We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Thea De Sousa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Thea , appreciate you joining us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

I was a development girl in Hollywood, meaning I found and developed film and tv projects for producers and studios. I worked for Julia Roberts during 9/11, at her production company right near her apartment. I saw the buildings burning from my office window. Tim Robbins had a deal with us and we ran from the loft. I went to my boss’ apartment, one of the VPs of our company who happened to be Adam Horovitz from the Beastie Boys’ sister. We told Julia’s driver to buy an Escalade and fill it with supplies and get Julia out of Manhattan. We walked 85 blocks up to our company president’s apartment on Central Park West. Elaine Goldsmith Thomas, who now runs Jennifer Lopez’s company, held court in her spacious apartment as the city panicked around us. Elaine was a calming force, maternal and loving. It didn’t feel like work, it felt like family.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I run a Bravo TV Network fan page called @yourmomsarewatching on Instagram. I have almost 47 thousand followers and I not only make memes about pop culture and Bravo shows, I also share stories from my life in Hollywood in my highlights. On September 19 I have a trivia book coming out that covers all franchises of the Real Housewives. It’s over 500 questions and games about every facet of the popular reality TV staple. The illustrations are amazing and the book is sparkly and witty. I’m also working on a new trivia book for the show Vanderpump Rules.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was working as a creative executive for Harold Ramis at Fox Studios, my legs started falling asleep. It would happen as I crossed the studio lot in the morning from my car with a bag full of scripts over my shoulder, and on the way to important meetings with agents. When I moved back to NYC where I had gotten my undergraduate and graduate degrees, and where I worked on the second unit crew for the TV show Seinfeld, my arm started falling asleep. Three weeks after 9/11, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I had to pivot from working in an office to working from home. I was devastated at first but I soon learned that developing scripts and writing books better suited my personality than working in an office environment. Now, more than twenty years later I look at that pivotal moment in my life as the best thing that ever happened for me.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started my Instagram page two years ago. I knew I wanted to share my writing and my knack for making memes with a big audience but I had no idea where to begin. I enjoyed watching the Real Housewives and decided to piggy back off of the large Instagram community already established to enhance the viewing of those franchises. I have had a few memes go viral and those have helped grow my page exponentially. My Instagram followers are very engaged and have encouraged me to share stories from my life with them. It is from this little corner of the internet that I was able to secure two trivia book deals with the prestigious publisher, Quarto Ink. My followers are happy to support my work and I am able now to profit financially from my page.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @yourmomsarewatching
• Facebook: @yourmomsarewatching
• Twitter: @yourmomsarewatching
• Threads: @yourmomsarewatching