13-year-old returns from Houston with Jr. Teen United States Regency title, International Ambassador honors and a message of confidence and kindness
EL DORADO HILLS — When 13-year-old Saanvi Palem earned the Jr. Teen California Regency International title earlier this year, the El Dorado Hills teen earned more than a crown. She earned a ticket to a much bigger stage.
She made the most of it.
Representing California at the Regency International competition in Houston, Texas, July 21-26, Palem competed alongside participants from across the United States and countries including Australia and Ireland. By the time the international competition concluded, she had collected a lengthy list of honors spanning public speaking, talent, academics, community service and social media.
Among the biggest was runner-up at Internationals, earning Palem the Jr. Teen United States Regency title.
She also won the overall People’s Choice Award for the entire pageant and was named a Regency International Ambassador, adding two major distinctions to a pageant journey that began gaining momentum in California earlier this year.
But one of Palem’s most meaningful victories came from something considerably more personal than a crown or sash.
She earned Best Spokesmodel for a speech about teen insecurities — a subject she chose to address openly before judges and an international audience.
“We live in a world full of expectations on how we should look, act, achieve, or perform,” she stated as she shared her winning speech with Folsom Times. “These pressures follow us everywhere—in the mirror, on stage, in classrooms, and especially in tiny moments where doubts creep in.”
Her message addressed something familiar to many young people: the tendency to measure themselves against classmates, friends, performers and the seemingly perfect lives displayed across social media.
Palem drew from her own experiences as a dancer, gymnast and choreographer to explain how she has learned to approach those pressures differently.
“As a dancer, gymnast, and choreographer, I trained in environments where it’s really easy to compare yourself to others,” Palem said in the speech. “But that’s when I realized comparison does not create champions; confidence does.”
It was a fitting message for a young competitor whose path to Houston has required her to repeatedly step in front of judges, audiences and cameras while learning to trust her own abilities.
And Palem made clear that her definition of confidence extends well beyond performing well on a stage.
“Confidence is not just shown through action. It’s shown by leadership, kindness, and the strength to rise,” she said.
That connection between confidence and kindness is central to what Palem hopes to accomplish with the growing platform her pageant success has given her.
Kindness has been her chosen platform throughout the journey. She hopes to encourage children and teenagers to practice it in their everyday lives, particularly in their interactions with peers who may be navigating insecurities of their own.
Palem’s performance in Houston continues a story Folsom Times first shared with readers in March, when the El Dorado Hills teen captured the Jr. Teen California Regency International title.
Her state-level performance was already impressive. Palem earned Best Interview, Best Talent and Best Social Media Star, as well as the People’s Choice Award after receiving approximately 1,400 votes.
The state title gave her the opportunity to represent California at Regency International in Houston.
Before making that trip, Palem also competed closer to home, earning runner-up honors in the Pre Teen division at a Placer County Up Pageantry competition.
Houston, however, represented another level.
Palem arrived as California’s representative and came home with eight awards and distinctions, demonstrating versatility across several portions of the international competition.
Her Best Talent award came through another part of her life that has played a significant role in building her confidence: dance.
Palem performed a Bollywood-inspired routine choreographed with guidance from her uncle, Sairam Akina. It continued a successful combination of pageantry and dance for the teen, whose Bollywood performance at the California competition also earned Best Talent in her division.
The international judges also recognized Palem with Best Portfolio and an Academic Excellence Award.
Another honor, Best Community Service, recognized something that takes place largely away from the pageant stage.
Palem has volunteered at senior care centers and participated in efforts benefiting local children. Her service has included volunteering with Oakmont Senior Care in El Dorado Hills and participating earlier this year in a UC Davis toy drive conducted by Shining Stars Production.
Her service efforts expanded through the Flip Flops to the World initiative, which supports the Love Like Larissa Foundation. Palem contributed 76 pairs of flip-flops to the effort.
The recognition for community service provides another connection to the kindness platform she has chosen to champion.
For Palem, kindness isn’t simply a competition theme. It is something she hopes other young people will incorporate into how they treat one another, particularly at an age when comparison, fitting in and self-doubt can weigh heavily.
Those ideas came together in her award-winning speech.
“Growing up, we all face our own challenges, and those moments make us wonder if we are ever good enough,” Palem said. “But over time, I learned an important truth: our experiences don’t weaken us—they only strengthen us.”
Building a platform beyond the stage
Palem is also reaching young people through another arena that can play a significant role in the very insecurities she addressed in Houston — social media.
Her online audience has grown to approximately 6,000 followers, up from about 5,000 when Folsom Times first featured her earlier this year. She shares pieces of her life and interests, including dance, cooking, family and activities for teens.
That presence earned her Best Social Media Star at the international competition, continuing an area of recognition she had also received at the California level.
For a teenager speaking publicly about comparison and insecurity, social media presents both an opportunity and a challenge. It provides Palem with a way to reach thousands of people while existing within the same online environment where young people can find themselves constantly comparing their appearance, achievements and lives with others.
Her winning speech confronted that contradiction directly, acknowledging that insecurity can surface “in the mirror, on stage, in classrooms” and through the pressures young people experience in their everyday lives.
Her response is not that teenagers should never feel insecure. Instead, she encouraged them to recognize those feelings without allowing them to dictate who they become.
“Insecurity is normal, but staying insecure is a choice,” Palem said. “Overcoming it means owning who you are.”
She closed that message with encouragement for those already trying to do exactly that.
“Everyone who chooses to do that—I’m so proud of you,” she said.
The Regency International Pageant organization focuses on empowerment and personal development, with competitions designed to encourage confidence, poise, professionalism and community involvement among participants.
For Palem, those elements have increasingly overlapped.
Dance and gymnastics have taught her to perform under pressure. Choreography has allowed her to create. Competition has pushed her to speak publicly. Community service has given her opportunities to help others. Social media has provided an audience for sharing those experiences.
And pageantry, according to her family, has helped a once-growing confidence become something she can now use to encourage others.
The progression has happened quickly.
Earlier this year, Palem was an El Dorado Hills teen preparing to compete for a California title. She left that competition as Jr. Teen California Regency International with multiple individual awards and the opportunity to represent her state.
Four months later, she stood on an international stage in Houston among competitors from around the United States and abroad.
She returned to El Dorado Hills as an international runner-up, Jr. Teen United States Regency titleholder, Regency International Ambassador, Best Spokesmodel and Best Talent winner, along with recognition for academics, community service, her portfolio and social media work.
The collection of honors is substantial for a 13-year-old.
Yet perhaps the clearest measure of how far Palem has come isn’t found in the number of awards she brought home from Texas. It can be heard in the message she was confident enough to stand on an international stage and deliver.
It was a message about growing up surrounded by expectations, wondering whether you measure up and eventually discovering that those doubts don’t have to determine what comes next.
For the El Dorado Hills teen, it also distilled much of her own journey into a single line.
“Comparison does not create champions; confidence does.”
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