In 1969, Osmel Sousa went to work for the publicity company in charge of organizing the annual Miss Venezuela contest.
He was assigned to work with the Venezuelan Committee of Beauty.
 Sousa continued working with that committee when, in 1970, Ignacio Font Coll reconstituted it as the OPPA Advertising Agency, which in turn was the predecessor of the actual Miss Venezuela Organization.

In the 1970s, Osmel Sousa undertook advising selected contestants, many of whom went on to win the Miss Venezuela crown, at the same time he started designing nightgowns for most of the contestants.
His first success was María Antonieta Cámpoli, who became Miss Venezuela in 1972, and went on to be 2nd runner-up in the Miss Universe contest.

In October 1981 Ignacio Font Coll died and Osmel Sousa became the president of the Miss Venezuela Organization.
During his thirty-year career he has been considered to be the driving force behind the large number of Miss Venezuelas who go on to become Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth.

Sousa has been called a Pygmalion, an artist who turns out talented and beautiful young women.
To date, Venezuela has had seven Miss Universe titleholders, six Miss World winners, eight Miss International crowns, and two wins in Miss Earth, becoming the most successful pageant powerhouse in history.

In a 1997 interview with Latina magazine, Sousa described his bias against contestants with African features with the following controversial statement:
 "Black Venezuelan women are not very beautiful...Their noses are too big—no one could operate on them!
Occasionally, I choose a morenita, but she has to have a white girl's features—just painted dark."

In 2007, Sousa joined with Lupita Jones, a former Miss Universe (1991), and Carlos Calderón, emcee of "El Gordo y La Flaca", in judging Univision's Hispanic beauty contest Nuestra Belleza Latina.

On 6 February 2018, Sousa publicly announced his retirement from the Miss Venezuela organization after forty years of tenure.
In 1969, Osmel Sousa went to work for the publicity company in charge of organizing the annual Miss Venezuela contest. He was assigned to work with the Venezuelan Committee of Beauty.  Sousa continued working with that committee when, in 1970, Ignacio Font Coll reconstituted it as the OPPA Advertising Agency, which in turn was the predecessor of the actual Miss Venezuela Organization.
In the 1970s, Osmel Sousa undertook advising selected contestants, many of whom went on to win the Miss Venezuela crown, at the same time he started designing nightgowns for most of the contestants. His first success was María Antonieta Cámpoli, who became Miss Venezuela in 1972, and went on to be 2nd runner-up in the Miss Universe contest.
In October 1981 Ignacio Font Coll died and Osmel Sousa became the president of the Miss Venezuela Organization. During his thirty-year career he has been considered to be the driving force behind the large number of Miss Venezuelas who go on to become Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth.
Sousa has been called a Pygmalion, an artist who turns out talented and beautiful young women. To date, Venezuela has had seven Miss Universe titleholders, six Miss World winners, eight Miss International crowns, and two wins in Miss Earth, becoming the most successful pageant powerhouse in history.
In a 1997 interview with Latina magazine, Sousa described his bias against contestants with African features with the following controversial statement:
 "Black Venezuelan women are not very beautiful...Their noses are too big—no one could operate on them! Occasionally, I choose a morenita, but she has to have a white girl's features—just painted dark." 
In 2007, Sousa joined with Lupita Jones, a former Miss Universe (1991), and Carlos Calderón, emcee of "El Gordo y La Flaca", in judging Univision's Hispanic beauty contest Nuestra Belleza Latina.
On 6 February 2018, Sousa publicly announced his retirement from the Miss Venezuela organization after forty years of tenure.
Osmel Sousa