Crown to serve

Aloni Smith is reigning Miss Tennessee Teen

When Aloni Smith participated in her first pageant as a favor to a friend a few years ago, she had no idea where the pageant life would lead her.

Today, the 18-year-old Pikeville woman is the reigning American Royal Beauties Miss Tennessee Teen, and she loves competing and sharing her personal experiences. The American Royal Beauties program is a national scholarship pageant with the mission of empowering women so they can do the same for others.

And that’s exactly what Aloni hopes to do with her platform, Stand Up for Kindness, which focuses on productive strategies to spread kindness and stand up to bullies. “Through this platform, I aim to empower and educate youth with the tools they need to end a bullying situation,” she says.

Bullying is something Aloni understands all too well. After being bullied herself in the classroom, she completed her junior and senior years of high school using a home-school program, graduating a year ahead of schedule. “I can talk about this from personal experience and teach others that they’re not alone,” she says. “Someone can say, ‘Bullying is bad,’ but I’ve had experience firsthand.”

Aloni, the daughter of Travis and Misty Smith, believes strongly in community service and giving back. When she realized participating in pageants could help get her message in front of a larger audience, she embraced the opportunity.

Early Days

For that first pageant, Aloni’s mother bought her an inexpensive dress and hired a pageant coach for her and her younger sister, Anna. Aloni won the pageant, and it opened doors to take her message to a national level. “From that day forward, I was hooked,” she says. “When I was on stage, I felt a rush of excitement and confidence I’d never felt before.”

Since that first on-stage experience, Aloni has participated in local events like the Ms. Sweetheart and the Bledsoe Fairest of the Fair pageants. Her mom was the queen of the Fairest of the Fair pageant in 1997, and Aloni followed in her footsteps and is the reigning queen. Now she has competed at the Fairest of the Fair state pageant.

She also competes in national pageants and will represent Tennessee in the Miss Teen USA pageant in March. Most national-level pageants offer college scholarships and opportunities to promote her platform. Aloni attends Chattanooga State Community College and plans to transfer to Tennessee Technological University in the fall. She speaks at events, sharing her anti-bullying message, and also volunteers at community events like Operation Christmas Cheer and a coat drive at local schools. 