Karina Ramos Leiton: Biography, Career, and Achievements

Karina Ramos Leiton built her public profile as Miss Costa Rica 2014, going on to represent her country at Miss Universe the same year, before expanding into television presenting and founding her own modeling agency dedicated to developing the next generation of Costa Rican pageant competitors.

Karina Ramos Leiton: Quick Facts

Attribute	Details
Full Name	Karina Ramos Leiton
Date of Birth	July 14, 1993
Place of Birth	Heredia, Costa Rica
Nationality	Costa Rican
Profession	Model, Television Presenter, Modeling Agency Founder
Spouse/Partner	Not publicly confirmed
Children	Not publicly confirmed
Years Active	2012 – present
Education	Public Relations studies in San José (from 2012)
Notable For	Miss Costa Rica 2014; Costa Rica’s representative at Miss Universe 2014; founder of Imagination Agency

Quick Answer

Karina Ramos Leiton is a Costa Rican model and television presenter best known for winning the Miss Costa Rica 2014 title and representing the country at the Miss Universe 2014 pageant. She has since moved into television hosting and founded Imagination Agency, a modeling agency focused on mentoring aspiring Costa Rican pageant competitors and models.

Name	Quick Fact	Why She Matters
Karina Ramos Leiton	Miss Costa Rica 2014	Represented Costa Rica at Miss Universe 2014 and later built a modeling agency to train new competitors

Early Life

Karina Ramos Leiton was born on July 14, 1993, in Heredia, Costa Rica. She moved to San José in 2008, where she later began studying public relations in 2012 while building her early modeling career. According to her modeling agency’s profile, Ramos first appeared on television as a child presenter — an early media start that foreshadowed her later career as a television host, though her public profile today rests primarily on her pageant titles and her work in modeling and television.

Education

Ramos began studying public relations in San José in 2012, pursuing her studies alongside her early modeling work. Her public profile, however, is built primarily around her pageant career and her subsequent work in modeling, television, and agency management, rather than around her academic background.

Career Beginnings

Ramos entered Costa Rica’s competitive modeling and pageant circuit in the early 2010s, building a public profile through national modeling work before competing for the Miss Costa Rica national title. Her rise through the Costa Rican pageant system followed a path common to many of the country’s titleholders, combining runway and print modeling experience with pageant training ahead of the national competition. This groundwork within Costa Rica’s domestic modeling scene gave her the visibility needed to be considered a serious contender for the national title well before her eventual win.

Career Milestones

In 2014, Ramos won the Miss Costa Rica national title, earning the right to represent her country at that year’s Miss Universe pageant. She competed at Miss Universe 2014, held in Doral, Florida, though she did not place among the competition’s finalists — a result common among the majority of the roughly 88 national representatives who compete in any given year, only a small fraction of whom advance to the placement rounds. Competing on an international stage of that scale nonetheless gave Ramos a level of public recognition in Costa Rica that extended well beyond the domestic pageant circuit alone.

Following her pageant career, Ramos transitioned into Costa Rican television presenting, joining Channel 7 (Teletica) as host of the entertainment program 7 Estrellas, a role she held until confirming her departure from the channel in 2017. She went on to found Imagination Agency S.A., a Costa Rican modeling agency that trains and represents aspiring models and pageant competitors, positioning Ramos as a mentor figure within the same national pageant system she had once competed in. Through the agency, she has continued to prepare new generations of Costa Rican competitors for national and international pageants, drawing on her own Miss Universe experience to coach interview preparation, runway technique, and the broader public-facing demands of competitive pageantry. In recent years she has relocated to Mexico, where she continues her work in modeling and media.

Achievements

• Miss Costa Rica 2014
• Represented Costa Rica at Miss Universe 2014 in Doral, Florida
• Founder of Imagination Agency, a Costa Rican modeling and pageant training agency
• Transitioned successfully from pageant competitor to television presenter
• Recognized within Costa Rica’s pageant industry as a mentor to subsequent generations of competitors

Personal Life

Public information about Karina Ramos Leiton’s personal life — including her date of birth, family background, and relationship history — is limited in reliably sourced media coverage. No independently confirmed details exist about a spouse, partner, or children, and this article does not speculate on any of these details beyond what has been publicly and reliably reported about her professional career in modeling, pageantry, and television. This limited public record is common among pageant titleholders whose national fame, while significant within Costa Rica, does not always generate the same volume of biographical press coverage as entertainers with longer-running international careers.

Costa Rica’s National Pageant Tradition

Karina Ramos Leiton’s career sits within a decades-long Costa Rican tradition of sending representatives to major international pageants, including Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss Eco International. Costa Rica has periodically produced standout results at these competitions, making the national Miss Costa Rica title a significant media event within the country each year it is held. Winning the national title typically comes with a period of intensive preparation ahead of the international competition, covering interview technique, runway presentation, and public appearances representing the country, all of which shape how titleholders like Ramos are received once they return home from competition.

The Miss Universe competition itself has historically drawn representatives from more than 80 countries and territories in a given year, meaning that reaching even the earlier placement rounds is a competitive achievement in its own right, regardless of whether a contestant advances to the final stages. This context is relevant to understanding Ramos’s own Miss Universe 2014 appearance: while she did not place among the competition’s finalists, her selection as Costa Rica’s sole representative that year, from a national field of competitors, was itself a significant achievement within the country’s pageant system.

Career Beyond Pageantry: Imagination Agency

After stepping back from active pageant competition, Ramos built a second career phase around developing new talent in Costa Rica’s modeling and pageant industry through Imagination Agency. The agency reflects a common trajectory among former national pageant titleholders, who frequently transition into coaching, agency work, or television roles that keep them connected to the industry that first brought them public recognition. Through this work, Ramos has continued to shape the pipeline of Costa Rican competitors entering national and international pageants well after her own competitive career ended, effectively converting her own pageant experience into a structured training resource for the next generation of Costa Rican competitors.

Controversies

Ramos’s most publicized dispute was not personal but symbolic: ahead of the Miss Universe pageant in January 2015, her planned national costume was withdrawn after Costa Rican government officials objected to its use of protected national symbols, forcing a last-minute redesign that drew international press coverage. Beyond that episode, there is no substantiated record of personal or professional controversy involving her, and her public profile has remained centered on her pageant career, television work, and role as an agency founder and mentor within Costa Rica’s modeling industry.

Influence and Legacy Snapshot

Category	Contribution
National Pageant Representation	Miss Costa Rica 2014; represented the country at Miss Universe 2014
Industry Mentorship	Founder of Imagination Agency, training new Costa Rican pageant competitors and models
Media Transition	Moved from pageant competitor into Costa Rican television presenting
Sustained Industry Involvement	Continued long-term engagement with Costa Rica’s modeling and pageant industry beyond her own competitive career

Related: Famous Celebrities in Costa Rica: The Complete List

Legacy

Karina Ramos Leiton’s career illustrates a common but significant pathway within Costa Rica’s pageant industry: from national titleholder to industry mentor, training the next generation of competitors through her own agency. While her individual placement at Miss Universe 2014 did not extend into the competition’s finalist rounds, her subsequent work founding Imagination Agency has arguably had a more lasting impact on Costa Rica’s pageant pipeline than her own competitive run, by directly shaping the preparation of competitors who followed her.

Her career also reflects a broader pattern within Central American pageant culture, where former titleholders increasingly build structured post-competition careers around coaching and agency work rather than relying solely on their competition result for lasting public relevance. This model has helped sustain Costa Rica’s pageant infrastructure across successive competition cycles, with figures like Ramos providing the institutional knowledge that keeps the country’s national pageant pipeline competitive on the international stage.

Within the smaller ecosystem of Costa Rican celebrity culture, Ramos’s story is also notable for how it diverges from the more internationally visible names typically associated with the country — professional athletes, scientists, and entertainers whose careers extend well beyond Costa Rica’s borders. Her influence, by contrast, has remained concentrated within the domestic pageant and modeling industry itself, illustrating that not every notable Costa Rican public figure builds an international profile; some, like Ramos, build lasting influence by shaping the institutions and pipelines within their own country’s industry instead.

Conclusion

From representing Costa Rica on the Miss Universe stage in 2014 to founding a modeling agency dedicated to training the country’s next generation of pageant competitors, Karina Ramos Leiton’s career reflects a sustained commitment to Costa Rica’s modeling and pageant industry that has extended well beyond her own time in competition, positioning her as one of the industry’s more enduring behind-the-scenes influences within the country.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Did Karina Ramos Leiton win Miss Universe?

No. She won the Miss Costa Rica 2014 national title and represented Costa Rica at Miss Universe 2014, but did not place among the competition’s finalists.

What does Karina Ramos Leiton do now?

She works as a television presenter in Costa Rica and founded Imagination Agency, a modeling agency that trains and represents aspiring Costa Rican models and pageant competitors.

Where was Karina Ramos Leiton born?

Specific details about her birthplace and date of birth are not reliably confirmed in publicly available sources.

What pageant title did Karina Ramos Leiton hold?

She held the Miss Costa Rica title in 2014, which earned her the right to represent the country at that year’s Miss Universe pageant.

Is Karina Ramos Leiton still involved in the pageant industry?

Yes. Through her agency, Imagination Agency, she continues to train and mentor aspiring Costa Rican models and pageant competitors.

Sources

• Missosology — Miss Universe 2014 contestant profiles and results
• Pageant industry databases — Miss Costa Rica 2014 results
• Imagination Agency — Costa Rica modeling and pageant training agency profile