Kanessa Tixe: The Publicist Behind Some of the Biggest Stars

Picture Supply: Kanessa Tixe

Kanessa Tixe, a Queens-born and -raised woman with Dominican and Colombian roots, is behind a few of right now’s hottest Latinx music artists, together with Maluma, Nicky Jam, and Tokischa. The proficient publicist performs a major position of their success. However the highway to getting right here definitely hasn’t been straightforward.

Tixe began her profession in public relations at simply 17 years previous. Whereas many teenagers go to varsity making an attempt to determine what they wish to do, she shortly found her ardour together with her first job at Metropolis Corridor. At 21, she started working for actor Robert De Niro and the Tribeca Movie Pageant, the place she was thrown into the world of leisure and realized this was the profession path she needed to comply with. Tixe seen that corporations had been creating curiosity in concentrating on Latinx communities however shortly realized they did not precisely know how you can market expertise seeking to cross over into the American market. She was additionally the one Latina on the desk, and as soon as she started to work with merengue artists, together with Almafis and Omega, she selected to take a stab at this and even began her personal firm.

However the entrepreneurial life is not all the time what it is cracked as much as be. Tixe and a good friend launched a public-relations agency, however inside six months, issues shortly went south, and she or he discovered herself homeless. For about two and a half years, Tixe discovered herself sofa browsing throughout the houses of family and friends whereas persevering with to comply with her ardour. “It was robust, as a result of I had nowhere to go. I slept one week at my cousin’s home and one other week on a good friend’s sofa after which at an aunt’s home,” she tells POPSUGAR. “I lived out of a bit plastic bag, however I actually needed to get again into the Latin market with those who represented my tradition.”

Throughout that point interval, Tixe’s good friend Alcover, who’s one-half of reggaeton superproducers duo A&X, needed to department out into a much bigger market and solidify their place within the music business. However he did not have the funds to pay her, so as an alternative, he provided to share his business contacts in change for her assist. By way of this connection, Tixe was launched to Dascha Polanco, who on the time was stirring up quite a lot of buzz for her position as Dayanara “Daya” Diaz on Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” The 2 teamed up and proved how ladies supporting ladies can really create a path towards success.

“She fought for me. She gave me a chance . . . as a result of she needed me to be the very best,” Tixe says. “If it weren’t for Dascha, I would not have excelled and met a few of the those who I do know right now. I’m perpetually grateful.” With the ability to work with one other Latina girl who was additionally of Dominican descent was gratifying. One among her fondest reminiscences when working with Polanco was her look on Chrissy Teigen’s daytime tv present, the place she ready mangú, a standard Dominican dish made out of inexperienced plantains.

“They needed Dascha to prepare dinner a dish and prompt pasta, however she stated, ‘Nope, I will do mangú.’ So, she’s on daytime tv pelando un platano and exhibiting them how you can reduce it,” Tixe says, laughing. By way of phrase of mouth and networking, Tixe went on to signal Maye Musk, an older worldwide mannequin identified for her signature grey hair who additionally occurs to be the mom of Tesla founder Elon Musk.

“My life utterly modified after that,” Tixe displays. Signing Musk positioned her in rooms she by no means even dreamed of being in and had her assembly with folks she would’ve by no means thought she’d meet. “With Maye, I might be in kings’ and queens’ homes in Qatar, and I might be like, ‘What am I doing? I am this little Latin woman from Queens, what am I doing right here?'” Tixe provides. Having to start out over after and persevering with to pursue her dream of working as a publicist within the leisure business hasn’t all the time been a simple highway, however she refused to give up. “Once I obtained my first actual test, I cried a lot due to every little thing I pushed myself to do . . . I used to be on [negative] $200 to $500 for 2 years,” she says.

Tixe’s entrepreneurial spirit is one thing she gained from watching how her mother would clear homes and parlayed that into ultimately proudly owning her personal bodega after which grocery store. “My mother and father would all the time train me the worth of labor,” she says. “My mother and father had been all the time into exhibiting me independence and how you can survive.” At present, Tixe represents Colombian reggaeton famous person Maluma. One among her associates had knowledgeable her that he was on the lookout for a publicist and prompt she go for it, and she or he did. Tixe and Maluma met in 2018 throughout a rehearsal for the VMAs, throughout which he was set to carry out a music fully in Spanish.

Picture Supply: Phraa

“Once I met him, he goes, ‘Alright, that is your first job with me, and should you kill this job, you are with me perpetually,'” Tixe shares. Though he was performing, Maluma was nonetheless comparatively unknown to American audiences on the time. However Tixe had a easy however efficient plan that will get him some press: he would stroll down the purple carpet and speak to each single outlet. She knowledgeable Maluma that that they had a staggering 43 purple carpet interviews to do this night time. “I instructed him, ‘Look, you are going to hate me, however you are going to do each single interview. Simply belief me’ . . . and he was a champ,” she says. “And we had been the final ones on the carpet.”

That was the beginning of a very profitable work relationship with Maluma, who, with the assistance of Tixe, landed a marketing campaign with Versace and starred within the rom-com film “Marry Me” alongside Jennifer Lopez. Tixe is proud to signify an artist who’s a part of the wave that has discovered main success with out having to cross over to the English market. As a substitute, artists reminiscent of The Weeknd have been collaborating with Latin music artists whereas additionally studying how you can sing in Spanish. Tixe refers to this shift as “Latin common” music. It is music that has change into so common regardless of it being in Spanish and can’t be categorized as simply Latin or pop. It is also a significant testomony to how far we have actually come.

“I am proud as a result of I’ve contributed to it and proceed to contribute to it,” Tixe says. “You’ve Maluma and Unhealthy Bunny, and so they’re two artists that keep of their lane.” She’s additionally been capable of department out on the earth of Latin music, signing purchasers like Nicky Jam and Residente. She has just lately added dembow’s main girl Tokischa to her roster and is assured that she may help take her profession to the subsequent stage. “I do not even contemplate myself a publicist; I contemplate myself a model strategist, a advertising strategist,” she says.

Picture Supply: Vanessa Tixe

The adrenaline and the power to assist folks inform their tales is what initially attracted Tixe to the world of public relations, however with the intention to tackle and signify a shopper, she has to verify there is a deeper connection. “Earlier than I work with somebody, I gotta meet them, hearken to their music, hear their story. I gotta carry up the hood and take a look at the engine,” she says. “I wish to take the soul out of individuals and share it with the world.” Two issues that she additionally seems to be for when working with up-and-coming purchasers are self-discipline and construction, one thing that she sees throughout the new technology of artists. “Clearly, the expertise is there, however to be trustworthy, I am impressed with the youthful technology and the quantity of creativity and their manner of doing enterprise,” Tixe shares. “It is not what I am used to, however I am studying from them, and I dig it.”

It is a main purpose she took on Tokischa, who has made a splash within the Latin music scene with sexually specific lyrics and visuals. With Tixe on her crew, she continues to offer a voice to not solely Latin artists but additionally ladies. “Toki is my alter ego by way of confidence. It is on a unique stage that I love,” Tixe tells us. “Vocally, lyrically, visually, and even presence sensible, as a result of it is a new revolution of not staying shut. It is an expertise that I’ve had after I’m the one Latin individual within the room and I’ve needed to keep quiet.”

Being a lady of colour navigating via the world of public relations has been a journey for Tixe. “It has been very onerous. It continues to be onerous,” she displays. “Proper whenever you suppose you are making strides as a lady, and also you’re sitting on the head of the desk with these executives, there’s simply that one second the place they remind you it is nonetheless a boys’ membership business.” Incidents like that usually set off impostor syndrome for Tixe. “I have been doing this for 22 years, and I nonetheless get nervous. I feel it comes from every little thing I have been via,” she says. “It comes from the concern of dropping it, and you do not dwell the second.”

Not solely has she developed a status for taking her purchasers to the subsequent stage, however she’s additionally now acknowledged for her distinctive type. Whereas Anna Wintour is understood for her smooth, straight, bulletproof bob, Tixe is understood for her funky eyeglasses, which have change into a part of her signature look. In actual fact, she’s accrued fairly a set of eyewear, with a pair for virtually each event. Her obsession started years in the past whereas looking for a pair of glasses in Queens. The saleswoman prompt Tixe go for a extra edgy look, and all of it took off from there. “It is a part of style; it is a type of expression,” she says. “However eyewear additionally makes me really feel protected. It is comforting for me, however I like expressing how I really feel on sure days.”

As many accolades as Tixe has accrued in additional than twenty years of working on the earth of public relations, not just for her purchasers but additionally for herself, she nonetheless would not really feel like she’s “made it.” Because of this, she stays humble and hardworking as ever. “I do not know if I ever will really feel like I made it; perhaps if I begin working with Bruno Mars,” she jokes. She’ll all the time be the woman from Queens who did not give up on her dream. The one who does what she loves and helps inform the tales of your favourite artists.