behind the genius: lisa sophia
Meet Lisa! Hailing originally from Germany and having traveled far and wide since then, she is a bona-fide Spanish-speaking, telenovela-loving genius. We met on the set of News to Me (surprise surprise! my only friends seem to be from that project), where I quickly came to have a huge amount of respect for her combination of friendliness and getting shit done – she was one of the most boss people I've ever worked with. She's got a huge heart and unmatched determination. She's going to rule Telemundo very soon.
TELL US WHAT YOU DO!
Lisa Sophia: I’m currently a digital content manager at a big communications company. I work in their department for New Business Ventures and was hired specifically to assist with a project that is made for the Hispanic Community in the United States.
So that’s the official blabla, what I actually do is really hard to summarize. I do a little bit of everything, but it all comes down to content. I produce it, I evaluate it, I edit it, I come up with it, I file it away, I come up with naming conventions, I upload it and send it around, I create the metadata around it (descriptions, actors names and all the stuff)… The content I’m currently working on is mostly telenovelas, Spanish-speaking serial dramas that I absolutely adore. They are over-the-top, passionate, emotional and are just exactly what I’m looking for in entertainment.
WHAT ARE YOUR CAREER GOALS / DREAMS FOR THE FUTURE?
LS: Ultimately, I want to work with Spanish-speaking entertainment. In what exact capacity, I’m not sure yet. I would love to be an executive producer or a casting director, I could also see myself being a first Assistant Director on set. There are so many companies that do amazing projects. My dream would be to be part of these story-telling processes. For example Telemundo, the biggest Hispanic content producer in the US, just started a new company that will focus on serialized, internationally-casted shows. I would love to work for projects like this. And I would ultimately like to live and work in Europe, most preferably Spain.
WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT LATELY? (WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO / WATCHING / WORKING ON DAYDREAMING ABOUT?!)
LS: I don’t even know where to start. I daydream all the time. But going through it step by step I would say:
Listening: NPR, I got hooked on it and I love the reporting, the podcasts, the way they portray this fascinating country, I’m in love.
Watching: I just started a Spanish show called “Mar de Plástico” (Plastic Sea). I can’t even start to tell everyone how amazing it is. It’s 13 episode of pure tension, excitement and it’s produced incredibly well. So far it doesn’t have English-language distribution, so I can’t share it with any of my friends or family that don’t speak Spanish, which is something I am daydreaming about changing by the way. Get exposure to amazing projects that are done worldwide and connect people via entertainment.
Working on: I’m very focused on learning Portuguese right now. It would be my 4th language and a really important achievement to me personally, and useful for my career. Brazilian productions are… there are no words. Go and check them out, it doesn’t matter if you don’t speak the language.
Daydreaming: Well, apart from getting married to the Cuban-American telenovela star/singer, Jencarlos Canela… (you’d understand if you’d seen him in concert)… I want to find that work-life-balance everybody keeps talking about. I want to be a fit person, that works out enough, eats healthy without effort, has a great, rewarding job, finds the man of her dreams and starts a family while also managing to do something to give back, some kind of social work. So… I am still trying to stop the daydreaming and starting the work to get there. Will keep you posted.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR ROLE MODELS?
LS: Honestly, that is not something I think of a lot in specifically those terms. But often, I meet a person and see them doing something or they tell me something, and I’m just mesmerized and often think of these people in situations that remind me of what I’ve seen them do. I know it sounds a little cryptic so let me give you an example.
My mother is one of my closest and best friends and when I’m a mom, I want to manage to have that relationship with my kids, just like she has.
My friend Tavis moved out to a new city and managed completely on his own, no parents helping and he found a job and a great place and I’m so impressed. I had so much help getting to where I am now and I am so scared of being independent. He seems so ok with it all.
My friend Isabel has her life so planned out. She has a budget for everything, never goes over and is a great cook. If I could get my life in order the way she does… There are a million examples, I admire every single one of my friends for something. They are all my role models. I prefer to look to them instead of celebrities because you never really know their story and I see my friends’ life unfold together with them.
WHAT DOES STYLE MEAN TO YOU?
LS: Haha… what a question. It honestly is not that important to me, something I would like to have as part of my personality, but that has somehow always escaped me. I somehow can’t get excited for fashion. But I do think finding my personal style is a part of who I am and often I try to adapt certain things as part of “me” and I can be really silly about things. I notice that “LOL” has become very popular again and I hate it. So I make it part of my personal conversation style to never use it. Same goes for certain clothing items. I have this weird thing to never do what everybody’s doing. And I never wear pants (apart from working out or PJs). But I don’t have a real reason or message attached. I just think I look better in skirts. So I really don’t think about style as something that has a big meaning to me, but I do try to be singular in a lot of ways.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE GO-TO LOOK LATELY?
LS: Oh my… I don’t even think about my outfits as looks, that’s how far away from fashion I am, seriously :) Something I’ve been doing a lot lately is putting my hair up into a nice strict bun, instead of the more messy bun I used to do, I think it has to do with having an office shop and not being in school anymore. So there, a strict hair-do… my go-to-look if you will.
