How My Culture Influences My Everyday Life.

There are so many little things that make us who we are: the music we grew up hearing from the kitchen while someone cooked dinner, the way we greet people, the foods we crave for comfort, and the neighborhoods that feel like home before we even realize why. For me, being Puerto Rican and Dominican shapes my everyday life in ways both big and small. It’s in how I move through New York City, how I create, how I connect with people, and how I find beauty in everyday moments.

Living in Harlem has only deepened that connection. Harlem feels alive in a way that reminds me of the warmth I grew up around: music spilling out of storefronts in the summer, conversations on apartment stoops, the smell of food drifting through the block on a Sunday afternoon. There’s something deeply familiar about it all. Even on the busiest days, Harlem still feels personal—layered with culture, history, resilience, and creativity. I think that’s part of why I’ve always felt inspired living uptown.

My culture also influences the way I approach style and beauty. I grew up around women who carried themselves with confidence: hair done, jewelry on, fragrance before leaving the house—even if it was just for errands. Beauty was never about perfection; it was about pride and expression. I still carry that with me now. Whether I’m putting together an outfit for a coffee run or filming content for YouTube, I love mixing softness with confidence—gold hoops, glossy lips, sleek hair, oversized button downs, long nails for a season, no makeup the next. It all feels connected to the women who raised me.

Food is probably one of my strongest connections to my culture. There are meals that instantly ground me, no matter what kind of week I’m having: mangu, tostones, arroz con gandules, a good pastelito and coffee in the morning. Even something as simple as making cafecito while planning my day feels comforting. It’s routine, but it’s also memory. Food has always been tied to family, conversation, music, and community in my life.

There are also neighborhood spots that remind me of home and culture in different ways. I love stopping into local bodegas because they sometimes feel like the heartbeat of New York. There’s familiarity there: Spanish being spoken, music in the background, someone debating baseball at the counter. It feels warm. I also love places like NiLu Gift Boutique for gifts and little treasures around Harlem, and grabbing coffee from places like Dear Mama, where the neighborhood energy always feels welcoming and creative.

I think being Puerto Rican and Dominican has also shaped how I connect with people online. Community means a lot to me, and so does storytelling. I never want my content to feel cold or overly curated—I want it to feel like you’re catching up with a friend over coffee in Harlem. That warmth comes naturally because it’s how I was raised: loud families, honest conversations, music always playing somewhere, checking in on people, feeding people before they even ask if they’re hungry.

Even creatively, I notice how much my culture influences what I gravitate toward. I love vibrant neighborhoods, layered textures, late-night city walks in the summer, salsa drifting from passing cars, bright fruit stands, corner stores, Dominican salons filled with conversation—tiny moments that feel cinematic because they’re real. Those details make their way into my videos, blog posts, playlists, photos, and even the way I edit my vlogs.

At the end of the day, culture isn’t just something I talk about occasionally. It’s woven into my routines, my creativity, my comfort foods, my relationships, and the way I experience New York City every day. Being Puerto Rican and Dominican is a meaningful part of who I am, and I think living in Harlem has helped me stay closely connected to that feeling of community, rhythm, warmth, and home.