Meet TNT, The Glam Squad Behind Countless Latin Music Stars: 'We Have To Create Something You Can't Do Yourself'

In our franchise “The Stars Behind the Stars”, Billboard Latin and Billboard Español Editors share stories that have yet to be told, directly from those not often in the spotlight. Think “todo lo que no se ve detrás de cámaras” or “everything that goes on behind the scenes”. These unsung heroes are essential to an artist's team and its foundation. Today, we highlight the founders of TNT Agency, Hector and Alejandra Baraza.

Hector and Alejandra Barraza were young entrepreneurs in Chino Hills, California, and then they came up with their big idea. Hector, whose background is in marketing and sales, worked training salespeople. His wife Alejandra, a beautician, borrowed one of his spaces to teach a makeup class.

“It was my aha moment,” says Hector. “With my background and experience in marketing, we put together a nice package for marketing classes and became a makeup school.”

At the same time, Alejandra began providing makeup services for a growing list of clients. When she could no longer do it herself, she began training other glam artists. And thus TNT Agency was born.

Today, 20 years later, TNT is “the leading agency for the Latin Grammys, Billboard Latin Music Awards, SESAC Latina and even the overall Grammys market,” says Hector. Artists and groups who have walked these red carpets have undoubtedly seen the TNT team: about 20-30 young women dressed in matching outfits, all looking like a million bucks and armed with their glam gear.

Hector, the agency's beauty director, is responsible for rallying the troops and sending artists where they are needed. It's a unique scenario, he says. By calling one person – themselves – a customer can send up to 45 makeup artists. Alejandra trains the team and all glam artists must undergo TNT training before they can join the agency at an event or concert. They all use the same products and protocol.

TNT trains about 600 people a year, who come from all over the country to TNT's headquarters in Chino. This allows Hector, in turn, to offer services to clients in most major US cities. In addition, TNT has added a third component to its services: It produces its own cosmetics under the TNT brand.

On the eve of the 2024 Latin American Music Awards in Las Vegas, Barraza — this month's “Star Behind the Stars” — told us the story behind TNT, what sets the agency apart and what the new makeup trends are.

Growing from gigs to an agency of this size sounds daunting. What was your big break?

The agency became very popular because we started doing beauty segments on Univision's KMEX station in Los Angeles. Every Wednesday at 5 in the morning Alejandra had a beauty segment called “Eternante Bella (Eternal Beautiful).” And here we started meeting interesting people in Los Angeles like Cristy Solís, Marco Antonio's wife. One thing led to another. The networking world works and we ended up with some really beautiful people's homes. And those people had people producing shows, and so we got pretty big breaks, providing glam services for artists and then executives and then production.

How much time do I need to look beautiful for a performance?

All of our artists do makeup and hair. A full service, a glam artist, is about an hour and a half. Our glam is very personal. What I may think looks good to you, you may hate. This is how we customize every appearance to the customer. What do you like and what are you comfortable with? And our job is to take it up a few levels. We have to create something in your style that you can't do on your own. Otherwise why hire us? That's why people tell us, “I could never do that.” That's exactly why you're contacting us.

What is TNT touch?

It's a flawless finish. It's supposed to look very natural. You'll look polished. There is so much that can go wrong with a makeup application.

Has anything changed dramatically in the world of glam in recent years?

This is fashion, so it's always changing. The way you do your eyebrows is not the way you did it three years ago. You need to be up to date on trends. There are two worlds: social media and production and we deal with both. It changes quickly because that's exactly what's trending and how you incorporate it. What you see on TikTok you can't necessarily apply in real life.

The latest trend?

Cream blush is probably the hottest thing out there. It's light, it spreads easily on the skin, it's shiny, it's soft. Cream blush is the thing. People put it on their cheeks, on their nose. People of all ages use it. From the 13 year old to the older person because it does not dry.