American Girl’s Doll of the Year for 2022 is historic, and she's a Jersey Girl! So how did this all come to be?

Kavi Sharma made history as the company’s first South Asian American Girl doll, who also happens to hail from Metuchen.

How did the history-making doll come to be? Rina Shah was instrumental in making that happen.

The doll’s bio says she loves to sing and dance, and that’s where Shah, a dance studio owner comes in. She said American Girl reached out to her because of her knowledge of Bollywood dance, New Jersey and working with kids.

Shah said she had to keep her work a secret from her hundreds of students before the doll was unveiled. 

“Growing up, I never would’ve imagined that there would be a ‘girl of the year’ of South Asian descent, Bollywood dancer,” said Shah. “It just feels incredible. I’m so happy that kids can grow up with a doll that looks like them.”