[2] The next year she was the first African-American named Miss Mobile Area and two weeks before competing she injured her right knee in an accident on the beach.
[5][6] Entering the state pageant in June 1993 as one of 45 finalists, Chapman's preliminary competition talent for Miss Alabama was performing a modern dance routine to "The River" by Duke Ellington.
[7] Chapman won the competition on Saturday, June 19, 1993, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss Alabama titleholder Kim Wimmer.
[7][11][12][13] Chapman was Alabama's representative at the Miss America 1994 pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September 1993.
Chapman now awards an annual scholarship called the Kalyn Chapman James Scholarship for $1,000 that is awarded to the highest scoring African-American contestant to encourage excellence in African-American participation in the Miss Alabama Pageant.
[18] Shortly after her reign as Miss Alabama, Chapman married Terry Roller in 1994 and was known professionally as Kalyn Chapman-Roller.
[21] Since passing on the Miss Alabama crown, Chapman has worked as a model, dancer, choreographer, voiceover talent, television host,[21] event emcee, fitness instructor,[20] actor, a Fox Sports Network reporter, spokeswoman for VisionLand,[19] teaching artist for the non-profit Arts for Learning, and is currently the Corporate Sponsorship Coordinator at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.
[18][22] She was the featured actor in national and international television commercials for Tia Lusso liqueur and Old Navy Bermuda Shorts, and her family has appeared in television commercials for Sanibel Island Tourism, Hershey's Air Delights, Zurich Insurance, Disney Parks, Crocs, and other clients.