Meet the judges of HOLA! USA Beauty Awards 2022

Sandy Tejada had enormous dreams of achieving the “American Dream” and being on the big screen, while growing up with an immigrant Dominican single mother in Queens, NY. She’s an Afro Latina, who can be seen in productions like FBI, The Deuce, Angelfish, Goatface, and most recently opening up HBO’s And Just Like That (the “Sex and the City” reboot) playing the role as the Hostess, along side Sarah Jessica Parker.

Sandy can also be spotted in a ton of worldwide print, commercials, and campaigns. Sandy Tejada is working hard to pave the way for more Latinx representation in television and film.

Valeria Del Rey, is a digital content creator, founder of La Gotta swimwear, and professor at Instituto Marangoni. Valeria del Rey is the founder of La Gotta, a lifestyle brand that designs sustainable swimsuits and organic CBD sun care products. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Valeria has always been influenced by the sea and nature.

While pursuing her bachelor‘s degree in Washington D.C.., she worked at Oscar de la Renta and Tom Ford, where she cultivated a strong interest in fashion and design. She then ventured off to Italy to earn her master’s in luxury brand management at Polimoda. After having lived in Paris, New York, and Florence, she moved back to Puerto Rico to grow La Gotta by combining her culture, experiences, and style to craft distinctive, meaningful designs.

Alexa is a twenty-six year old Garifuna woman born in La Ceiba,Honduras currently residing in Houston, Texas. She is a blogger, content creator, and entrepreneur.

Alexa has been featured on Fox 26 News, Telemundo, and KHOU News in Houston. In addition, she also has been featured in Allure Magazine, Teen Vogue and Pop Sugar. Alexa have built a social media platform by making YouTube videos and connecting with people via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. She have a passion for inspiring others through art, and encouragement whether that be through photographs or beauty related content.”

Digital content creator based in New York. Founder of @LatinaChicTravels, which is a platform showing the Latinx community how to fuel their wanderlust by traveling smarter and more purposefully. Traveling the world (visited 50+ countries to date!) From sharing vacation tips on where to go next, what to eat, and where to get the best content - A proud resource for all things travel for my community.

Sherly Tavarez is a Dominican-American Fashion Stylist and Entrepreneur in New York City. She graduated with a Bachelors in Marketing and Advertising from the International Academy of Design & Technology in Orlando, FL. She is the Founder of Hause of Curls, a brand made for the new age woman in mind, who have embarked on their natural hair journey.

During her childhood, Tavarez would hear phrases like, “are you going to the hair salon to straighten your hair?” which led her to believe that curly hair wasn’t beautiful. She spent years using heat and chemicals trying to straighten her hair but eventually decided to embrace her natural curls. After searching for apparel brands that matched her newfound confidence, this pioneer chose to create a line of her own, Hause of Curls. She turned negative words about natural hair into empowerment statements on t-shirts.

Shirley Gómez is a bilingual Senior Beauty and Lifestyle Editor for HOLA! USA. She loves covering lifestyle, entertainment, and feminism stories. In her free time, she enjoys watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch, listening to Beyoncé, Demi Lovato, and Janine, redecorate her home and organize her beauty pantry. Gómez has also written for Oh! Magazine, OprahMag.com, BELatina, Latin Times, The Americano News, Listín Diario, and Med Daily.

Pedro Zurita has more than 10 years of editorial experience in the lifestyle, luxury and fashion sector. For the last three years, Pedro has been in charge of the Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle content for ¡HOLA! Mexico, including that of special publications such as ¡HOLA! Novias (Brides) and HOLA! Fashion. Recently he joined ¡HOLA! Americas.