Zoe McGrady currently appears on the latest season of ABC's The Bachelor.
In ABC's long-running dating reality series The Bachelor, 25 single women vie for the affection of the eponymous bachelor. In the case of Season 29, the man in question is former basketball player Grant Ellis.
One participant in The Bachelor's new season is the intelligent and determined Zoe McGrady. The Bachelor's success has spawned multiple spin-offs, such as the recently concluded Golden Bachelorette.
Biography Details on Zoe McGrady from The Bachelor
Zoe McGrady Graduated From Duke University
27-year-old Zoe McGrady (born February 22, 1997) is an alumna of the prestigious Duke University, graduating in 2019 with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering.
McGrady began her time at the North Carolina-based institution in 2015. Between her studies, she served as the House Council treasurer and the DUU VisArts Co-Director of Programming. McGrady also worked as a teaching assistant on multiple courses (via her LinkedIn profile).
As a transient student, Zoe McGrady completed coursework at Georgia University's France campus in 2017.
She explained to Inspiring Girls International that she pursued mechanical engineering in the hopes of easily securing employment post-graduation but also because she desired a challenge.
Zoe Is Adopted
During an interview on Miss Represented, McGrady detailed her southern upbringing as one of the few people of color living in her small, predominately white town. Sadly, she and her sister were the target of racism whilst residing there, as they would frequently get stared at by others:
"I was actually adopted… by two white people. So, I'm obviously a mixed woman. So if my sister who was also adopted. We grew up in a pretty small, all-white town in the South. So, it was just kinda weird. We were always the people people were staring at. They didn't know what was going on as far as our family dynamics."
She remarked that her interest in science and mathematics further made her out to be "the black sheep of [her] hometown:"
"And just being one of the few people of color down there made things a bit difficult at times. And for me especially, being Black and being interested in STEM and science and math and stuff, I was just always kind of the black sheep of my hometown."
Zoe Got 1st Runner up in Miss New York USA Twice
In addition to her day job as a product manager at Quantile, Zoe McGrady also competed in the Miss New York USA beauty pageant. She participated in 2022 and 2023 and, on both occasions, went home with a placement of 1st Runner Up (via Pageant Planet).
Following the 2022 version of the event, MGrady celebrated with an Instagram post where she stated that she was "so beyond proud" of herself. She expanded on this in the rest of her caption:
"From a shy little girl who never thought she could be beautiful to being a contender for Miss USA is beyond my wildest dreams."
Zoe Has Modeled for Sephora, Under Armor, & More
Duke graduate, Bachelor contestant, beauty pageanteer: Zoe McGrady does it all! On top of all of her other achievements, McGrady also works as a model.
She's been affiliated with big-name brands like Sephora and Under Armor and smaller outfits like House of Noa, a kitchen mat manufacturer.
A complete showcase of McGrady's modeling work is available on her website.
Zoe Previously Worked In FinTech
Although she seemingly left her job at Quantile in Summer 2024, McGrady has extensive experience in financial technology (or FinTech).
Speaking to Inspiring Girls International, she detailed the best and worst parts of her job:
"I believe the best part is that because we're a FinTech, we're more flexible and progressive than the traditional financial markets and banks… I'm also able to constantly learn new technologies and my role is always changing and I get to grow as our company grows. The worst part is probably that being in the financial sector, there is a time difference just based on the different markets, similar to- we have an office… all over the world. And so, sometimes that can lead to late nights or early mornings."
How To Follow Zoe McGrady Online
Zoe McGrady can be found on Instagram and TikTok.
New episodes of The Bachelor air on ABC on Mondays at 8 p.m. and stream the next day on Hulu.
