Linette Garcia, 32, is known for her comedic skits on social media about growing up in a Cuban household. Pictured above is Abuela, a staple character she portrays in her videos.
Courtesy of Samuel Harris
Linette Kristine Garcia has always been an entertainer. As a teen, she played trombone in marching band, taught guitar and dressed up as Disney characters at children’s parties.
But humor was where she excelled.
“I was always the one who made people laugh without even trying, you know, just being myself,” she said. “I loved it.”
Today, the 32-year-old’s comedic personality reaches thousands on social media. Garcia, who has more than 85,000 followers on Instagram and 193,000 on TikTok, is best known for her skits about growing up in a Cuban household in Miami.
In most videos, Garcia is a one-woman band, acting not only as herself, but also as characters commonly seen in Hispanic homes, including the nagging abuela, oblivious dad and loud mom. To look the part, she uses costumes and props, such as a cane, mustache and wig.
One of her top videos is a skit where she acts as seven people — mom and dad, abuela and abuelo, a child, herself and Juancho, the ugly boyfriend in the family, whom she portrays with huge ears and a fake beard. After Juancho leaves the house, everyone comments on his physical appearance.
The video has amassed more than 104,000 likes on Instagram since it was posted in March 2025.
Another popular skit features Garcia imitating Hispanic mothers who constantly call their children to warn them about the dangers of solo travel, such as getting kidnapped and never seeing their family again.
Throughout the video, Garcia imitates the idiosyncrasies of Latina moms — cleaning the driveway with a broom and bucket of water, wearing chancletas and broken glasses, and issuing sage advice, such as no confies en nadie (”don’t trust anyone”) and ten cuidado por ahi (”be careful out there”).
The video has garnered more than a million views and 127,000 likes on TikTok since it was posted in 2022. Recently, it was also posted on Instagram, where it has more than 500,000 views and 29,000 likes.
Natalie Stuart, a content creator based in Broward County and one of Garcia’s closest friends, says the relatability of Garcia’s content is one of her greatest assets.
“The reason she’s so successful is that it’s so authentic,” Stuart said.
Garcia has also collaborated on posts with comedic icons in South Florida, such as Mr. Red, a Miami-based entertainer with Cuban roots, and Lele Pons, a Venezuelan American social media personality.
The videos range from skits poking fun at Hispanic stereotypes to a parody of the song “Million Dollar Baby,” where Garcia acts as an abuela dancing on a moving truck while eating Cuban bread.
“I love filling people’s cups,” Garcia said. “I love making people feel happy.”
Her videos have landed her sponsorships with brands such as Pepto-Bismol, Colgate and Invisalign. Garcia’s highest-grossing deal was with Verizon, earning her $15,000. She did a skit portraying Hispanic moms who constantly FaceTime their children to know everything they’re doing, even after they move out.
Garcia has also been invited to movie premieres, VidCon and the Latin Grammy Awards.
“This isn’t a surprise to me that she’s like, come this far,” said her best friend, Priscilla Yero, who grew up with Garcia and now serves as a co-writer and videographer.
The duo meets every Sunday and Monday to brainstorm, write and film content, often for sessions of two to three hours.
South Florida social media personality Linette Garcia, who has more than 85,000 followers on Instagram and 193,000 on TikTok, with her ring light, tripod and camera in her kitchen. Nikole Valiente FIU Caplin News
Born to a Cuban father and a Puerto Rican mother, Garcia grew up in Hialeah and Cutler Bay, drawing inspiration for her humor from her experiences, friends and family.
One of her earliest skits dates back to September 2017, when Hurricane Irma passed through South Florida. Sporting a bright yellow raincoat and rainboots, Garcia pretends to be a journalist reporting on the storm in West Kendall as a palm tree leaf slaps her across the face.
Another skit from March 2018 features Garcia on a cruise recreating iconic scenes from “Titanic,” like frantically walking through a hallway while wearing a life jacket and calling out for Jack.
But a video of her imitating Power 96 radio personality DJ Def in 2019 was what made her take posting on social media seriously. The post landed her in the station’s studio, where she was invited for a tour. Captivated by their audio-mixing consoles, she realized working in the entertainment industry was what she was born to do.
“It just came to me,” Garcia recalled. “This is my world.”
After that day, securing a job at the station became her mission. But life had other plans.
“My goal was to create a video once a week, so that I’ll always be on Power’s mind,” Garcia said. “Little did I know that Power was just the stepping stone to building my content on social media.”
Her rise to local fame has been gradual. For roughly three years, Garcia stayed between 7,000 to 8,000 followers. Occasionally, she faces creative burnout.
“There have even been points that I won’t create for a whole month, and it gets dark,” Garcia said.
Before securing brand deals, she worked as a server for 11 years in restaurants such as Sushi Saki, Brio Tuscan Grille and Morton Steakhouse.
Today, she has a side job at Pullbangerz, a company that sells signed sports memorabilia, where she uses her personality to hawk collectibles on TikTok livestreams.
Garcia is also dabbling in stand-up comedy, which she once avoided. Her first gig was at InnerCat Live, an event venue in Doral, in December.
“My biggest fear in life was stand-up,” Garcia said. “I accomplished it. Now I’m not scared of anything.”
Next up is her long-standing goal of working as an actress. She hopes to star on comedy shows, SNL and have her own special on Netflix.
“The other side of fear is success,” Garcia said, later adding, “I have the ability to make my dreams come true.”
This story is the result of a partnership between Florida International University’s Lee Caplin School of Journalism and Media and the Miami Herald.