Hello there! ​I'm so excited you are here!

Thank you for visiting and for wanting to learn more about me;)

I am Jovanna, a cheery, fun-loving yet committed professional actress, host and voiceover artist who loves to work hard & play often!

I love the 'new'!!

That is...

New experiences, new places, new Ideas and, of course,.

New Adventures!

I really DO thrive on doing and seeing new things, learning and growing!!

I also really love to help others as well as add a smile to someone's day!!

I know for certain that these strong Jovanna traits are because of my family!!

They Rock & They ARE My Rock!!  

Where I'm From

I was born, raised, and schooled mostly in New York & New Jersey. I feel so blessed to carry with me my rich Dominican culture and all the life-changing lessons from living in some of the most amazing cities like New York, Santo Domingo, London, Miami, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, just to name the bigger ones!! 'Cause you probably never heard of Skamakowa, WA... Yup, I knew it...lol;) Truth be told, neither had I before a serendipitous three-month adventure right on the breathtaking Columbia River! (More on that another time.)

I am grateful to my small town experiences for which without I would NOT be

the Jovanna I am today! My one (literally!) square mile town where I went to

middle/high school and which I credit for making me a 'Jersey girl at heart'

​keeps me grounded throughout. I had that small town feel with the NY Greenwich

Village as my after-school playground (literally!)

My Wishes and Desires Are Simple

Yet my vision and encounters are vast and varied!!

Where I Started

I attended Pace University in New York. It was there that I realized my love of the business world and pursued a major in International Marketing and Advertising.

I was also bound and determined to study abroad and ultimately chose London ​as my host city. Further adventures had me backpacking through Edinburgh, Dublin, Bath, Paris, Rome, Florence, Brussels, Amsterdam, Munich and another half a dozen cities on my meager little student budget...What can I say? I'm resourceful;)

It was after my fourth internship in two years at MasterCard International and while in London that I received my offer to join the Fortune 100 company as a Media Specialist upon graduation. It was so hard to part with my once-in-a-lifetime European experience and even harder to get a Visa to stay in London!! Experiencing a great deal of reverse culture shock, I returned back to the States to graduate Magna Cum Laude...Yup, that's Right!! Magna Cum Laude

I quickly entered my 'real' adult years!! It was a really exciting time at MasterCard as the Priceless Campaign was being unveiled and becoming a huge award-winning and pop-culture phenomenon. I loved being behind the scenes, working along side some of THE most fantastic and brilliant minds in Advertising, creating and bringing memorable Priceless commercials for you all to see!!

By the age of 23, I was promoted to Media Manager, managing MasterCard's almost $270 MILLION (yes, million) dollar media budget!! It was a (killer) challenge I would later look back on and appreciate. However, the desire to be IN FRONT of the camera was becoming stronger every minute of every day. And presented with the extremely difficult crossroads to leave security, stability, comfort, ease, fun, and an amazing group of people who I had grown so close to and loved—oh, and of course, not to mention my entire amazing family, friends and the fantastic city of New York (ok, super long-run, but man, was it a hard decision for me!).

​I Decided My Life's GOAL:

To Live MY Life With No REGRETS...

The decision was made!!

I was leaving MasterCard.

Oh boy, what next??

​

I was leaving NY, too!!

HOLY Moly, Yikes!!!! lol;)

​Where I Went

Somehow stars aligned and I packed up (well, I had the help of my entire, did I mention incredible family?) Yeah, they told me that I packed the 'perfect' box and they packed the rest of my apartment. (I gotta admit, kind of true.)

With zero clue as to how and what would unfold. I packed only what I could fit in my little 2-seater convertible and drove to Virginia, where I put my car and myself on Amtrak's Auto Train heading to Sanford, FL.

The stars continued to align, faith filled and fate proved, and I drove into steamy Miami Beach one day later!! My strategy, you might ask?

I told myself: just say "Hi" and see what happens...

ONLY in MIAMI!!

My strategy worked!!!!

Within 3 days, I had 2 jobs and a fantastic studio 1/2 a block from the ocean!!

Which was where I was first 'spotted' to do my first music video on a yacht with

Ironically, a British singer/performer named Joshua...

ONLY in MIAMI!!

My strategy worked again;)

I could share story after story but it was clear that my dream of being in front of the camera and performing live was fast becoming a reality!! From Univision Red Carpets to trips to some of the most pristine Caribbean islands to travel shows, did I mention that I sooo wanted to have Brooke Burke's travel schedule and visit all those different cultures around the World!?! I was living and loving this life far more than I could have ever dreamed!!

So What Happened?

Like so many performers, artists, dancers, and actors, the time comes when you set your sights on what else is out there. I began to outgrow the tiny island and began to dream of Hollywood!! That's what happened...lol;)

So here I was again, at another crossroads!!

Do I stay in a market I know and love where people now know and seek me? Or...                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Do I try to go on yet another new adventure?

I Drew Upon My Life's MANTRA Again...

No REGRETS REMEMBER?

To Live MY Life With No REGRETS...

Where Did I GO This Time?

I packed my now much larger Toyota truck and headed West! I stopped along

the way in some great cities I'd long wanted to visit: New Orleans, San Antonio,

Denver, Scottsdale—gosh, driving cross country is SUCH a BLAST!! 

(I was checking off another bucket list item.)

7 days and 3000 miles later, I had made it!! BURBANK, CALIFORNIA...

I know, a little odd but I had signed up for a weekend intensive, which I was

​pushing myself to make for the 7AM start time, which I did...thank you very much;)

I'll never forget the first time riding in that Holiday Inn Burbank glass elevator and seeing the snow-capped mountains in the distance!! Mountains?? I had never seen anything like it!! I was in love!!!

I can honestly say that LA has been THE most challenging market for me to crack, although it has also been the ABSOLUTE most thrilling and character-building experience of my life!! I most definitely did not have the easy transition I had in Miami as far as setting up shop...

 

The year was 2009 and the Great Recession had taken hold.

I did my apartment and job searches overnight at the 24-hour Denny's in Santa Monica. The free wifi and ample coffee refills saved me. {Funny, little side note: it was in this exact Denny's where I first learned to drink coffee, actually;) I had never really incorporated coffee as part of my day before. Isn't that kind of wild NOW knowing how much I just love my morning with a cup of joe in the morning!}

Anyway, I would then get to the gym at 5am when it opened to get my workout and shower. This was BEFORE I had heard of 24Hr Fitness—my coming from the East Coast and all!! What?! 24 HOURS!! Brilliant!! Sign ME UP!! My time at 24Hr Fitness saved me on so many occasions and made me so immeasurably happy!! Memories;)

Well I'd be off to see apartments aimlessly driving the most inefficient routes across town during the most awful traffic times, no less. You, more than likely, can relate to your first weeks driving here if you aren't one of the few still remaining treasured LA-born Angelenos.

After too many hours without sleep, I would then finally get a few hours sleep, at best, in my car! I would try to park at the beach to watch and wake up to the ocean so take that for awesome. It was close to a month before I felt what it was like to sleep in a bed again!! And that wasn't even my own apartment or a real bed for that matter!! It was an apartment share sleeping on a pull-out futon in the living room—futon surfing, I suppose;) 

Although, shhh, I don't think my mom and dad and My Tita (grandma, RIP) never really knew the real reality of it all...

Well, let's FFW...

We all have these stories.

Where Am I now, You Ask?

EIGHT years in Los Angeles!! I knowww...sooo WILD!!

LA is a city I love beyond my wildest expectations!

Where my path has led me to stumble upon THE most amazing

Friends, mentors, teachers, advisers, agents—all are still supporting my dream!! 

It's such a thrill and a tremendous blessing to have a team that 

believes in me to this day!!

It's also such an amazing feeling to be in the commercial world again!!

In front of the camera, that is. I so love it!!

I know most television viewers FFW past commercials but...

that is just not the case with me!!

I do...I love watching and especially LOVE being part of 

these fantastic little 30-second stories that can make us 

(Smile, laugh, cry or, wait for it, think...lol.)

I also had the great privilege to manage John Sudol's Center for the Language of the Face. An absolute life- and career-changing experience alongside John Sudol's brilliant and unique work and ginormous contribution to the acting craft. It has forever changed me and I've witnessed firsthand the thousands of students, both actors and non-actors, who have transformed because of his work!! HUGE Fan always;)

John's book "Acting: Face to Face", a Bestseller on Amazon, now reaches actors and professionals worldwide. Touring with the book was an extraordinary opportunity with incredible lessons in organization, coordination, strategy and follow-up. And cherry on top?

"Acting: Face to Face" was featured on Forbes.com as "One of the best books on leadership." I boast so much because this genius work has the capacity to alter how we interact with each other in our businesses and our everyday worlds. And why I extremely honored to have been credited as a Contributing Editor!!

Where Am I Going?

Can you now see how I get so excited looking forward to all the amazing, unbelievable experiences I know await me on this journey of mine!?!?

Looking ahead, I intend to incorporate my love for the camera with my biggest dream of traveling around the globe because I am just so fascinated by different cultures and ways of living. I want to experience ALL the exotic destinations you see in Conde Nast Traveler write-ups and magazines and on MY Pinterest, too!! You HAVE to check it out...I am very proud of My Boards. 

I also revel in my alone time, reading, writing and learning. It's in these most private moments where thoughts, dreams and new ideas form, roam and present themselves to me!! (I just love that.)

I hope you will continue to follow along to see where and what the next NEW moment for me will be!!

If you are still reading this,.

I THANK YOU!!

To those I love and for those who love me, I thank YOU even more for your continued support and encouragement!! I am very grateful for the strength you lend to me to continue along these twists and turns while navigating these wacky waters of show business;)

So, Thank you, 'gain & 'gain!!

Thank YOU for making me the strong, courageous, risk-taking little chiquita I am today and will continue to evolve and become!

I wish everyone the VERY best and will offer a Jovanna smile to everyone along the way!

So, yup. This is Jovanna;)

Stay tuned, because I will soon be updating you all with the latest and greatest happenings!! I would love to have you along, as I foresee another crossroads coming up ahead...

We shall soon see which road less traveled I will choose to embark on next!

'Til Soon...

xo;)

Jo