21 Questions with Steph Nonyabiz
By Matt Levy
Instagram model, comedienne, clapback extraordinaire and social media personality Steph Nonyabiz AKA BronxBoomBoom and I met on Twitter reciprocating follows (you can find her at @KissMyBigFatAss) trading favs at our jokes. However, we’ve never met. I’ve seen her daily livestream on TangoMe but that didn’t stop me from wanting to know more about the person with the hilarious Twitter handle that lives by the mantra, “Everything that you go through in life is directly influenced by how much you love yourself.” So, I asked her a few questions. Her last name might be “Nonyabiz” but she certainly shared quite a bit. Here’s her story, totally uncensored and uncut. She’s a character and lets loose with these 21 questions.
01.) How did you get started doing what you do?
In all honesty… peer pressure! Folks would tell me I would be good at modeling and comedy, and to try them out, and I did it and liked it.
02.) Where are you from?
So I’m REALLY from New York. I was born in Metropolitan Hospital, lived in the Bronx and Manhattan until I was 4. Then, my entire family moved to Miami. And I lived there for 23 years of my life. When I was 27 I was fed up and moved back here. 2020 will make four years that I am living in my true hometown as an adult.
03.) Tell me about your parents.
I have three parents. My mother left my father while I was in utero. She married my stepfather when I was two. I met my biological father at 24. Both my dads are NuYoricans. My mother is from Guayaquil, Ecuador; she moved to the US when she was 15. I honestly don’t consider myself close to any of them.
04.) What makes your creative product unique?
I’m exotic, I’m beautiful, I have a business mind, and I am incredibly talented in the three major branches of the performing arts (acting, singing and dancing). Being a fluent Spanish speaker helps me a lot too.
05.) Who are your artistic influences?
Jennifer López, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Adam Lambert, MARINA, t.A.T.u., Vybz Kartel, DeRay Davis, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Foxx, Whoopi Goldberg, Cristian Castro, and Ricardo Montaner.
06.) What’s your proudest moment in your career?
So far, it’s having people tell me I’m “IG famous.” I don’t consider it a real form of celebrity but folks really treat me like one, so I revel in it. I have also had some people recognize me in public and ask for a photo. Most of them say I am even more beautiful in person. I also hear I’m inspirational A LOT. Very flattering.
07.) Tell me about your childhood.
Fought a lot with my mom, my stepdad was on drugs, and I watched my grandfather die. However, the absolute best memory I have of my childhood are the four summers I spent in Ecuador. Visiting any Latin American country is a wild experience because they have the most relaxed laws and ways of life. If a sports team won a big event, all businesses would close the next day to celebrate.
While there, I saw things that didn’t exist in the US like three-liter sodas. Also, you can buy eggs individually. Back then, one would cost eight cents. Oh! And every time I went I always got a really bad case of food poisoning. Which is funny considering the food over there is way less processed than here.
08.) Do you have a significant other? How did you meet?
I do, and the truth is, we met on Snapchat!
09.) Do you have a favorite story you like to tell?
The funniest thing I have ever seen in my life is a man with one leg riding a bike on the corner of Tungurahua and Pedro Pablo Gomez. Whenever he started to lose traction he would stand up on his full leg and push the bike and then jump on it and continue pedaling. It was kind of inspirational but also hilarious.
10.) Do you have a hobby outside of your main passion?
I enjoy baking cakes, cookies and brownies.
I also read self-help, do-it-yourself, business, psychology, memoir/biography, and history books. My favorite book is Private Parts by Howard Stern (it made me cry laughing). He isn’t a comic but he is definitely an entertainer which I aspire to be.
Also, I love being around animals. Dogs are my favorite. I like almost all animals though. I don’t like cats too much. They act like being your pet is doing YOU a favor.
11.) Who is your favorite collaborator and why?
Aeroyalty Films! He’s a NY-based film director and just makes me feel like I’m truly meant for the spotlight.
12.) What are some of your favorite TV shows, music, and art?
My favorite animated show of all time is Sailor Moon for animation and Golden Girls for live action. I listen to pop like Marina, island music (Vybz Kartel is my favorite), Patti LaBelle-type R&B, and Latin music like Shakira. Finally, I’d say my favorite piece of art is The Birth of Venus by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli.
13.) What did you study?
I received my Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The best part of psych is how hard people try to hide that they aren’t fucked up. Or alternatively, seeing where or how someone IS fucked up.
14.) What makes you really happy?
Good sex. Ice cream. Specifically cookie dough. People telling me I am unique and that I will be successful. When things go my way.
15.) I know it’s a weird time but is there anything political you want to say?
To choose right is to regress, to choose left is to progress. We can only live life forward, so why do people try so hard to go back to the past?
16.) Tell me about your apartment. What’s your place like?
I call it “The Dollhouse” because beyond the fact that beautiful women live in it, everything is so compact you would have to be Barbie’s size to think it is huge. I can’t even stretch out entirely while sitting in my tub.
17.) What’s the coolest thing you’ve done?
I made a Latin trap song called “Desde el piso hacia el sofá” which translates to “From the floor to the sofa.” My favorite lyric is:
Vine aquí para ser una estrella
No dejare que nada me detenga
Dormiría en el piso y el sofa
Hasta que la fama venga
In English the lyrics read as:
I came here to be a star
I won’t let anything stop me
I will sleep on the floor and the couch
Until the fame comes/arrives
I’ve also performed standup, have been in music videos, web series such as Never Play The Victim and Troublesome Threesome and short films like Circle Of Relationship and The Revolution Will Be Televised. You can see all of these shorts and series in the link at the end of the interview.
19.) Any projects you’re working on now?
A pinup-style calendar. More comedy performance stuff. Traveling to other countries like UAE, England, Japan, Ecuador, Spain and Egypt to collaborate with other entertainers there once this is over.
21.) Where do you see yourself in five years?
I’m really hoping to move to another nation! It’s like my main goal, even more than being A-list.
You can catch Steph on the internet here. This link is an aggregator that lists all the social networks you can find her on.
You can also see a lot of her work on Aeroyalty’s Instagram.
Finally! Got two last Stephanie facts since you stuck around until the end.
Her favorite scent is vanilla and favorite color is red. You earned that, reader.
