She's Got The Power [Moi magazine, September 2019]

English translation of Thalía interview featured on Moi magazine September 2019 issue.

by Martha Debayle
Photography Uriel Santana

It is a hot day and I throw myself to have breakfast with Thalía in the outskirts of New York. I arrive at a divine restaurant at the water's edge and five minutes later, very punctual, she arrives, driving alone. Kisses, hugs, having a good time about her children, my children and marriage, life and work, all off the record, hahaha. An omelette and a double espresso for her, and Greek yogurt, berries and black tea for me, and we're ready to go. I can't stop seeing her hair so long, because three weeks ago I cut off my hair and wanted to kill myself. I told her that it took me a lot of work to let it grow and she asks me why I cut it. I told her that my daughters, my husband, they insisted on me, and even my sister's dog, Eugenia, told me that I looked Hawaiian, to which she replies, "Ah, is it everyone worth to me, 'everyone' doesn't exist, why are you going and paying attention to them?". Who would have told me that Thalía was going to give me this nice lesson, hahaha! And you know what? Next time I will listen.

It is super fresh, considering that yesterday they had a photoshoot of almost nine hours in Le Bain, of the Standard Hotel High Line, in the Meatpacking district. My team reports to me that at the end of the shoot, when everyone was already aching all over (from working), she saw a statue of a horse (see on page 5) and decided to get up, laughing, to dance and joing while everyone recorded it. They kept talking about her energy levels: "Thalía does not stop, she is impressive. She is just like you, she seems to never tire."

Anyway, I asked her how long she lives where we she is and she tells me that she has changed home a thousand times. "Thirteen times! With my mother I changed 12 times in my whole life, like gypsies from there to here. When I met Tommy, I said, 'oh, this is finally over, a house and now' , And no! We grab one, we add it, we sell it and we go to another and we say, 'oh, how great it is, we're already here, and suddenly it's from,' I fancy another style, do you? Me too 'and we're leaving." She confesses to me that they have like this addiction to build, decorate, perfect and then the next adventure.

Which leads to the conclusion that she and Tommy are more than a couple; they are accomplices, friends, companions, partners and spouse. In 1998 the Estefans put together a blind date that according to Thalía was going to be five minutes and they have been married for 19 years. So I asked her to describe who he is to her. "Tommy is the best life partner. We have complemented each other wonderfully. We came at a time when we both needed to feel relaxed and protected. When we met it was like, 'aaah, I can breathe, I can be me and if I fall I know that he will be there as a trapeze artist network', and I will be the same for him." She tells me that they are both passionate about music and that both her career and the ones Tommy has designed for other artists have made her know literally a lot about music. "You can't contain it! He knows about arranger, musicians, producers, he's amazing. He sits in the studio and starts with the engineer, 'plug this cable in the machine. No it's not giving me the effect, try this channel, maybe use the guitar channel... ok that's cool '. Tommy has ideas and shortcuts that only he does. From that I learn and ask for his opinion, but he never imposes things on me."

Shee says that he, like a good New Yorker from the Bronx, is super direct, super practical and pushes her a lot. Shee tells me that when he is going to get something out, he says to her: "don't give it that many turns, this sound is incredible." Why do you want to continue producing it if this demo tape is really cool, the more you put on it, the more it fades. This is cool, throw it! Next!"

It fascinates me that she tells me that the two are very ambitious and connect a lot in that. They have formed an empire together, just talking about Broadway, they have made Jersey Boys, who is on tour, A Bronx Tale and Donna Summer. They are together but not scrambled, because everyone put their wool and that individualism that they can exercise together has been a formula for success.

For Thalía, her name means community, representing her country and the Latin woman, which is why she has now made it a giant brand. She teamed up with Macy's to launch her clothing line with dresses, jumpsuits, jackets, pants, skirts, shoes, and jewelry. She recently launched the Thalia Sodi Fragrance collection, with 5 different perfumes, and these are just the beginning. "Today I am in an American store as emblematic as Macy's is, representing ourselves in the world of fashion, accessories, clothing, shoes, serving our community. It took me five years in meetings to get them to understand the market so that we could enter full to that store. It's sitting with the board and convincing them that this is what their store needs, that no one is doing it and finally, we did it! Five years." This makes me even more heartfelt when I ask her what is the most important business advice her husband has given her: "Persistence, persistence, persistence," she replies. And of course there is the result.

But the fact that they have formed this power couple, as the gringos say, is not the only reason why Thalía lives in the United States today and have what she have: she is convinced that she would be living something similar without Tommy, for how it was like her mom. She tells me she was a businesswoman from head to toe. "Ever since my father died and she faced the world alone, she was an entire businesswoman, lion. She stood up for you with everyone, she was against the tide. At that time, imagine, a businesswoman getting into a world of men, IMPOSSIBLE! And the only thing she lacked was the language. Before meeting Tommy, I had everything ready and organized. House in Bel Air, my agent, contracts, trips, tours, everything ready and on the move. It wasn't like they came to do me a favor or push me."

We laugh that many people think they get hold of María Mercedes, but she swears that this international career was already on the move. She tells me that there are videos, blogs and a thousand stories that prove it, but we agree that people are lazy to inquire into people's past. I think it is a matter of not giving credit to others. The easiest thing is to believe that things happened to people by luck or because her husband paid for everything, instead of going to work to get their dreams. But she insists that she does not care, because blessed be God for her beloved fans "who do have a present memory of their career and life." They are the ones who keep their mouths shut with specific data, dates, events, discography, etc. They collect videos of my trips to places like the Philippines, Brazil, Indonesia, Greece, and they are blunt! 'No no no. She did not do it, she did not internationalize it, here is the evidence', they reply. There are always human logs that are those that have been by my side since my beginnings; my colorful people".

Her mother, Yolanda Miranda Mange, died on Friday, May 27, 2011, of a stroke at age 76. We return to the subject and I want her to tell me more about what it was like. I see mixed feelings in her eyes, between which they light up and fill her with wonder. "In what, honey? That question is gigantic," she says. To which I reply (not without first telling her how much death shits me) to describe it to me. "She was a teacher of life, one of my great gurus. As Jesus Christ is, as God is, as are punctual people in your life who make you grow and learn. She was not one of those moms who solved everything for you, like she waited until she screwed it up and told me what we would have done differently: 'Well, you learned because you fell, now, we go for everything and we go for more, if you want... and if not, dedicate yourself to being a biologist or criminologist like your father, that you love, or dedicate yourself to something else and I will push you. I will go with you to the end, but if you are going to continue here do not defeat me. And if we have to close the house, grab suitcases, go to another country, lets go. 'That was my mom." I ask a very cannon story of her: "Oops, honey, all of them. She came to William Morris, one of the most important talent representation agencies in the United States, with the executives gathered, waiting for us and the woman without speaking English asked for her interpreter and I was saying 'this suits you and that is my daughter. They are not doing me any favors, the one who is doing them the favor is me.' No language, no name, no job, nothing stopped her."

Of course I am seeing her speak with this passion and I cannot imagine how I'm going to live without her, but she assures me that she is still here. "My mother is an unstoppable energy, because despite not being in this physical world, her energy is present. I believe that when you leave this plane, you leave your costume, your suit, your body; but you, the one who thinks, the one that feels, the inner voice, the one that guides you, that soul, is still latent, is still alive." She tells me that she always looks for a way to send her signals when she doesn't know what to do. "It appears to me somehow, a post with an ideal phrase for that moment, a bird that stands close to me, a gentle breeze. As if looking for those signs where I am already connected. One also has to be alert to receive those kinds of communications.

After all this, it is clear to me that it was a huge loss, almost impossible to accept. The good thing is that Thalía is from our club, a faithful believer and lover of therapy. In fact, she started going when she was 6 years old due to the trauma caused by having believed that she had been guilty of her father's death. 'What are you talking about?' I say. "I stopped talking for a whole year, that is, I was totally speechless for a year, because when my mother took me to see him in the hospital, he was super delicate, already dying in intensive care, my mom told me, 'give your papa a kiss recover',and he was connected and everything, I gave him his little kiss and when I leave the room, all the machines started to freak out. He died in half an hour. So I said, 'my love kiss killed him'. At six years old I interpreted that love connection was fatal, like giving love something happened. So from there my mom started taking me to child therapy." To which she speak again very well for her mother.

We fully agree that therapy is part of the basic basket. "Is that if your tooth hurts you go to the dentist," do you agree? You have a migraine, you go to the neurologist. If you have a spiel that is affecting your energy or making you feel bad, talk to someone!" One hundred percent.

I ask her if she was in therapy when her mother died, if she came back because of that or at what point in her life was she when that blow fell, which was also totally unexpected. "I've always been coming and going, I have two therapists who have always been in my life, and I love it. And that was like a comeback. I was with my mother, pregnant with my second child, when all of this happened out of nowhere. My mom had spent a month with me and I had to return to Mexico that weekend for my sister's wedding and supposedly she would return on Monday, because I was about to give birth. The last time I saw her she said 'mijita, come back after your little sister's wedding and here I will be with you until the baby is born.' She never came back." I can't stand that horror anymore. I interrupt her to ask who told about it to her. "Tommy told me. First I got up and the house was very quiet, and I 'where is Sabrina?' I sent her to the park to play for a while'. Then I sat down to start having breakfast and he arrives, sits down and tells me "My love, we have to talk." I didn't understand anything, Marthita, nothing, I say, are you kidding me?" 'This is not real, and I am very sorry, I am very sorry, my love.' I went crazy. I ran away." I can not over the shock, because apart of that I was pregnant. Horrible. Within two weeks I gave birth. It was a very strange mix, all the happiness and life of a baby's love in your hands, and loss, death at the same time. But definitely, the people around you it's the people who get you ahead."

In addition to returning to therapy, we started talking about the people around us. We are alike in that too: few, but very good. She tells me that, like me, she mainly relies on her sisters and her husband. "I have a different relationship with each one of my sisters. Each one is very close to me, but in an individual way. I learned to stop making a perfect family years ago. It strikes me that we all have to be happy and celebrate and laugh etc., that is not realistic." It fascinates me, I can't agree more. "Everyone has their life, their perspective, I cannot make all people see life as I do, nor can you make people see life as you want to see it. Everyone has their glasses with which they see their life of a different color and you have to respect that. Respect for the rights of others is peace, it is my motto."

In case by now they have not realized that Thalía is not someone who is victimized, and who comes to blows as they come, she tells me that there is something else with which she lives daily: Lyme disease. For those who have not heard of it, it is a disease caused by a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, which is brought by black ticks. It is very difficult to diagnose and can cause joint pain, temporary facial paralysis, a kind of mental nebula, affects muscle movement, among many other things. The impressive thing is that she knows where and when the tick that infected her bit her, the difficult thing is that there is not much to do.

"It was a summer that we went to the Hamptons and there were many deers, which are the ones that bring them. Where there is tall grass, that's where the ticks infected with this disease stay to attack. I remember that I had a great time, relaxed with my tummy near the grass, and suddenly I started to feel bad. And the doctors said that it was surely my pregnancy, that I was about to have the girl, that was it. When I had my daughter, I said, 'I mean, it's not pregnancy, I already have my daughter and it feels like I'm dying. I can't sleep a second, I sweat, my whole body hurts, every joint, every muscle, on the soles of my feet I feel like I have pins, the neck I can not move, cognitively I do not remember the name of the people. Something is happening to me that is not pregnancy or postpartum. And they continued, 'no, it is lactation, you will be better when the girl is...' and no. I went to the doctors and said, 'please, take blood from me'. They told me that I was exaggerated being, it was postpartum and I, 'I'm not sad, it's the happiest moment of my life, I have what I always dreamed of, a daughter!' Well, they weren't hitting the nail and I started investigating my symptoms. The most common was fibromyalgia, lupus and Lyme disease. I went to my doctor and I said 'do these tests for these diseases and send it to five laboratories' and I saw that there were three specific laboratories that only detect Lyme, so I asked that they be sent there as well. And it came out positive. "I tell him what cannon is instinct. When you know that something is not right, that there is something else, and how important it is not to rest until you know and be able to correct." I started to treat myself; two years of horse treatment. Because you have to take like five antibiotics, plus penicillin injections. I had penicillin balls here, my hair fell out, a horrible thing. And there came a time when I got to the plateau where Lyme and coinfections were checked, because every tick can have Lyme bacteria, but it can also have infections. Mine had four more things."

And here the thing does not end, you have to take care of yourself for life, and someone watching her on the streets or wondering why she had to live that? ZERO. "For twelve and a half years I have changed my life; I have to exercise every day. Not even to look good, I do it because it gives me energy, mobility, vitality and I also do yoga to stretch myself. Food: no flours, rice, potatoes, pasta, all that delicious, I give it to myself in doses because that turns into sugar, sugar turns into gasoline for these bacteria. Alcohol: I have been clean for four years, nowhere. A total change of life. It can attack because my immune system drains me and the little bit of bacteria that still exists, it grows again. It is a life regime but I learned to love it and enjoy it a lot... that has been the greatest lesson in life. Survival, connecting with me".

I have always believed that we realize how strong we are until being strong is the only option we have, but I also believe that only some people experience it that way, head-on, wanting to learn something and get ahead. Thalía is one of them. She swears that literally, there was a time when she thought she was going to die. "I once said to Tommy, 'See me today, because it is the last day that you see me alive, I am dying'. I felt that if I closed my eyes I would find that moment when you decide if you leave when you see the light. For me it was a before and after, Thalía before and after Lyme. Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda, started twelve years ago and mediated my new path".

Day or night: Day
She fall asleep at: 10:30
Her mornings are: breakfast and I go straight to the gym, so I'm still half asleep, because if I think about it I won't go
Singing or acting: singing [because it is also acting, hahaha]
Hair or face: hair, because for your face you wear glasses and ready
What her children loves: everything Mexican. Day of the Dead, the Three Kings, do not forget their tortillas and guacamole daily. Although Sabrina also has a lot of Italian, like her dad

Also, she wants to do something with what happened to her, and she has the conviction to help those who are going through the same thing. "I care that I can be that flag and that banner for many people who have it and lose hope. That disease takes away your will to live, but there is always hope, there is always someone willing to help you, only 85 percent of everything it's up to you. If you don't feel like rebuilding yourself from the inside, nobody can do it for you!"

I want you to tell me about your children, Sabrina Sakaë, eleven, and Matthew Alejandro, eight, who are seem to be their everything. First the names, I ask her how she chose them. "I liked the name Sabrina, which is 'princess', and Sakaë, 'prosperity' in Japanese; for me, she is my princess of prosperity, and Matthew Alejandro, my precious son, they are totally different, but very Mexican, very Italian, living in America, you know. My children are the best, they are great teachers... speaking again of gurus and guides and people like that in my life, they are for me. Above all, Sabrina, my daughter." Now I want to know what is the strongest thing she have discovered for being a mom. "Well, that is no longer about me and that is muy cabrón! Hahaha. It is no longer, 'today I got up and see what I want to do', no. Even if you get up and have your whole day planned, it always changes because your son gets up and has a fever, or your girl gets up and today she wants to stay home to play. So, when you are a mother you become a surfer, because you are like 'here comes the wave!' see how to do it."

I imagine perfectly why they hardly appear on their social networks, but I still ask her. "I get little, but my other family, who are my lifelong fans and who have been with me in everything, Marthita, in good times, in bad, always ask me for pictures of my children and for them they get what they want".

Here we let ourselves be talking about her fans, how she connects with them and how she lives this new digital age that is so demanding. "My first fan club, Mundo de Cristal, MDC, have been with me for almost 30 years, and all of them have always been supporting me tirelessly. There are others who also give me all their love and support and the general public, they all helped me a lot with my mom. At that time Twitter started, and a thousand DMs, 'please Thali'. They created a hashtag of 'laugh therapy for our queen' and they sent me jokes on Thursdays; Saturdays were 'hug therapy for our queen' and they would send me quotes about the beautiful things in life. And so we started to create that interaction, that's why I fell in love, I love social networks because it is direct contact with them, without intermediaries."

I throw her the inevitable question, because they already know that the subject of negativity and haters has traumatized me, and with more than 14 million followers on Instagram, I want to know how she does it. "I read everything they send me, eh; the comments, I enter my DMs, I love when they share their life with me. And about the negative, just as I told you that I retrained to survive the Lyme, so I retrained my eye to only see what It adds me and not what it takes away. My eyes look for the emojis of smilies, rainbows, little hearts. I don't see negative things, I trained my eye to see keywords like, love, positive, I love you, happiness, life, music, etc... I only see that, I don't see the blah blah blah". She reiterates that in addition, this is how she deals with her friends. "My friends, my people, everyone knows that not even in my house is there to 'notice that they told me that'... In my house there is NO door for that, only for stories that contribute as, 'notice that I knew to a speaker like Tony Robbins who is cannon...', aaahhh that yes, or 'notice that there is a doctor in neuroscience who is discovering a supplement that can help you to have more vitality', that I do like to listen to. But, 'I don't know who said I don't know what about you', that doesn't exist in my core or in Tommy's."

Returned to the topic of networks where I see her so funny and so loose, I ask her the story behind the Tiki Tiki video, and she starts. "I was talking to the people at the record label and they told me to celebrate that one of my videos had reached 300 million views, and a stylist friend had just sent me a box with lots of clothes celebrating my birthday, where that pink fringe outfit came, the 'tiki tiki look'. Honey, my hair brought it, I had not even bathed, of those days you get up and say, 'oh, what do I do?' I put a band in my hair, I curled it up and went out, 'darling, it's a day of celebration.' I did a Facebook Live for about 20 minutes and from there they took key bits to form the revolú! I got up the next day and started to see things everywhere, and on the third day it was already the hashtag #tikitikiti, and people already dressed like that, the piñatas and I, well, fascinated. All of this gives me joy, because it means that there are many crazy people like me. Because many connect with their group of people: if your group is political, you go for the political roll, if your group is LGBT+ or women in power or positive thinking, because you get together with your clan. Mine is, all together in one! People who want to live free and happy. With the #thaliachallenge thing, you suddenly see a guy come out onto the balcony with a megaphone and start, 'me oyen, me escuchan, residentes de Colombia', and that's cool. We all have a serious side, a vulnerable side, an intense side and a side of joy and a side of madness. I have that one."

In the end we share beauty secrets, or rather, I share my fears of any surgery or even botox. She tells me that she is a super fan of the 25,800 spa machines that make lasers, radiofrequency, pulsed light, etc... and she is fully aware that in five years they will be even better. It also tells me that water, water, water is the key. Which led me to think that I have to make a couple of adjustments, hahaha.

Anyway, Thalía is one of those warm people, who make you feel comfortable from the first moment. We understood each other very well and then we started what we were going. The theme was that in laughter and laughter, I even forgot to put the recorder to play (don't tell Natalie). Finally, she reminded me and since we are very obedient girls, we started recording. We could have talked for hours and hours, but we both had other (hellish) commitments. I don't know which of us two was more nervous, her for going to the dentist or me for a photoshoot. We hate! Fortunately today I can tell you that everything went well!

STAFF Credits:
Stylist Cannon @TheOnly.Agency
Hair Jennier Matos
Make Up Annelièse Tieck