“You were one of the first people I studied when I wanted to start my social networks,” said the popular Will Smith when he approached Lele Pons to star in a viral moment on the internet. It was then that half the world asked: … “Who is this girl?”…because in reality the other half already knew her.
Her technical information will tell you that her name is Eleonora Pons Maronese, that she was born in Caracas on June 25, 1996, that she is Chayanne’s niece and that she is currently an Internet celebrity as well as a singer, model, Miss Venezuela 1988, comedian, presenter, youtuber and a thousand other things. But it is necessary to investigate a little more to know why Will Smith defines as «Magic» whatever you want me to do.
She became the first to reach one billion views on the site. Vine microvideos in 2014, when his dazzling rise in the networks was already unstoppable. Lele Pons has gone from being a 16-year-old high school student who created visual content about skipping class to becoming, a decade later, a one of the most important references on social networks.
There is something of a survivor in her within a sector, that of viral things, which devour stars as if it were the new Hollywood. She has outlasted and outlived other social media personalities because she probably He does nothing to disappoint the expectations of his fans nor does he offend. “She has the right fights at the right times and has learned to live by the rules of Instagram and YouTube and, in turn, is rewarded for them,” the ‘Washington Post’ recently explained.
Eleonora Pons was born in Caracas and shortly after her birth, the family moved to the countryside to take over a family business manufacturing agricultural equipment. «I didn’t speak until I was 3 years old.“, remember. Even after being able to speak, “he was much better at drawing, painting or storyboarding rather than having to tell his story in his own words,” says his father, Luis Pons, an architect and designer of interiors.
Create videos via phone
When Lele Pons was 5 years old, she and her mother, who is Italian and a pediatrician, were kidnapped and held for ransom, something common in certain parts of Latin America. The experience prompted the family to move to Miami. Her parents divorced shortly after the move and Lele had to work hard to keep up with school. She was diagnosed dyslexia, attention deficit disorder and Tourette syndrome. They hired tutors and therapists to help her. She didn’t stop playing with her Barbies until she was 14 years old. She also remembers being the class clown. “Make us laugh,” her colleagues told her.
Meanwhile, Lele was exploring her artistic qualities and even trained as a classical opera singer. When she was in high school, a friend of hers showed her a new app called Vine, where you could create a six-second video on your phone. And the rest is history.
Her first Vines were about how she was doing poorly in school, how she took shortcuts to do something, or how she wasn’t seen as a popular girl. Her father thought that her work was brilliant, that she was a true storyteller. She produced at least one, sometimes two Vines, a day. «No one even told me a publication schedule. “I just needed it,” she says. He would turn that into his profession. Until 2013, MTV arrived to sponsor its deliveries. The beginning of a profession.
Influential and millionaire
In 2016, Lele Pons entered the magazine’s listtime‘ from “The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet”, joining Caitlyn Jenner, Kanye West and Donald Trump. And in 2017 she walked on the Dolce & Gabbana runway. She was already one of the 30 under 30 to enter the list of ‘Forbes‘.
Now his videos, on any of his platforms, have hundreds of millions of views and he has created sponsored posts by Google, Tinder, the Dragon City video game and Budweiser. He has also recorded music and the song “Celoso” reached triple platinum for Latin music on the US music charts. She wants to be known as a “global artist» and is embarrassed when they call her an «influencer».
Brands and big companies love her. «She is vulnerable, funny and incredibly creative“Jake O’Leary, global head of artist marketing at YouTube, said about her, emphasizing that one of the keys to her success is that her content connects with the platform’s global audience. From a modest young man from the suburbs of Cairo to Will Smith.
How to please everyone
Lele Pons brings together very different profiles in her videos and has them all taken care of. She has created ora difficult mix of themes that nevertheless works. One day she appears twerking in a tree, the next day she is making a video about Dora the Explorer and then reflects on a book she has read about the cosmos. A variety of topics that have also generated criticism for exposing children to inappropriate content. This is what happens when you want to please all generations.
They say that he can earn close to 5 million euros annually just by generating content on networks that he monetizes at lightning speed thanks to his fans. And then there are sponsorships, songs, acting, etc. «I didn’t come this far just to get this far“, says. “I’m going to move forward.”
