Julissa Bermudez is far from 106 & Park (literally and figuratively). Having put her days as a TV show host on the backburner, these days the 31-year-old Queens-raised Dominicana fills her time with “a little of this and a little of that,” from reality TV shows (hello Empire Girls!) and traveling the globe as a brand ambassador for the likes of Hennessy and Steve Madden as well dabbling in other television projects.
We caught up with Julissa during a pit stop in Miami, where she dished on her long-awaited return to television, her plans to build a media empire, and how and she has zero plans on settling for anything less than what she deserves when it comes to work, love or the drank in her cup.
‘LL: It’s been a while since Empire Girls last aired. What have you been up to since?
Julissa: I’ve been doing a lot of brand ambassador stuff. I really enjoy associating my name and brand with much bigger brands and bigger names, like…Hennessy. I’ve also been doing a little bit of acting. There’s a cameo that I did for a new show on Bounce TV called Mann and Wife. I played a pop star, which is exciting because whenever I do karaoke, I’m a pop star in my head anyways [laughs]. Like I said, it never stops. I’ve been dipping and dabbling into a few things, while still having some personal projects of my own that I’m working on.
‘LL: What is next for you professionally? Are you coming back to the small screen?
Julissa: Well, watching TV when I was growing up, I never saw my own reflection; I never saw women who looked like me. So I basically took matters into my own hands. I wrote and created my own show that I’m producing and financing myself. I’ve teamed up with an entertainment company to help me execute it.
‘LL: What is the show going to be about?
Julissa: I want it to live in the late night space and have that talk show kind of format. It’ll be very candid. I want to be informative and focus on women’s issues, but I don’t want to preach. I also want it to be racy. I’ve been in this business since I was 19 and I’m 31 now. I feel my fans are ready to see the more mature me.
‘LL: Tell us, what does this new, more mature Julissa look for in a man?
Julissa: Let’s be real, nobody’s perfect. But hypothetically speaking, I want a man who is very understanding, honest and, of course, funny—a woman always wants a man who can make her laugh; just a trustworthy, good-hearted man.
‘LL: What, in your own words, makes a man a caballero?
Julissa: I think a gentleman is a man who displays a great amount of chivalry and who takes care of his woman, in the sense that when you go out he makes sure that you’re walking on the right side of the street. He opens doors for you. He pulls out chairs for you. I look for that in men. I look for chivalrous ways. I feel is a dying art these days. I don’t mean that as a diss to men. Women: it’s our fault! We forget that we have to let “men be men” and be gentlemen.
‘LL: Tell me about the first hombre in your life: your dad. What is the best piece of advice he’s ever given you?
Julissa: He’s always taught me by example. I come from a very hardworking family, and I’ve seen my dad work all my life to give us all of los gustos—all of the joys we wanted growing up. I think my work ethic really comes from my parents.
‘LL: How has your heritage influenced your own personal and professional brands?
Julissa: They’re part of my authenticity. It’s what I thrive off of, what I stick to. When I walk into [casting] rooms and they want me to be watered down, I navigate those moments so I can still deliver and still hold onto my heritage and my upbringing. I want to represent our culture in a different way. When I say our “culture,” I mean specifically what I am and what I reflect being a Latina, being from Queens, being an urban Latina and being Dominican.
‘LL: What do you want your legacy to be?
Julissa: I want people to think, “She worked hard for everything that she got and she was genuine in it.” And just that hard work and passion and truth can take you places. And if you never stop and never settle, you’ll get there.
‘LL: What drives you to never stop? Never settle?
Julissa: The passion I have to be an example for young, modern hardworking women certainly drives me. But also I truly love what I do, even if it comes with the good, bad and sometimes ugly.
‘LL: That said, where do you hope to see your hard work take you in the next year?
Julissa: A year from now I definitely see myself still striving and living Hennessy’s “Never stop, never settle” mentality. I think that’s going to take me places that I can’t even imagine.
Can’t wait for Julissa’s new show to drop? Peep her Instagram @OfficialJulissaB and follow her Twitter at @JulissaB.