Taryn Delanie Smith (born 23 September 1996) is an American

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

titleholder and

TikToker TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. She was crowned

Miss New York The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition. In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...

2022, and was named first runner-up in the

Miss America 2023 Miss America 2023 was the 95th edition of the Miss America pageant, which occurred at the Mohegan Sun on December 15, 2022. Instead of airing on television, the pageant was streaming television, streamed for the second consecutive year. Unlike t ...

competition.

Early life and education

Smith was raised in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, where she experienced

housing insecurity Housing insecurity is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and affordable housing. without being entirely homeless. Housing insecurity is associated with worse health outcomes and can be alleviated by increasing the housing supply, for example l ...

as a child. She attended St. John's University, where she earned a Bachelor's in

communication studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

and a Master's in International Communication & Intercultural Studies. She worked as a receptionist at a

call center A call centre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American English, American spelling; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences) is a managed capability th ...

to finance her education.

Pageants

Smith was first inspired to participate in pageants during a talent show in high school, when one of her teachers suggested she compete for

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

. She began competing at age 17, and placed as a runner-up for the

Miss Washington The Miss Washington competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Washington in the Miss America pageant. Hermona Girmay of Seattle was crowned Miss Washington 2024 on July 6, 2024, at the Capital High School Perfor ...

title in 2017. Smith was named

2022. She was the first Black Miss New York to be crowned while wearing her natural hair. For her advocacy work in the role, Smith focused on initiatives to assist those experiencing

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

. She was the first runner-up in the Miss America competition in December 2022.

Online presence

Smith began posting on TikTok in 2021. In March 2023 Smith posted a video where she played Denise, a

receptionist A receptionist is an Employment, employee taking an office or Business administration, administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting room, waiting area such as a Lobby (room), lobby or front office desk of an organ ...

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

, which quickly went viral. She continued to focus on sketches about Denise and her job. she had gained 1.2 million followers.

Personal life

Smith married personal trainer and business owner Alec Castillo on July 24, 202

Smith lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Taryn Delanie American TikTokers Miss America 2010s delegates Comedians from New York City 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American comedians African-American female comedians African-American comedians American women comedians Comedians from Seattle St. John's University (New York City) alumni Miss New York winners Living people 1997 births