If you grew up in the early 2000s, I would bet a lot of money that you probably watched the hit Disney Channel TV show, Wizards of Waverly Place. This show was one of my absolute favorites growing up and my favorite character was of course, Alex Russo, played by Selena Gomez, who hardly needs an introduction. Gomez would go on to continue to dominate my childhood, appearing in movies like The Princess Protection Program and Another Cinderella Story, both of which went double platinum in my house. Now, Gomez doesn’t only continue to act in popular TV shows and movies but she also has a successful music career, and is the CEO of her makeup brand, Rare Beauty, which is also making waves in the beauty community. It has been an honor to grow up alongside Gomez and see her become the successful woman that she is today. It is truly inspiring and for Women’s History Month, I want to highlight her accomplishments and what it means for me, a young Latina, to see another Latina succeed in this difficult world. (Just a quick disclaimer, I personally do not believe in gatekeeping an ethnicity to only those born and raised in Latin American countries, so if you do then, respectfully, this article is not for you.)
Gomez was born on July 22, 1992 in Grand Prairie, Texas to her mother, Mandy, and father, Ricardo. Gomez is actually named after the Tejano singer, Selena Quintanilla, who I’ve also written an article about that you should totally check out. Gomez started her acting career very early, starring as “Gianna” in the show Barney & Friends in 2001-2003. Then, Gomez made her film debut in Spy Kids 3: Game Over in 2003, even though she played a really small role. Gomez struck gold however in 2006 when she began to make appearances on popular Disney Channel shows, including The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Hannah Montana. Gomez impressed Disney so much with her small appearances on these shows that in 2007 Disney created a new show titled Wizards of Waverly Place with Gomez in the lead role of Alex Russo. The rest is history.
The next few years are an absolute explosion of Gomez being booked and busy. Starting with the lead role as Mary Santiago in the movie Another Cinderella Story. This role was the first film where Gomez proved to be a triple threat by showcasing her dancing and singing skills. Not only did Gomez contribute three songs to the movie’s soundtrack but she entered the Billboard Hot 100 Chat with her song from the movie, “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know.” I loved this movie so much, I used to watch it over and over again until everyone in the house was sick of me. To me, it was one of the first times that I felt represented as a Latina in a movie that was so popular, even if Mary’s latiness is only slightly mentioned. Also in 2008, Gomez signed a record deal with Hollywood Records at just 16 years old. This would lead to the creation of Selena Gomez and the Scene, a pop band with Gomez as the lead singer. The group would go on to release three albums between 2009-2011, with many of their songs being massive hits including, “Naturally,” “Love You Like A Love Song,” and “Who Says,” all that were also on repeat on my MP3. Now, if I sat here and explained everything else that Gomez was in at the time, we would be here for a long time. So instead I will just list them out; Ramona and Beezus, Princess Protection Program, Monte Carlo, Hotel Transylvania, Spring Breakers, and of course, Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie. All of these movies Gomez did while also starring in Wizards of Waverly Place, which ended in 2012, which only slightly tells you how enormous her influence was in the early 2010s. If you don’t remember this era, I genuinely feel sorry for you because I would do anything to get to experience this again.
Another reason why Gomez had so much influence at this time is due to her very public, very high profile relationship with fellow child star, Justin Bieber. Yup, the young couple of our time, “Jelena,” was a monumental relationship that would endure numerous cheating and break-up rumors, insane back and forth through songs, and eventually a very messy breakup that continues to be one of the best pieces of drama in the modern era. I don’t want to hark on this for too long because Gomez has been very open on how damaging this relationship was to her mental health but I don’t think it’s possible to talk about Gomez without talking about Jelena. I cannot begin to explain how important and influential this relationship was to the 2010s. Gomez was that girland it didn’t end there.
After the ending of Wizards of Waverly Place, Gomez decided to turn her focus to her music career. Like mentioned above, Gomez had three very successful albums with her group, but in 2012 she announced that the group would be entering a hiatus but also revealed that she would be releasing her first solo album. This album was, of course, the iconic “Stars Dance” album that was released in 2013. Not to brag, but the Stars Dance Tour was actually my first concert ever and was such an incredible experience. Gomez toured across North America and Europe, ultimately cancelling the Australian and Asian legs of the tour to spend time with family. Gomez also made her producer debut, serving as a producer on the Disney Channel special The Wizards Return: Alex vs Alex, which she also starred in. Gomez continued to make music, releasing her second solo album, “Revival,” which included the hit songs, “Kill Em With Kindness,” “Can’t Keep My Hands To Myself,” and “Me & The Rhythm.”
In 2016, after the Revival Tour, Gomez announced that she would be going on a break from the media for her own mental health, as well as her physical health revealing that she had been diagnosed with lupus. As someone who’s aunt suffers from lupus, it had always been incredibly important to me to see someone with so much influence and popularity bring awareness to the condition. Then in 2017, Gomez served as an executive producer for the Netflix TV show, 13 Reasons Why. Once again, in the years that followed, Gomez was involved in many popular movies, TV shows, and music of the late 2010s. In 2019, she released the hit single, “Lose You To Love Me,” which many saw as the singer showing that she had learned how to heal after her very turbulent relationship with Justin Bieber. This song, as well as many other hits, were on her third album, “Rare,” which was released on Jan.10, 2020, only a few months before the COVID-19 global pandemic.
During the pandemic, Gomez did not slow down. She starred in her very own cooking show, “Selena + Chef,” which streams on HBO Max. And released her very own beauty company, Rare Beauty. Gomez has been very open about how monumental this beauty company is for her. In the company’s mission statement, it says that, “this is makeup made to feel good in, without hiding what makes you unique — because Rare Beauty is not about being someone else, but being who you are.” Alongside the release of the company in 2020, Gomez also created the Rare Impact Fund, where she pledged to donate 1% of all sales to the fund to help expand mental health services and education for young people, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but in the five years of the charity, it has raised over $20 million. Gomez’s advocacy for mental health is also another reason why I admire her so much because even in the eye of scrutiny and judgement, she continues to fight for those less fortunate. In 2022, Gomez was honored with the Boston-based Ruderman Family Foundation’s annual Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion for “drawing inspiration from her personal journey” to help others worldwide get access to counseling and other services.
Gomez continues to be a shining light for young people everywhere. She not only continues to act in hit shows like the comedy-drama Only Murderers In The Building – which has won numerous awards, most recently the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series – and the Academy Award Winning film, Emilia Perez and also a reboot of Wizards of Waverly Place titled Wizards Beyond Waverly Place which premiered in 2024. Gomez also continues to make music, recently releasing the song “Sunset Blvd,” in collaboration with her fiancé, Benny Blanco, on March 14. The song will be the lead single on their collaborative album, “I Said I Love You First,” which is set to be released on March 21.
Gomez has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. And even though she’s been in her fair share of rumors, controversies, and tabloids, I’ve always found comfort in seeing a woman that has a similar background to me making it big in Hollywood. Gomez is truly a Latina icon and I cannot wait to see what she does next.