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This is Locked In, a quarterly column exploring where tech meets fashion, straight from the industry’s innovators. From viral gadgets to must-have accessories, discover the chicest ways to make your everyday devices part of your everyday wardrobe.
Tefi Pessoa is a lot of things: TikTok queen, podcaster, salsa dancer, cat mom, and an unstoppable force on the red carpet when armed with a microphone and a phone strap. “Some people leash their kids; I leash my phone. It’s my whole office,” she explains. “The strap helps when I’m trying to focus on connecting with whoever I’m interviewing. Worrying about one less thing is nice.”
Tefi did her first big red carpet interview in 2021 for Warner Bros. and Paramount, and since then has garnered millions of views, scoring prestigious hosting gigs with Netflix, Hulu, MTV, and more. Has it been perfect? Not always—she once went viral for wearing her gown incorrectly on the red carpet.
“I’ve chosen exposure therapy as a career,” Tefi says. “It’s only made me better.” And it’s given her the skills to grab the internet by the reins and shape her career into something that’s entirely her own, just like she’s done with her signature accessory. Because in Tefi’s hands, phone straps aren’t just handy decorations. They’re a rebellion against the notion that tech only separates us from each other—an insistence on human connection. Get in on more of her genius below.
You’re heading to the carpets. Talk to me about what you’re packing in your bag. What are your essentials?
I bring backup makeup. Those lights are crazy town, and I also have a face that eats blush, so I always bring extra blush. I bring a lint roller, a charger, and a backup mic. A portable charger has saved my life at least twice, I was going to interview Anne Hathaway once and I thought my phone had been charging the whole time. Nope. Glad I had my portable.
You’re a big phone straps user, when did you first hop on the train?
I was an assistant stylist for a long time and not a good one. But I always left my phone everywhere. And then one day, back in 2010, I remember H&M was selling leather phone leashes. I got one and I had my friend burn the letter T into the corner, so I’d wear it around my neck. People would come up to me and ask about it but I was gatekeeping at that time. I was like, I have no idea where it’s from. I think I wore that leather phone strap until the strap split.
Do you feel like having your hands free with the phone strap has changed your workflow? Being able to wear your phone, doing interviews hands-free?
When I’m doing interviews, I’m trying so hard to focus on connecting with whoever I’m interviewing. So to worry about one less thing is very nice. And sometimes I turn on the news and I read headlines, so, you know, worrying about one less thing.
Ossa New York Leather Bolo Wristlet
Wildflower Chrome Wristlet
String Ting Love Song Wristlet Phone Strap
Tarina Tarantino Tokyo Neon Phone WristletDo you have any go-to tips and tricks for when you’re trying to connect with celebs on the red carpet in such a short amount of time?
You get two questions, so I’ll have some random thing in my mind about them, and I try to build off that. Or I’ll try to come up with two jokes that I can say to this person, and I’ll build an interview around those two jokes, knowing that I’ll get the sound bite.
Speaking of sound bites, do you feel like red carpet interviews have changed with the rise of social media?
Looking back, I think that interviewers liked to ruffle feathers to get a big negative headline. We were not interested in parasocial relationships; we were more interested in confrontation, making people spill their guts. But I think we’ve exhausted vulnerability porn a little bit. People feel like they know the celeb, and they want to see them comfortable. We don’t need to know about the worst moments in their lives anymore. We know how rough Selena Gomez has had it, so we’re like, did you have a good breakfast?
What was your first-ever red carpet?
When I wore the hole dress. I was interviewing Jason Momoa and Zendaya in London, and I didn’t put my leg through a hole in a dress and wore it incorrectly. That was the first red carpet, ever.
That’s crazy. Do you feel like your approach to interviewing has evolved since then?
The way I understand production has changed. I can dance better with a producer now. I’m a better teammate. I’m more flexible now with my style, because I’ve been doing it for a while. Prime doesn’t want the same thing as Warner. You know? They’re two different girls. I also think it’s important to make a joke out of the fact that you don’t know what you’re doing. You can lean in. And I don’t think I’ve ever been scared to lean in.
I hear a lot about people trying to detox from their screens. Since your phone is so closely tied to your job, how do you feel about your relationship with your phone?
No, I love my phone. People were like, I was born in the wrong year. I’m like, this is perfect. My Spotify DJ? He knows me better than anybody. And the more that my career expands, the more boundaries I’ve created with my audience, which only strengthens our relationship because it allows me to still enjoy it. I’m muting so many words a day.
And I realized people don’t need to know the excruciating details of my life. When my grandparents passed away, I couldn’t believe I couldn’t tell them all the cool things I’ve been doing. I don’t have to tell you how old they were for you to relate to that universal feeling of grief and disappointment. That’s a boundary I set. It’s an ugly word, but I set them so that we can be nose to nose, chest to chest. And as I evolve, my boundaries might evolve, too.
Do you feel like you can pinpoint a specific moment where you were like, whoa, I need to protect some of my life in this?
I think after I was in a relationship where I was engaged. I was posting as though this person would be around forever. And then that ended, and I couldn’t be mad at people for asking about my life that I had shared, but I don’t like to actively figure things out with the internet. So now I only talk about things that I have already recovered from, or I have hindsight on already.
Rona Liana Ahdout
Top Andrea Mary Marshall, iPhone 16 Pro Max Apple, phone case and strap Ossa, rings Tefi’s own.
If you were talking to a creator who was feeling burned out, how would you recommend that they handle that? How do you protect your creative energy?
I always say if I go to sleep with an idea, when I wake up, somebody will have posted it. The internet has taught us that we don’t have one unique experience. But I think what I would tell a creator is that because I talk about real life, I have to go be around real people in real life. In order for you to continue working this hard, you have to let go of your phone and live your life so you can talk about it.
Makes sense! Do you have any advice that you would give to Gen Z or Gen Alpha creators who want to do what you do?
We are so used to seeing people blow up overnight. I see my career as a marathon, not a sprint. I just finished a book proposal that I’ve been working on for two and a half years. And no, it’s not a memoir because I’m too young for a memoir. But if you’re running out of things to say, you’re not putting your phone down enough. I’m also delusional in the fact where I think that most of the time, at least two people are going to agree with me.
I think that’s a pretty safe bet given the size of your audience. I think that’s a really safe bet.
I don’t care about the numbers that much because if I get a video with a thousand views, I’m like, a thousand people in my apartment, that’d be crazy. I call it the Instagram 11 mentality. Do you remember when you got to 11 likes on a post, and it would go from listing usernames to saying 11 likes? As long as I get 11 likes, I think I’m gold.
Also, there are two kinds of creators. There’s the kind that lives on social media: Negative comments are detrimental. Those views are everything. Then there’s the creator that uses it as a stepping stone. This is just one screen of many screens they want to be on. They want to be in theater, they want to be a clothing designer. And when they get some negative comments, this isn’t the only thing that they want to do, so it’s fine.
Right. You have other legs at the table, so the table won’t collapse if one takes a hit.
There are some creators where social media is their entire table, house, and neighborhood. That’s where I say that you need one hobby that you don’t post about. For me, it’s salsa dancing. And I think that’s the thing with longevity, you never know who’s about to have a comeback. That’s the silver lining of social media. I’ll be like, am I in my flop era? But then the next day I could post something, and I’m like, I’m so back. Just me and my phone leash ready to take on the world.
What do you do when you run out of ideas besides going outside and touching grass?
I watch a movie. I watch a new show. I look up a book. The other day, I needed ideas, and I looked up Stargirl, a book I read in seventh grade. Blue cover. Or I’ll pick a year. Like, I’ll be like, okay, 1982. What won the Oscar in 1982? And I’ll watch that movie. Actors change, but themes don’t.
Are you watching or reading anything interesting right now?
I just finished Adolescence, which was heavy. It just makes me think because I’m going to freeze my eggs. I’m going to pop out a pup, have a kid at some point. And seeing that the internet gives children an independence that parents aren’t always prepared for… There was a theme of being terrified of raising bad people. But also, the person who broke your heart is going to fall in love again with somebody. So what is a bad person? What is a bad kid?
If somebody wanted to break into entertainment journalism and they were like, Tefi, I want to do what you do, what would you tell them?
Start talking today. Press record. If it’s bad, who cares? Cher has this quote: “Until you’re ready to look foolish, you’ll never have the possibility of being great.” I’d rather let people see me be bad at something so they can say, “Oh my God, I remember when…” My first red carpet, I didn’t wear my dress right. I’ve chosen exposure therapy as a career. It’s only made me better.
Do you feel like that’s a realization that’s come with your thirties? Like, do you feel like when you were in your twenties, you had the same sort of mindset?
I come from Miami, where so many people start over. They call it little Latin America. But when I moved to New York in my twenties, the mindset I had was cool job sickness. Everybody needed to be around really important people, stylish people, thin people. This idea of being a part of an exclusive part of society. And now that I’m in my thirties, I think of my classmate’s mom, who was a lunch lady, and we never made fun of them because there’s honor in paying your rent on time and taking care of your family. I’m like, the lunch lady is also cool, you know?
Has your definition of success shifted and changed over time?
So many people are legends, but they will be remembered for how they made people feel, not their work. There are people that have done so many movies or albums, gone on sold-out tours, and at the end of the day, people remember that they were rude to a reporter or publicist. Didn’t pay their team. To me, success is being around people and enjoying each other. Oh, and I really, really want a farm.
*Tefi is 35 at the time of publishing, but was 34 at the time of our interview. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
(Lead image) All clothing Ferragamo, iPhone 16 Pro Max Apple, phone case and strap Casetify, earrings (bottom) Laura Lombardi, earrings and rings Tefi’s own.
Styled by Jessica Neises. Hair by Clay Nielsen. Makeup by Gita Bass at The Wall Group. Manicure by Yukie Miyakawa for Chanel.
Hannah is the Shopping Editor at Cosmopolitan, covering all things from chic home decor to trendy fashion finds, TikTok products that are actually worth your $$$, and the perfect gift to buy for your boyfriend’s mom. She previously wrote for Seventeen and CR Fashion Book. Follow her on Instagram for hot takes on red carpet fashion and pictures of her office outfits that nobody asked for.