Most people view beauty pageants as competitions for looking good.

For veteran pageant contestant Samantha Roth, they’re more about feeling great.

“They (pageants) build self-esteem and confidence in a very positive way,” the 26-year-old Butler resident said. “They’ve helped shape my life.”

Roth can be considered an expert on the subject.

She entered her first pageant when she was 6. She estimates competing in between 40 and 50 pageants since, most recently winning the Miss Freedom Forge pageant, which took place in Reedsville in early January.

That victory qualified Roth for the Miss Pennsylvania pageant, slated for June 20-22 in York. She has competed in that event, but has never won it.

This will be her fourth and final crack at it.

“You never like to lose, obviously, but winning isn’t the end all for me,” Roth said. “Pageants do a lot of good for a lot of people. You can win (monetary) grants and have opportunities to gain a platform in order to reach out and help others.

”The average age for pageant contestants ranges from about 6 to 28. Some compete into their 50s. But this is definitely my last year.“

Roth received the Woman in Business award at last year’s Miss Pennsylvania event. A grant of $2,000 she put toward her nonprofit, Take A Stand, came with that honor.

Take A Stand educates people of all ages in consent and boundaries in terms of personal space and touch. A sexual violence survivor in college, Roth founded the Take A Stand organization in 2023.

Roth’s first pageant was Little Miss Butler County in 2006. She didn’t win that one and waited four years before attaining her first victory. That was Junior Miss RiverFest in 2010, when she was 10 years old.

Roth won 10 consecutive pageants at one point, and was Miss Butler County in 2024.

“Sami’s cousin (Madison Roth) won Little Miss Saxonburg and after seeing that, Sami wanted to do a pageant,” Arlene Roth, her mother, said. “Once she did her first one, she fell in love with it. She enjoyed the whole experience of being on stage and everything that goes with that.

“Some people have a negative view of pageants, especially at such a young age, but they are very positive. The kids have fun, and it brings out and develops their personalities. That’s what life is about. Pageant contestants send cards to the military, to cancer patients ... the events raise thousands of dollars for charities.”

The Miss Pennsylvania pageant consists of a panel interview in front of six to eight judges, onstage questions, talent, evening gown and fitness competitions.

Roth uses her dancing skills in the talent competition. She has been the head of dance for Batavia Studios in Mars for the past three years.

“The most challenging part is the panel interview,” Roth said. “The judges are very qualified people, doctors, from the fields of law, art, etc., and you need to be well-prepared going in.”

While Roth has won numerous pageants, she’s done much more than smile and wave. She’s visited schools and made plenty of presentations, using her platform to inform and educate others.

Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy is her uncle.

“Our family has always been community service-oriented,” Arlene Roth said. “Pageants have done wonders for Sami’s public speaking skills. She’s used to being in the spotlight.

“The crown doesn’t make you a princess, it’s what you do with it. The crown has been her microphone.”

Roth’s life is plenty busy. Besides overseeing Take A Stand, she teaches dance 30 hours a week and recently signed a local theater contract that will have her performing in roughly 100 shows a year.

Being named Miss Pennsylvania would change her life considerably.

“It becomes a job, doing the things they do,” Roth said of Miss Pennsylvania winners. You become a full public servant, representing that crown all across the state. You do a lot of good while doing so, but it is very time consuming.“

Time is not something Roth has much of to spare these days. She juggles her hours between preparing for the state pageant, teaching dance, her nonprofit company and now the theater.

“It takes a lack of sanity, basically,” Roth said, laughing. “Caring a lot, too. I love what I’m doing. I like working with kids, performing in front of people, teaching as well. I don’t want to give up any of it.“

Her mother has watched Roth grow from being a student to being a teacher in the world of pageantry.

“The older girls serve as role models for the little girls,” Arlene Roth said. “Sami relishes that part of it because she learned from the older girls when she first started and she loves giving back.”

She also relishes reaching out to victims of sexual violence — and preventing young people from becoming future victims — through Take A Stand.

“I remember my struggles at my university after it happened,” Roth said. “I felt ostracized and bullied. I went through the bad dreams ... I was humiliated and felt like no one was helping me. Take A Stand helps people deal with such feelings and teaches kids to set and maintain sexual boundaries in their lives.

“I’ve done podcasts that generated more than a million viewers, made presentations on the subject. I feel like we’re reaching a lot of people.”

Pageant platforms have aided her in this cause.

“This is the fourth year I’ve been talking about this,” Roth said. “I’ve talked to the judges about it. I’ve grown that way. I always want to be a girl who serves communities.”

“Sami took an extremely negative experience in her personal life and turned it into a positive for countless other people,” her mother said. “I’m proud of her.”