Get to know the brand new Miss USA, Elle Smith

Miss Elle Smith has just been recently crowned the 2021 Miss USA at the River Spirit Casino Resort! She was crowned Miss Kentucky on the 22nd of May just this year. She actually did not participate in beauty pageants as a child. 

The newly crowned Miss USA revealed on her instagram post on November 14th,  that “A little over a year ago, I sat in bed and watched Miss USA. I remember watching [Andreia Gibau], [Sthephanie Marie Miranda], [Mariah Clayton], and so many more incredible women grace the stage and thinking, ‘I want to be on that stage. I want to be like them.’ Crazy to think this is my official Miss USA headshot and I made that dream a reality.” Needless to say, Smith has come a long way in making her dreams a reality. She is worthy of admiration, not only for little girls in America, but the young women as well.  

Born in 1998, Ellen Smith, nicknamed “Elle” is originally from Springfield, Ohio where she lived with her family just before attending university. 

Smith has been said to have graduated in 2020 from the University of Kentucky with a major in Journalism and a minor in Political Science. During her time in university, she got involved in UK Student News, the Kentucky Kernel, and the National Association of Black Journalists, also known as NABJ where she served as the Vice President. 

 She has also posted on her instagram account that one of her favorite pastimes is reading and asked her followers for reading recommendations. She has also expressed her love for Broadway musical showtunes. 

According to her social media, Smith has also participated as an anchor in the 68th Annual Crusade for Children where she helped raise “Over $5 million!”! She seems to have a genuine love for her community and she has also taken the time to express how she wants to tend to the needs of the people of Kentucky.  

Miss USA has accomplished so much in just one year after graduating from college. She was on the front cover in the September issue of Today’s Woman. She also walked the runway in New York Fashion Week for the designer Sherri Hill. She even scored a reporting job for WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky, just six months after graduating. 

Often gracious for meeting the fruition of her hard work, the humble pageant winner revealed in her instagram post on March 25th, how she wasn’t being offered jobs despite getting her reels critiqued from people in the industry. After she applied to over 60 news stations, Smith was ready to waitress in order to support herself and her dream, until six months later she was offered a job at WHAS.

Smith will go on to compete for the Miss Universe crown later this year on December 12th, in Eilat, Israel. 

Congratulations Elle, we are proud to have you represent the United States in the upcoming Miss Universe pageant! We wish that you will continue to be blessed wherever your career takes you next!