“As long as you have a heartbeat, you have a purpose.”--Shree Saini 

 

Philanthropist, model, and proud Bellevue resident Shree Saini delivered this inspiring message as she received Miss World’s Beauty with a Purpose award in 2022. Earlier that evening, she had been crowned as the first runner-up in the main competition. But for Shree, Miss World isn’t just about winning titles. It’s about opening doors for others. And throughout her life, she has strived to do exactly that. 

 

When she was five years old, Shree had already decided that she wanted to do Miss World - not for the crown, but for the impact. Her steadfast commitment to service was only strengthened by the significant adversity she faced in her youth. At twelve, she underwent a permanent pacemaker surgery to stabilize her heartbeat, and had to be pulled out of school for weeks to recover. That was when Shree executed a shift in mentality which would serve her greatly in the years to come. “When I was bedridden, I made a very intentional decision to focus on what I could control,” Shree recalled. She began her recovery process by lifting her arm inch by inch, building back the strength in the left side of her body. Simultaneously, she immersed herself in positive media such as podcasts, documentaries, and motivational talks. “I wanted to constantly feed my mind with stories of perseverance so my spirit would stay strong, even when my body was weak,” she said.  

 

After Shree returned to school, though, she was targeted and bullied for being one of the only Indian American girls in a predominantly white community. “Those moments were some of the loneliest of my life, and they showed me how harsh the world can be,” she recalled. Yet in the face of all the unkindness, Shree resolved to always respond with grace. For her, the biggest form of resistance to bullies is to “be so solid in your character that nothing can shake you from being a good person.” Shree’s challenges didn’t stop there. In college, Shree suffered a car accident that left her with facial burns so severe, she couldn’t recognize herself in the mirror. To withstand this fresh challenge, she remained grounded in her usual resilient mentality. “True strength is built in the quiet, unseen moments when no one is watching, and you decide to rise anyway,” she said of the experience. 

 

Despite all the hardships Shree has endured in her life, she is determined not to wallow in self-pity. “I’ve seen how easy it is for people—including myself—to fall into a victim mentality,” she said. “We get to decide whether we stay victims of our circumstances or become victors of our lives.” Shree embraces a “possibility and solution oriented mindset” by being an advocate in the fields of heart health and social-emotional learning. So far, she has raised over $500,000 for charity, completed 304 service projects, and spoken in 150 cities across the globe about the importance of physical and mental health. 

 

To spread awareness about heart health, Shree partnered with the American Heart Association, even before she entered the Miss World competition. She advocated for early heart checkups and a healthy lifestyle as easy preventative measures that can block 80% of all deaths induced by heart disease. She also worked with the Victoria’s Voice Foundation to create and promote a physical and emotional health curriculum, which they aim to have taught in every public school in America, and she visits schools both in Bellevue and across all of Washington to talk about her experiences and spread awareness about her cause. 

 

Shree is also a champion of diversity in the pageant world. In fact, her family has taken over directorship of Miss World America. She takes pride in the work they do to manage it, stating, “That was when we began to see greater diversity in the competition, with young women from a wide range of ethnic, cultural, and community backgrounds stepping into leadership roles.” Moreover, as the first Asian American Miss World America, Shree has always endeavored to showcase her pride in her Indian heritage on the pageant stage. She describes this experience as “carrying two beautiful worlds in my heart.” 

 

“My journey wasn’t just mine. It was a collective story of the Indian diaspora, resilience, and hope,” she said. Shree frequently gets emotional when she attends cultural events and witnesses the impact she’s had on the Indian community. “Women come up to me with tears in their eyes, men shake my hand with pride, and they say, ‘Wow—you make me feel like I belong.’ That, to me, is the highest honor,” she said. 

 

Shree’s future aspirations are as prolific as her accomplishments. “I want to help create an education system in the U.S. where mental health is an integral part of the curriculum—not an afterthought,” she shared. “Education has been my salvation—it gave me purpose when I needed direction.” Her story is an example of how a resilient mindset and an open heart have the potential to touch the lives of millions. She is living proof of her own motto: as long as we have a heartbeat, we have a purpose.