Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tessa Medina. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tessa , appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

During my first-grade career day in elementary school, all the students were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. My answer was “Pop Star.” Though I’ll admit, little Tessa wasn’t quite sure what this would entail, she knew she had to perform throughout her life—even at a young age. Every choice I made from that point onward was to pursue my passion for performance. Whether it was auditioning for local plays or begging my parents to drive me to bigger auditions farther away, I knew that a life of performance would be an uphill battle. But one that I needed to climb.

Tessa , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I like to say I’m a triple threat: singer, actor, and writer. I’m not a dancer by any means, but being a former pom-pom girl, I do pride myself on being able to learn choreography at the very least. I got into the entertainment field very strategically. As I said, I knew I wanted to be a performer from a very young age. I didn’t have any direct connections to the entertainment industry, so I figured studying acting in college was my best bet for fostering my career. To prep for this, I took voice and guitar lessons throughout my adolescent years, in addition to constantly performing in musicals, plays, and coffee houses. Simultaneously, I worked hard in school to ensure my grades would give me the best chance possible to get into a good program. With hard work and a bit of luck, I was accepted into New York University and had the privilege of studying drama.

I must admit, my initial desire was to study music (re: my pop star dream). But I didn’t have enough technical training to feel comfortable applying for those programs, so I stuck with theater, and it served me well!

Through my drama program and outside work, I was able to get my foot in the door of the entertainment industry and have since performed in various film, theater, and voice-over projects across NYC. Through a play gone wrong, I actually met one of my friends, Angela Hilario, who later invited me to become her co-star on our Filipino-American podcast, Kwento-Kwento (rated the 3rd best Filipino-American podcast according to Feedspot). Here, I was introduced to the world of podcasting. I enjoyed it from the start—I’m a yapper. But I also earned a dual degree in journalism, so podcasting was a natural extension of those skills. We’ve had some wonderful guests, including authors, actors, musicians, health professionals, and more. One episode I’m truly proud of is when we had the opportunity to interview actor Don Darryl Rivera, who originated and currently performs the role of Iago in Aladdin on Broadway.

One quality I’m very blessed to have is that I’m not afraid to try new things. In 2023, I released my debut EP, In Transit, which consists of all songs I wrote and performed myself, with some help from my wonderful producers J. Chris Griffin and Todd Tran. Last year, I competed in Miss Universe Philippines Virginia and won the title of Miss Glamour. In my downtime, I’m also an ASMRtist, creating autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) content aimed at helping viewers relax, calm anxieties, and even sleep. If it’s anything creative, I’m down to try it, and most of the time, I’m able to utilize skills from one medium and apply them to the next.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Success isn’t measurable. Well, it’s not measurable in the same ways as it is in corporate or a typical field. I was chatting with a friend of mine about the steps I was taking to hopefully get cast in a project that I was excited about about, but ultimately I knew there were many factors outside of my control that would determine if I got the part. She was baffled at the concept that no matter how hard I worked, how much time, energy and resources I put into my craft as an actor, that there is literally no guarantee that I will ever get cast for anything unless I’m creating my own work. Actors, by default are needy. They need casting directors to book them, directors to like them and agents to sign them. Yes there are measures that can be implemented to help boost the probability of one or more of these things happening, but there’s never any guarantee. You don’t move up the cooperate ladder of casting, unless you’re already established in the industry. One day you’re star of the show, the next you’re extra number two.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Social media is such a power house in this day and age. Literally just sharing an artists work on your feed is a small but impactful way to spread artist’s work through word of mouth.

Switching gears, schools need to stop cutting funding from the arts department. Visual, theater band, all of it needs to be better funded to at least give kids an entry point into the creative world and hopefully serve as a jumping point to them appreciating the arts as a functional adult.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tessamedina.com
• Instagram: @itstessadarling
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessa-dobrow-487530176
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmonlxdwZHTI7q4Y2yTjplA?view_as=subscriber
• Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/6gbXEEqVuP5ovWJC1uAOyP?si=eLrflLbFQLu9hZeRGwSFwg&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZDlTj2kyLeigyLq7aKThwE7d8kQu9Ere31ozEKB02OGtrJvduR4jxIRko_aem_wn6ZRwQsJPa84h2cV6_vvA&nd=1&dlsi=fbd59262bea94fff

  Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/tessa-medina/1554211923