator-style auditions alongside a judging panel that featured Silvestre Dangond, Kike Santander, and Fonseca.
- Beauty meets business. Flora Beauty isn’t her first venture; she has also designed limited-edition athleisure for Alo Yoga and consulted for Pantene’s Latin American campaigns.
- Social-media powerhouse. She crossed the two-million-follower mark during her Miss Universe year and has since tripled that audience, turning her platforms into soft-spoken advocacy hubs for mental health, literacy, and STEM education for girls.
Family Life
The Vega-Dieppa clan is famously tight-knit—so tight that hotel security had to improvise when “only parents and siblings” turned out to mean a crowd of eleven on coronation night. Her grandfather, tenor Gastón Vega, and grandmother Elvira Castillo, Miss Atlántico 1953, handed down both stage presence and pageant DNA. Paulina remains close to her four sisters and three brothers, describing family gatherings as “half salsa party, half strategy session.” In January 2025 she welcomed a daughter whose name she keeps private, explaining that she wants her child “to grow at her own rhythm, away from the flashbulbs.”
Associated With
- Pia Wurtzbach & Steve Harvey. Paulina returned to the Miss Universe stage in 2015 to crown Pia Wurtzbach—an unforgettable moment complicated by host Steve Harvey’s on-air card mix-up that briefly placed the tiara on Ariadna Gutiérrez’s head.
- Silvestre Dangond & Fonseca. As the face of A Otro Nivel, she bantered weekly with these Colombian music stars, crediting them for sharpening her live-TV reflexes.
- Rise Against Hunger. U.S. nonprofit leaders describe her as “a catalyst who moves volunteers from selfies to service,” after she packed thousands of meals during campaign tours.
- Flora Growth’s Luis Merchan. The CEO tapped Paulina in 2020 to co-create plant-based skincare lines aimed at Latin American millennials; their launch livestream drew over 300 000 viewers.
