British Asian Biomedical scientist, entrepreneur, singer, actor, model and current Miss Middlesex 2018, Anusha Sareen, is your new definition of an ambitious, energetic, enthusiastic new breed of models who always look forward to giving more to the society than just charming smiles and shining beauty.
Meet Anusha Sereen! Anusha Sareen is an upcoming performing artist who believes that an artist an be defined in many different ways, which includes modelling, singing, dancing, acting, fashion, choreography and design that in which she is involved.
Born in North London where she developed her academic and creative pursuits, she is a Biomedical Science Graduate and an entrepreneur, who has sold her retail coffee shop to continue in her journey of development. She hopes to inspire those around her by staying true to herself in all her endeavours.
This year, this North London native was crowned Miss Middlesex and is now on the verge of going for the Miss England crown. After graduating from Aston University in ‘Biomedical Science’, Anusha went on to become an entrepreneur and opened her first business in the Coffee Retail sector in 2015. She is currently focusing on a new App based business where it encourages and supports independent coffee retailers.
As well as being an entrepreneur, she is also a trained vocalist, dancer and actor and has featured in many British Asian music videos with artists such as PBN, Roach Killa, GV and many more.
Anusha Sareen is currently supporting the community with her volunteer work at numerous care homes, MENCAP centres, youth clubs and more. She has begun planning campaigns to target social repression in both the elderly and youths. She will continue this journey throughout the year, as she feels she has impacted so many lives after just one month of being Miss Middlesex 2018.
She is currently focusing on making it to the Miss England semi-finals, at Kelham Hall and is setting up a charity event which will act as a business networking event and a family fun day, to encourage the local community come together.
The event is taking place to raise for the charity, Beauty with a purpose, which has been endorsed by Nelson Mandela. The charity supports disadvantaged children worldwide. Anusha has also worked closely with the NSPCC and Wings of Hope in the past, to raise funds and awareness’s for such causes.
Education
Anusha Sareen initially studied at Dollis Junior School, under the counsel of Mr Derek Heasmen OBE– an astonishingly charitable and widely recognised Headteacher. She then went on to Mill Hill County High School, where she completed 12 GCSEs and 3 A Levels, in Biology, Chemistry and Core Maths. She enjoyed academic studies, however, began to identify her creative callings through extracurricular ventures; performing arts.
She confirmed her place at Aston University for a Biomedical Sciences Degree, where she found that the Immunology field interested her the most, led by Professor Devitt, she completed her dissertation and later became a Bachelors of Sciences Graduate.
Business
Following graduation, Anusha decided to open her first business in the Coffee Industry at 22. She moved out of London to Hampshire, Aldershot, where she began her Coffee Shop. With her dad as an experienced mentor and her natural eye for business, she learnt all aspects of Business Management through practical day-to-day implementation.
She initially partnered up with a Franchise, however after realising her strengths and abilities far superseded their new setup, she decided to continue as an independent site. Anusha covered all aspects of her business, from supplier communications to marketing & budgeting, HR and all operations. Heavily involved with the day-to-day running, Anusha worked seven days a week for the first 18 months to ensure her business plan which molded to perfection.
Anusha sold the site earlier this year – decided to focus her attention on her creative calling. Aldershot, like many other small towns, had been affected by the online retail market causing many franchises to close their low revenue sites – due to this and the unfortunate compulsory purchase order placed on the property, Anusha moved back into London, looking to embark on her next business project.
Acting
Anusha attended local Drama Classes, from the age of 5; here she developed a love for the arts, for its emotional nature and the freedom to adopt other characters. She achieved grades during after- school examinations, alongside her attendance to STOMP, a performing arts school, was where she was able to embrace her individuality and gain confidence – skills in both performance and composure. She was hand selected to be a cast for Slumdog Millionaire – however, at the age of 14, she did not fi t into the casting particulars.
Since then, she has been casting for acting roles alongside lead British and Indian musicians for their story-based music videos. She also secured a leading female character in the YouTube Series BADMAN – created & directed by the YouTube Ambassador Humza Arshard. Recently she has directed, written and acted in two of her short videos and will be working on new content for her upcoming music.
Singing
Anusha Sareen was always in awe of music, from a vocal and composing point of view. She began singing in her school musicals and of course at her home, where she discovered her genre preferences – singing songs from modern pop, alongside the favourite musicals Grease, The Sound of Music, and many others. She began to explore her voice after joining the church choir, where she committed her Friday evenings to practice and Sunday mornings to Church Service Performances.
During schools, she took up vocal grading to advance her skills. She achieved Grade 6 training with the help and guidance of her music tutor and with that vocal confidence. At the age of 14, she took the opportunity to step out of her comfort zone and chose an acapella song to perform at her end of year assembly, solo.
“I sang ‘My Immortal’, by Evanescence, a track very close to my heart at that stage in my life. I remember taking a deep breath, closing my eyes and envisioning all those moments where I was too afraid to share my voice… too scared of sharing parts of myself with others – in fear of judgement and criticism. I just sang, and with every breath I took, I grew stronger in my presence and my purpose. It was the pivotal moment of my life, where I decided I didn’t want to be in the shadows or background ever again. I wanted to be someone ready to face the world head-on.”
Since that time, she has continued to sing on stages, at talent shows, events, exhibitions. She is an avid songwriter and has partnered up with a talented musician to create some new music for release later this year. She aims to release her first EP at the end of 2018.
A Vegan
“I was never a big fan of eating meat…but I think what impacted me was seeing the animals being massacred and mistreated; it broke my heart,” says Miss Anusha. “I think we all have turned a blind eye to this industry because it’s the easy thing to do… We can’t truly say that we care about animals unless we decide to stop supporting the exploitation of animals for our luxuries.”
Anusha was brought up with a mixed diet – varying from meats, dairy, vegetarian, vegan produce. Her culture naturally celebrates a vegan diet, with many lentils & vegetables being the focal ingredient. She attempted vegetarianism at a younger age, which was short-lived – however as she gained further insight into the industry and the modern unnatural methods of production and animal-rearing, she realised it was no longer an industry that had any positive impacts – and it hadn’t been for decades.
Having a vegan lifestyle not only reduces animal cruelty, but impacts the environment, reducing carbon emissions from meat farming, and even targeting world hunger – if the land used to feed the meat industry was used to feed those starving. With this in mind, adopting a plant-based diet can improve the quality of life for both the earth and its human & animal inhabitants.
From a young age, Anusha has had a passion for food and creating exotic flavours, and with this, she had enjoyed creating new recipes and sharing these amongst friends & family. From 2018, she began to share these recipes & methods via social media in the hope of inspiring others to understand a vegan lifestyle which doesn`t limit with its experimental qualities & that you can enjoy a cruelty-free, plant-based diet!
Anusha is currently assembling her weekly recipes, to create a Vegan Recipe Book – with aims to publish in the New Year. She has been trained up to Food Hygiene Standards – and also completed a Nutrition & Dietetics Module – enabling her with the knowledge to create a balanced array of recipes!
Textiles
Anusha has always practised sketching and textile work. She took Textiles GCSE’s where she began to feel her fingers tingle as she created designs, pillows and pyjamas within the classroom.
She hopes to begin producing these ranges while on her journey forward as creation is something that she draws to throughout all aspects of her endeavours.
Projects
Outlined below are the main non-profit charitable campaigns that she is currently working on. They incorporate elements of her passion for life, her love for people, and her commitment to making that change.
Penpal Primes
Anusha recognised that during her community work from a young age; both in Aldershot and locally in her hometown, that many elderly residents at care homes and special needs livability residents were often quite isolated within the community. Although very active within their designated homes, they were unable always to achieve a sense of involvement with the surrounding centers and further commit to an external social community feel.
Anusha decided that through her volunteer work, she could create a scheme to allow a network between the centres. Partnering individuals up, based on interests and particulars, thus creating a Pen Pal scheme to bridge that gap. She feels that this activity not only targets communication within a community that may not be able to benefit from social media but also reigns in on a traditional method of communication that is appreciated by many elderly residents in care homes!
IME Campaign
“I AM ME Campaign” (IME), created and operated by Anusha Sareen, is a campaign that targets schools, summer camps, children’s community clubs and more. It aims to provide support alongside larger children’s organisations, by working hand in hand AND alone, to give children that extra help in dealing with this new century technological world we live.
Social Media is currently advancing at a phenomenal rate, a rate at which mature adults are even struggling to keep up. Children, on the other hand, are still exposed to social outlets, at a stage in their life when so much is unstable; they’ve been given yet another obstacle to tackle.
With the suicide rates in teens & children on the rise, we can only begin to question the changes around us that implicate these naive youngsters. From cyber-bullying to unrealistic expectations in both lifestyle and superficialities, modern-day children are tested far more than previous generations.
“From a young age, I was the target of both verbal and physical abuse due to my Genetic Makeup; I hit puberty at the age of 9 and had hair on my skin that was both darker and thicker than many other children. Growing up I was taught to be ashamed or embarrassed by my body, but having to confront these issues has taught me both strength, and compassion. I am proud of my mind, my body and my soul – and no one can ever take that away from me again. I hope to instill this strength and compassion with the new generation, without them having to suffer.”
Miss England
Anusha Sareen first entered a Miss England “pageant” when she turned 19, applying for Miss Asian Beauty Queen, where she placed 4th. She learnt vast amounts through this process, from presentation to confidence and event planning. She decided to commit to her studies while also continuing to grow as an individual in life lessons through performing arts and further business endeavors.
Seven years later, she returned as a Biomedical Graduate, a Business Woman and a Leader with colossal purpose and commitment to the same role as Miss England.
Miss England is an excellent competition that encourages young women to be more than what they are and represent their counties as strong, inspirational leaders. It is a platform to inspire people of all walks of life to commit to their community, raise money for charities, create networks and build lasting projects that genuinely impact this beautiful community we are part.
Miss England supports the renowned charity, ‘Beauty with a Purpose’, an organisation created by Julia Morley who has provided excellent opportunities to so many children worldwide. It is inspirational, and the entire Miss England Organisation indeed is a masterpiece in its own right. Supporting disadvantaged children worldwide, providing funding for charities including but not limited to: Variety, The Cleft Lip Palette, The Chinese Red Cross and many more.
Now among the top contenders for the Miss England title, this shining beauty queen aims to soar to even greater heights with not just her beautiful personalities but her character, commitment and dedication towards the society.
