Crown of Duty

Photo courtesy Mark Galacgac

Cheyann Smith was crowned Mrs. Hawai‘i American on June 30, but participating in the pageant was never about winning a title. In fact, if it weren’t for some pesky social media ads, she would never have considered running.

“I’m a big believer in listening to the universe and what God is trying to place on your heart,” says the mom of three. “So, when that ad for the pageant popped up a third time, I listened.”

She entered her name and information, and promptly forgot about it until the director called and asked if she was still interested.

“I thought, ‘OK, well, there’s no running from it. This is here for a reason,’” Smith recalls.

Preparing for the pageant pushed Smith beyond her comfort zone. The self-described tomboy had never before been on stage — “Only to grab my degrees or awards and quickly walk off after,” she says — and knew she would have to strut her stuff in a bathing suit at eight months postpartum after having baby Rome.

One would think her training regimen would be grueling, but other than participating in some pageant-offered workshops, Smith kept it simple.

“I didn’t want to be any different than what I am every single day,” says the active-duty U.S. Air Force service member. “I didn’t go to the gym or diet any more or less than I did before. I just lived my life the same way I do every day. I felt like if this was meant to be for me to win, I would win for who I am day in and day out.”

While pageant horror stories tell of backstabbing and ultra-combative personalities, Smith’s experience was quite the opposite. Her fellow contestants, though competitors, were supportive of one another from the start. Since Smith had no experience, many of the women who knew their way around the pageant circuit jumped in to offer her tips and tricks on how to walk on stage and learn the group dance.
“No one was trying to step on somebody else to get on top,” says Smith, who was named Florida’s Mother of the Year in 2023. “It was very much like a sisterhood.”
While she wanted to do her best in all elements of the pageant, her focus was never on winning it all. Rather, it was a way for her to forge connections that would help her nonprofit, Beacon – Be the One to Light the Way, extend its reach to homeless individuals across the state. Back in May, for example, Beacon collected about $1,000 worth of supplies for the 250 unhoused people living at Puʻuhonua O Waiʻanae after the area experienced unusual springtime flooding.

“I thought maybe if I could put myself out there with the pageant, I could help more people,” she says.

Smith’s platform and heart for the houseless stems from her personal experiences with homelessness and food insecurity. She grew up in households where drug addiction, alcoholism and domestic violence were the norm, and that instability resulted in her changing high schools six times and moving from place to place depending on which parent was doing OK at the time.

When she turned 18, she moved out, put herself through college and started doing supply drives for the homeless.

“I told myself that if I could get out, I wouldn’t forget and I’d give back,” she says. “I created Beacon in 2018 while my two brothers were still homeless and struggling to break the cycle.”

She’s happy to report that both her brothers followed her lead and are about to graduate at the top of their classes at their respective medical schools — and she wants that same happy ending for the people Beacon serves.

Helping others comes naturally to Smith, who also started a prom grant program at her alma mater, Camden Fairview High School in Arkansas. The initiative covers all prom expenses for one underprivileged senior girl.

Smith is also a highly trained firefighter — though that is currently on hold because O‘ahu doesn’t have volunteer firefighters. Like with Beacon, this endeavor stems from a traumatic experience. She remembers being in third grade when 9/11 happened and recalls feeling helpless as she watched the disaster unfold. Then, at age 15, she survived a house fire. It set her on a path to becoming a wildland firefighter and first responder. Finally, a visit to the 9/11 memorial in New York inspired her to further her firefighting career.

“I saw how many firefighters died, and I couldn’t imagine only being able to set up triage when my guys are inside a building,” she says.

She was working on her master’s degree in psychology at the time, but put that on hold to go back to school to become a combat firefighter (firefighter 1 certification) in Florida.

And it seems her oldest kids have inherited their mom’s ambitious spirit. Daughter Boston, 4, has wanted to be a helicopter rescue pilot from the time she could talk. Meanwhile, younger daughter Dakota, 3, aspires to follow in mom’s footsteps as a firefighter.

“They have never wavered with their future professions,” Smith says. “They’re sweet, but tomboys, too.”

Now that the pageant is over, one would think Smith is hard at work preparing for the Mrs. American national competition in Las Vegas next month. But you’d be wrong. She’s instead taking the time to use those connections she made during her Mrs. Hawai‘i American run to bolster Beacon and fight for causes close to her heart.
“Right now, we have an uptick of abandoned babies,” Smith says.

She remembers the news story of the homeless woman who abandoned her baby in a trash can, and wondered why the mother chose to do that.

“It’s because our laws don’t allow for safe haven boxes,” she explains. “That’s why (through the pageant), I wanted to get Beacon’s name out there but I also wanted to get those points of contact that I didn’t have connections with before. I’ve already been in contact with legislators and am working to sit down at the table and get these laws changed, so we can change the verbiage and implement their use.”
She’s also continuing her work to help Hawai‘i’s homeless. So serious is she about this initiative that she’s put her doctorate degree on hold to focus on Beacon and its outreach efforts.

“If I was in Pensacola (Florida), I’d probably be doing more education and less nonprofit because there’s not as much homeless out there. But in Hawai‘i, there are so many.”

She and her husband, Mike, moved to Hawai‘i last March. Both are active-duty military service members, so their stay in the 808 may only be for a season. So while she’s here, Smith wants to do everything she can to help.
“There are 4,494 homeless on this one island,” she notes. “So, I think for the time being, I will focus on them while I’m here.”

For more information, visit beacon-betheonetolighttheway.godaddysites.com or find it on Facebook.