Tefi Pessoa just gets it. This proud Latina is moving from one screen to another, taking her online presence to a new level with her new unscripted Prime Video talk show 'Influenced.'
Born and raised in Miami, Tefi brings her Colombian and Brazilian heritage everywhere she goes, including in her content creation, where she keeps the same unfiltered and authentic version of herself. Whether it is dissecting pop culture drama, or sharing her thoughts on dating, one thing is certain, she will speak her truth and make you feel right at home with a distinctive warmth that can be found within the Latin community.
"I feel like it is my responsibility to fill up every room with as much Latin joy as possible," Tefi said during our conversation, speaking in a very familiar Miami dialect. "I'm first generation, I can be both, I can be Latin and American, and if I'm gonna be both I want you to know it and I want other people who look like me, who talk like me, who speak Spanish, and who don't speak Spanish, to know that we have the right to dream."
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Speaking about her latest achievement, Tefi shared the excitement her family felt after learning she would be part of the new talk show, which encompasses all things lifestyle, entertainment, mental health, fashion, and so much more. Read the full interview!
"You would never understand leaving everything you knew to come to this new country and then the joy of finding people who understand. That's really what it is. I know you in a blood way, I don't have to ever have met you before, but I know you and we are connected."
Before we get into everything, I was just watching a video you posted on dating and I was like 'Oh my god this is for me,' and then I saw the comments and everyone could relate. So I want to know, what inspires you to share these words of wisdom?
I think it's important to be young and make mistakes. However, I was reckless, and at the end of the day I am a big sister to my real-life siblings so I do feel like I carry around that lens a lot. I don't want to, just because I suffered, it doesn't mean that other people should suffer.
So if there's anything I can do from my lessons learned that would help other people I'm going to share that, because dating is a very harsh mirror. Any way I can make it easier for somebody I will post it and I'm proud of the lessons I've learned.
For me, being Colombian and seeing representation online, especially in the U.S., is just really cool, and the way you talk about every topic seems so natural. When did you start to notice that there are a lot of people who can easily connect to your online presence?
I grew up in Miami so it's the way that I talk, is how I would talk with my friends and family. For 22 years before I left Miami every person who fed me, who took care of me, who was there for me was a Latin person, so I feel like the way that Latin people speak, it is "for community."
It's the idea of having things as an inside joke, my inside joke is your inside joke, that's how I face the world. I face the world like I'm part of it, and I hope the world wants to get to know me too, and that's a very Latin perspective.
Why do you believe the Latin community is so welcoming and have that desire to share their culture?
I think being from Latin America, we might not be from the same country but we all came to this country for similar reasons, whether it is opportunities, safety, a fresh start, or whatever it may be, I feel there's that underlying language of "I'm so happy you made it here, I'm so happy you're here with us."
When I watch TV and I see the way they talk about Latinos; You could never understand the loneliness of, what my parents describe as being an immigrant in this country, my grandparents, you would never understand leaving everything you knew to come to this new country and then the joy of finding people who understand.
That's really what it is. I know you in a blood way, I don't have to ever have met you before, but I know you and we are connected, and we are all in this together.
I love the way you bring your Latinidad to your online presence. It feels like a familiar and safe space, why do you think it's important to create this space?
There are events that I go to, where I'm the only Latin person there, and coming from Miami where there were more Miguels than Michaels that's crazy to me.
I feel like it is my responsibility to fill up every room with as much Latin joy as possible. I'm first generation, I can be both, I can be Latin and American, and if I'm gonna be both I want you to know it and I want other people who look like me, who talk like me, who speak Spanish, and who don't speak Spanish, to know that we have the right to dream.
We want provide for our families, and we wanna make our families proud but you have permission to dream.
Growing up around pop culture in the U.S. and growing up with a Latin family, how was your experience learning about both different worlds?
Today's generation is very lucky because growing up we had very limited mainstream Latin artists make it to American radio, so if you ask my mom, my dad, or my grandparents, what they listened to in the eighties, it's Madonna.
Today people can say, 'I listened to Bad Bunny when I was a teenager.' I had Madonna, I had Pat Benatar, I had Fleetwood Mac, so that's something that I wish people understood; My pop culture lens is from an immigrant perspective of people who only listened to American music.
I remember coming to New York one day and seeing Shakira's [album] 'Laundry Service' in Times Square y yo casi me muero. I was like, 'They know about Shakira?'
Growing up in pop culture, there's always gonna be deep nostalgia for American pop culture, but now seeing Latin Artists enter mainstream media, and even be part of tabloids is crazy because before we had Paris, Britney, and Lindsay. It's really jarring, really special, and shocking in the best way.
You lived in Miami, in Bogotá, and now you live in NYC. What is one thing you would highlight from each place?
From Miami, being ninety-five degrees and my family sitting down and eating ajiaco every Sunday, and then in Bogotá I remember going to parks and seeing people do Tai Chi, and seeing Olympians practice running.
Also, I come from a family where if you don't have fresh juice every day you're crazy, my mom is like 'No tiene lulo?' and I'm like 'We're in Brooklyn what are you talking about.'
In New York, I got to be my own person. I'll always be my mother's daughter but I got to choose who I wanted to be, and that was really freeing because when I got to choose who I wanted to be I still chose "Miami me," and that was important for me to feel and know.
Would you say your family plays a big part in your life?
Todo! Yeah of course, even when we fight. I was a very lost person and I just really appreciate the opportunity in this lifetime to make my family proud of me, that's really important to me.
Your new show 'Influenced.' It feels like a perfect transition from your online presence, what can we expect from the show what was your experience filming with the rest of the cast?
I hope it feels intimate in a way where you feel like you know us, the whole cast, and I hope that people feel like we are being real and authentic because none of it was really scripted.
Those are real conversations and our real thoughts and feelings, and I hope people can feel that.
"I face the world like I'm part of it, and I hope the world wants to get to know me too, and that's a very Latin perspective."
Tefi Pessoa
What was your reaction when you found out you would be part of the show?
Yo casi me muero! I couldn't believe it. I still feel it's fake like it's not really happening. There was finally a moment where, as a content creator, there are people who want to remain on your phone screen and I am a person who wants to be on every screen, so I think that was a moment where I was like 'Oh my god I think I'm doing it, this is working.' Seeing your hard work pay off.
There are so many moments where things get hard, or you wake up early and you show up and things don't go as planned, and things change, and people change, and your and friends change, and work changes, and your team changes, and for the first time in a long time I got to exhale and say 'This is working,' and that's a feeling that I've only had very few times in my life, it felt like things coming into place.
What are you manifesting for your career in the future?
I'm manifesting longevity in this career, and I know the show is called 'Influenced,' but I'm manifesting real influence.
How do you choose the right partnership and collaboration?
If it's something that aligns with my messaging where it feels like I can be myself, and I can add humor and I can be real about it. It's so important for contact creators not to have a niche, I don't believe human beings should have niches, I like a lot of things.
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