When Carolina Steinert stumbled upon a video of the K-pop group SHINee over a decade ago, she had no idea that this moment would spark a journey that would shape her entire career. Captivated by their powerful choreography and magnetic presence, the Brazilian teenager quickly found herself immersed in the world of Korean pop culture, a fascination that began as a personal passion but evolved into a mission to bring K-culture closer to Latin America.

Over the years, Steinert's deepening love for Korean entertainment led her to explore various roles, from K-pop content creator and dance teacher to earning her journalism license and contributing to mainstream Brazilian media by becoming a blogger for Todateen, a popular youth magazine, where she regularly wrote for the site’s first blog dedicated to Korean pop music. However, she soon realized that even with this platform, her individual efforts, no matter how passionate, were not enough. There was a lack of structured, reliable, and professional media dedicated exclusively to Korean culture in her country.  Determined to fill this gap, she set out to create  a platform that went beyond fan-made content,  offering Brazil’s growing K-pop fandom a space that reflected their voices with the credibility they deserved,  while also presenting Korean culture with the respect and seriousness it warranted.

She felt the need to bring together more people who shared her passion for Korean culture, which led to the creation of HIT! Magazine in 2023 — Brazil’s first official print and digital magazine dedicated entirely to Korean culture, offering accessible, consistent, and thoughtfully curated editorial content. Today, Carol serves as both founder and editor-in-chief of this pioneering publication, while also hosting Ponto Kpop, a television program on Brazil’s PLAYTV exclusively focused on K-pop content

HIT! Magazine has featured some of K-pop’s biggest names on its covers, including TWICE, Stray Kids, Super Junior, I-DLE, NMIXX, IVE, B.I.( a former member of boy group iKON), EXO’s Chen, Xiumin, and Baekhyun, MAMAMOO’s Solar, GOT7’s Jay B, and The Boyz, among many other A-list K-pop icons.

Since its official launch in Brazil, HIT! Magazine has seen impressive growth across platforms. In the past month alone, its content reached over 5 million accounts on Instagram, marking a 630% increase in reach. With more than 71,000 followers on Instagram and over 50,000 unique website visitors in recent months, the magazine continues to expand its digital footprint. On the print side, while numbers vary by issue, HIT! recorded a 56% increase in print circulation compared to last year, reflecting its rising popularity as a leading Korean culture media platform in Latin America.

While its roots are firmly in Brazil, the magazine’s reach is now global. Steinert notes a growing audience in the United States, Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Chile, and several European countries, with readers worldwide engaging with HIT!’s content and purchasing the magazine despite it being published in Brazilian Portuguese. As Brazil’s only printed K-pop magazine, HIT! also delivers daily Korean entertainment news to over 2 million São Paulo subway commuters through a dedicated editorial space.

Carol has become a prominent figure in the dissemination of official and accessible Korean cultural content across Latin America. What began as a solo blog has transformed into a powerful multi-platform presence, reflecting her deep commitment to bringing Brazilian audiences closer to the world of K-pop. Through her efforts, she has helped legitimize Korean pop culture in the region’s media landscape, offering fans a trusted and professional space to access accurate and engaging content.

I discovered HIT! Magazine while exploring  influential platforms that promote Korean culture globally and was impressed by its extensive reach and influence  in Latin America. Eager to learn more about the vision behind the magazine, I reached out to Carolina Steinert for an interview to understand how HIT! came to life, the challenges of being a cultural pioneer, and her hopes for the future of Korean content in Brazil.

The following are excerpts from an email interview with Carolina Steinert between April 16 and August 14.

Could you share a bit about your background and how you initially got interested in Korean culture? How did this journey gradually evolve into something life-changing? 

I started listening to K-pop in 2008 at Asian culture events in São Paulo, Brazil. I ended up becoming more interested in Korean culture through them, but I had my first real contact online, through a T-ARA music video. Initially, it felt a bit strange, but when I watched one of SHINee's, ''Replay'', I totally fell in love. What caught my attention was Taemin's dancing and performance skills, especially the production of the music videos. I've always liked musical films, so I've always admired audiovisual works that combine dance, singing and aesthetics well. I soon found myself exploring music by other groups like BIGBANG, with G-Dragon quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites. Before I knew it, K-pop had become an everyday part of my life.

In terms of my career, I have always loved writing since I was a child. I wrote stories, poems, songs, and I loved reading. So this love for writing has always been with me, so it was a natural path to journalism although I have also studied Cultural Production and Film Direction.

I went through many difficult financial times in my life and ended up taking other paths to support myself, but always adding what I loved to what I could do. My deeper connection with K-pop really began through creating content on YouTube, where I shared my love for Korean music and culture. As I mentioned, I love musicals, so I loved dancing and learning choreography. I participated in many competitions, was invited to be a judge in several of them, and then I combined business with pleasure by deciding to stay for two years as a K-Pop Dance teacher. I don't regret anything. Being able to work with culture in this way was already incredible and made me get to know even more who, in the future, would be my audience. 

Over time, these efforts grew into something bigger, leading to the creation of HIT! Magazine—a platform dedicated to bridging the gap between Brazilian fans and the K-pop industry. Through this role, I’ve been able to connect fans with their favorite idols, produce meaningful content, and help cultivate a deeper appreciation for Korean culture in Brazil.

In the initial stages, when people around you didn't understand your passion for Korean culture, what motivated you to persevere in pursuing your interests?

I've never really cared about what people said about my tastes. I've always liked different types of music and I've always been a fan of things, whether it's movies, songs, series, I'm a fan by nature. It could be difficult at times to fit in, but when I found people who had the same passions as me, that was enough to keep me motivated.

What inspired you to create HIT! Magazine, and how did your earlier experiences in journalism shape your decision to build your own platform that truly reflects your vision for Korean culture in Brazil?

Whenever you work for another media outlet, you are subject to the editorial "rules" of that company, so I realized that I often wanted to write about something that would not be well received or understood by the people who worked with me. Another thing that also happened for a long time was that it was voluntary work, so I decided to create HIT! so that I could, in fact, work with what I wanted and be able to support myself, as well as hire other people to work with K-Pop, even if it was as an extra income.

I also always noticed that there was a lack of official K-pop merchandise in Brazil despite being one of the largest consumers of the K-pop genre. This always bothered me a lot as a fan, as well as many fans throughout Brazil that we had such limited access to authentic exclusive products. So, I decided that my job would be to serve as a bridge so that this would become a reality at some point. I think this was one of the major factors that motivated me to start HIT! Magazine in 2023.

HIT! was inspired by the SEVENTEEN’s song ‘’HIT’’. Personally I’m a big SEVENTEEN fan and how they’re self-made artists. It’s such a big group, with different talents, coming together to create something unique, so that’s the vision I had for the team and the magazine's purpose.  Having a 100% Brazilian, official platform, made by people who understand K-Pop, where fans in Brazil could access official K-pop products at low costs and content tailored to their interests, was and is my goal.

What were some of the biggest uncertainties you faced creating HIT! Magazine from the ground up, and what guided your vision in shaping its identity, tone, and purpose?

I believe that the biggest challenges I faced in the beginning are still some of the challenges we face today. Working with Korean culture in Brazil is not easy, it is not a very friendly niche, but mainly it is difficult to show Korean companies the power of K-pop. Nowadays with K-dramas we have a little more ease, but even though we show numbers, there is still a prejudice against it being an external, Asian culture.

So breaking these taboos is still a focus of HIT!, while we show Korea that we are not only a magazine, but a 360 hub of Korean culture in Brazil. Since we did not have an initial model, we were inspired a lot by big American magazines, but also, and mainly, by the aesthetics of K-pop concepts. K-pop is very visual, so our design team has always had a very close eye on trends, linking the arts with the texts. Hence, we ended up developing our own language and look. Today, we’re proud to be a voice for K-pop fans not only in Brazil but around the world.

What were some of the earliest steps , or biggest risks,  you had to take to launch HIT! Magazine, and how did you build a team and reputation that artists and readers could trust?

What many people don't realize is that there was a huge initial investment on my part, not just financial, but I really gave my life to the HIT! project. Starting with the costs of creating a website, documentation, and initial publicity, knowing that we wouldn't get any return at the beginning, it was a real struggle.

We also started with a publisher for the first magazine, but we realized that we needed to have editorial control over what would go into our magazine, since it was our project, so we decided, after two issues, to leave and continue with an independent magazine. I believe that this was our best decision, despite facing many financial challenges for a long time. However, at that time, we already had a team that was passionate about the project and wanted to transform K-Pop in Brazil into something truly huge, and that was enough for us to stay together on this.

In our initial days, getting publishers and companies in Brazil to see the potential of K-pop was no easy task—especially when the focus was mostly on concerts and live events. Introducing the idea of K-pop-focused media, like our magazine, required a major shift in perspective.  But through persistence, passion, and dedication, we managed to break through those barriers. 

Building our credibility was something that I began to learn a lot when I learned that I had to have a network within the industry. It's not just about doing an interview or posting a press release, but about creating a relationship with companies, letting them know that they can count on us as a platform for promotion in Brazil, that we will help them if they have any questions and that we will also recommend other media outlets and influencers for them to work with.

With this, we created a very close relationship with JYP Entertainment, signing covers with all of their artists, in addition to having a great relationship with HYBE, SM, MyMusicTaste, among others. Traveling to Korea was also an investment in solidifying these partnerships, showing our genuine interest in continuing with them.

You’ve collaborated with big labels and companies for group promotions. What do those successful collaborations and partnerships typically look like behind the scenes? How do you approach building relationships with agencies in a way that aligns with HIT! Magazine’s editorial values, K-pop industry expectations, and the artist’s promotional goals? 

When we notice that the Brazilian public is interested in an artist, we try to bring it to them in some way- whether it's through a cover or just an interview.

Our contact, nowadays, is very natural. Since we now have direct contact with the artists' representatives, we put together a promotion plan and present it. We always like to emphasize that the reason is to promote and introduce the artist to the Brazilian public, which is already very passionate, but which still has a great lack of content aimed at them. From this, companies that see the big Brazilian numbers, close these partnerships with us to introduce their artists to this market. At the end of the releases, we always send updates on the numbers and results, just as we continue to release the artists, even if it is not about a comeback, but actions that the artist wanted to be released, we also include them in our posting calendar. What matters is that the company knows that it will find articles about its artists in HIT!, regardless of the period. 

We’re growing our platform’s impact through collaborations with major industry leaders like HYBE, JYP, and Kakao Entertainment, primarily for promoting their artists. We always cover their releases and also do cover stories featuring their artists. These partnerships allow us to act as a bridge between the K-pop industry and Brazilian fans, helping to amplify the presence of K-pop culture and encourage global exchange.

We collaborated with HYBE for the first time to promote the CINE HYBE FEST in Brazil, which included social media campaigns and a back-cover ad in our October issue featuring Dreamcatcher. Our partnership with Kakao involves promoting their artists through numerous interviews and multiple magazine covers featuring their groups, like we've had with KISS OF LIFE, STAYC, Dreamcatcher. Our longest-standing partnership is with JYP Entertainment. It began with a cover featuring ITZY and gradually expanded as we built strong relationships with the artist teams across their roster. So far, we’ve featured almost every JYP act on our covers — including ITZY, Stray Kids (digital covers), NMIXX, Day6's Young K, Xdinary Heroes, and and also a printed cover with TWICE in January 2024, which we're now doing a second time in August. They will be our August 2025 cover, celebrating their 10th anniversary. The only ones we haven’t worked with yet are the newly debuted KickFlip. We’ve also developed a strong partnership with INB100, having already done covers with CHEN and BAEKHYUN, and we’re continuing discussions about future collaborations.

All these partnerships are designed to be long-term. Beyond strengthening HIT!’s credibility, they’ve helped build meaningful connections between Brazilian audiences and some of the biggest names in Korean entertainment. At HIT!, we always aim to work in a way that ensures companies know they can rely on us to represent and promote their artists with professionalism and utmost care. Seeing their trust in us has been a tremendous source of pride. The feedback we receive is always amazing.

HIT! Magazine has collaborated with various K-pop artists and groups over time. Among those features, which interviews or photoshoots have been especially memorable for you, whether due to personal significance, creative experience, or the public response, and why?

Our biggest covers so far were: Stray Kids, TWICE, Jay B, The Rose, SOLAR, BAEKHYUN, CHEN, Xiumin, Gi-dle. 

Stray Kids was memorable because it was their first and only cover for Brazil, and we had already received their first-ever video greeting  for a Brazilian media outlet, which was a milestone for both HIT! and Brazilian STAYs — the video trended in Brazil for three straight days. 

So having this feeling of priority and partnership from JYP was something that made us very happy. Even more so because we were able to hold HIT!'s first big event, HIT! FEST: Stray Kids is HIT!, which had more than 500 Stays in attendance to celebrate the cover and enjoy the pre-show.

When selecting artists or stories for HIT!’s digital and print covers, what factors guide your editorial decisions, and how do you balance featuring high-profile names with introducing emerging or lesser-known talent, while ensuring  that the artists you spotlight reflect the diversity and depth of Korean culture today?

We always enjoy listening to the public and we have a great partnership with fan bases of artists in Brazil, so we always study what they say, the numbers they present and what they would like to see in the magazine.

If our focus is the public, we need to know what they want to see. From there, we decide the reason for the cover and write the article around the comeback. 

We like to give priority to the bigger artists because of their visibility, and because we want to further establish ourselves in the market, but we always make a point of bringing smaller artists and rookies to the inside pages of the magazine, such as rapper James An and independent artist Yunsae, who had several pages focused on their work.

When I was invited to speak in Korea at MU:CON 2024, I met many independent artists and had several meetings with them to promote their work in Brazil. Korea's musical culture is so vast and rich that it's impossible not to want to bring more of it to our country as well. Whether it's in the magazine or at events we might hold.

How did the collaboration with JCDecaux come about? Given that HIT! Magazine was still growing at the time, what challenges did you face in securing a partnership of that scale?

The partnership with JC Decaux is for the dissemination of content about Korean culture on screens inside trains on São Paulo's Yellow and Lilac lines, reaching over two million people daily. In addition to everything, our mission with the magazine is to spread Korean culture to those who don't have much access to collectibles or even the internet. That's why it's important for us to be where people go on a daily basis, on their way to and from work. 

I used to notice, during my subway rides, that the screens inside the cars featured daily updates on news, fashion, politics, and more. That’s when it struck me—why not include K-pop and Korean culture there too?

São Paulo is home to the largest K-pop fanbase in Brazil, so we already knew where our audience was. Seeing K-pop content during daily commutes—on the way to work or school, could be a meaningful part of their routine. In addition to being a form of escapism, watching something K-pop on those commutes brings relaxation and joy to the fans commuting, For those who like it, we always get very positive feedback like, "I was working a lot and didn't have time to watch the news, but with HIT! on the subway I stay up to date with everything." Our goal has always been for HIT! to integrate into fans’ everyday lives, beyond just the magazine itself.

Surprisingly, the partnership came together quite naturally. We were able to show that we knew the landscape well, especially through my decade-long portfolio of work with Korean culture, which helped us earn JCDecaux’s trust.  We've had this partnership for two years now, and it's something we genuinely enjoy bringing to fans, so they can have K-pop even on their way to work/studies. Like I said, we want to be with fans at all times, and this was an interesting way we found to do that. It’s been a fantastic collaboration ever since.

Launching a print magazine in the ever-evolving digital era today is a bold move as an independent publication. What did this decision mean to you, and how creative control and early reader feedback helped shape HIT! into what it is now? 

Print is still very important when it comes to credibility. One example we can give is that our magazine is part of the National Library of Brazil, where we send all our issues to a government archive that will forever preserve our articles and identity there.

Nowadays, we are also seeing a great return of print magazines after the launch of HIT!, as well as a growing interest in the return of vinyl records and a more vintage aesthetic. All of this also generates a nostalgic interest in the magazine. And since our focus is the K-pop audience, we know that they buy the albums for the photos, posters and photocards, which are items we have in the magazine, so we, in fact, create a collectible item, not just a magazine.

Due to Brazil’s high import taxes, exclusive K-pop content often comes with a hefty price tag, something many fans found frustrating. That’s what inspired me to create HIT! Magazine: a locally produced publication that could offer the kind of exclusive content fans were craving, but at a much more accessible price. All production is handled in São Paulo, which allows us to offer affordable nationwide shipping—an important benefit for Brazilian fans.

The creative control of HIT! is not so much tied to me alone, but to what my team thinks should be included in the issues. Every month we hold a lot of meetings to absorb and discard ideas, understanding what best fits our way of seeing the world and what we can do to make the language even more accessible to the public.

When we launched our first edition, with B.I, the feedback was truly incredible. The fans finally had official Brazilian merchandising, made in their language, for them. So it was an achievement not only for our team, but for the entire Brazilian culture fandom in Brazil. 

To this day, we have received incredible feedback about this and the quality of our product, which always makes us very proud.

Could you pinpoint specific moments or decisions that played a significant role in the growth and recognition of HIT magazine over the years? 

I think the first big decision we made was to make our first magazine with a publisher. Although it didn't work out later, we got our foot in the door and managed to present ourselves better to a portion of the public, as well as have a reach on newsstands and stores.

Another wise decision we made was to invest in our first trip to Korea after TWICE's cover, where we were invited by the biggest entertainment companies for meetings with their Marketing and PR teams. It was only a week, but a week that gave us some extraordinary covers and contacts that last to this day.

Something that is also cool to mention are the decisions when we talk about partnerships, such as the partnership with the São Paulo subway, where we have been broadcasting K-pop news every day for two years. The partnership with Live Nation, which allows us to participate in promotions of big names in K-pop, among others.

How do you promote K-pop in Brazil and what strategies have you used to expand HIT!'s reach? 

HIT! Magazine fills a critical gap for Brazilian K-pop fans by offering exclusive content and merchandise that were once hard to access. Each issue features an exclusive artist interview, a collectible poster, and either a postcard or photo card with never-before-seen images—making it a true collector’s item. By offering this level of quality, we’ve helped create a sense of pride and belonging among fans, giving them access to content on par with international audiences.

At the same time, the Korean entertainment industry benefits from our efforts to expand their presence in Brazil. Our biggest strategy is to keep fans always close and aware of everything we're launching, so maintaining direct contact with fanbases is always our priority. We use paid advertisements in a reduced quantity, so we focus heavily on this direct delivery to fans. By working closely with fan bases and producing high-quality editorial content, we help artists build meaningful connections with a growing international audience supporting their global success. 

Fandoms are the driving force behind K-pop’s global success, and at HIT!, we make sure their voices are at the heart of every issue—from cover design to exclusive content. We actively empower fan communities by offering them early access and involving them in special promotions. For instance, through collaborative campaigns with the fanbases of TWICE and Stray Kids, we achieved nationwide engagement and trended across social media platforms in Brazil. By working hand-in-hand with fan communities, we’ve cultivated an experience that feels genuine and collaborative. Their passion and creativity are at the core of HIT!’s growth and play a vital role in deepening the cultural connection between Brazil and the world of K-pop. 

We always provide a space for fans to feel part of the magazine, involving fans in the creation process, especially when preparing special cover features. They’re invited to submit questions for their favorite artists in advance, after signing NDAs, and receive exclusive early insight into the cover star. As a token of appreciation, we send them a complimentary copy of the magazine before its official release. The response from fanbases has been incredible. They comment on our teasers, repost our content, and generate buzz across social media. It’s inspiring to see how enthusiastically they engage with our national, original K-pop content—many even visit subway stations just to photograph their favorite idols on the screens. This kind of organic excitement significantly boosts our visibility.

Our strategy centers on engaging fan bases by regularly posting fresh content from their favorite artists, which they help amplify. We also collaborate directly with artist management teams, many of whom repost our content to official channels, extending our reach even further. Partnerships with companies like Live Nation Brazil further enhance our visibility, helping us strengthen both fan engagement and industry relationships. Interestingly, the demand for our magazine has grown beyond Brazil as well. Our magazine is now sold internationally, including in Korea, where, we actually have a distributor that ensures the magazines are available for sale in stores like Kpoptown and Ktown4u since our very first edition featuring B.I, and this fills us with pride, because it's great to see our magazine in Myeongdong and also circulating worldwide.

Passion often runs into institutional hesitation, especially when introducing a foreign cultural industry. What kinds of challenges have you had to encounter when trying to bring Korean cultural content into the Brazilian mainstream media space and secure partnerships from companies? What kinds of strategies have you used to help Brazilian companies and sponsors see K-pop not just as entertainment , but as a growing business sector with a deeply engaged audience? 

I believe that the biggest prejudice we still have to face is that the fandom culture of pop acts is still seen as something childish and not worth spending money on. We are professionals working to promote Korean culture in Brazil, but we still face considerable resistance — both from within the sector and from external businesses.

It’s often difficult to convey the potential we have to grow this market through collaboration. In Brazil especially, a lack of business vision or long-term strategy when it comes to Korean culture can sometimes hold back progress. However, in Brazil, we have a fandom culture for soccer, for example, that is several times bigger and has much more negative aspects, such as increasing violence.

But one thing we are very happy to show today is the results of big events, such as the three-day Stray Kids concert, which brought together 185 thousand people, as well as Lady Gaga's concert, which had more than two million people on Copacabana beach. So I believe that from now on, the fandom culture will be better treated and will receive a different look.

What is even more important for all these companies are the numbers and engagement of fans on social media. Conversion power is the greatest bargaining chip we have and it is what we always present to brands that want to work with us.

Amidst the challenges, what have been some of the most rewarding experiences or achievements that stand out in HIT magazine's journey so far?

The invitation to speak at MU:CON 2024, the Stray Kids cover and HIT!FEST having tickets sold out in less than 20 minutes are the biggest achievements I can say at the moment. All this in less than 3 years of business shows us that we are doing something right and that we are shaping a new way of consuming Korean culture in Brazil.

As the only printed K-pop magazine in Brazil, you have successfully managed to bring K-pop content to the Latin American market in an easily accessible way.  Was there a turning point when you realized the magazine was taking off? How do you continue to measure the impact of your work beyond just sales or online metrics?

One piece of feedback that stuck with me was from a Korean reader who bought HIT! Magazine and commented on Twitter/X: "I need to start learning Portuguese." This was very rewarding because it finally allowed us to have that cultural exchange. Normally, we are the ones who need to translate the content to feel like we belong, but now we are offering a lot to not only Brazil, but to the entire world that is consuming the magazine.

We know that the magazine is on sale in physical stores in Myeongdong and also in the United States, but we have readers all over the world, and the feedback is always very positive in this sense of cultural exchange.

HIT! is published in Brazilian Portuguese, yet it’s gained international fans across Asia and Europe. How do you explain this global engagement despite linguistic or cultural barriers, and what does it mean to you to see people engaging with your work even when it's in a different language? As your international readership grows, how do you adapt your content to connect with a global audience while still speaking to Brazilian fans? 

One thing that makes things much easier for us is the automatic translators on social media platforms. This way, we don't necessarily need to create content in another language, but we can still reach people from other countries.

Something that also happens very often is when we release an interview, representatives of fan bases from other countries start translating it and reposting it on their social media. This happens a lot with Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan. We have a very large audience in these countries because of this work done directly by fans.

It's incredible to see how our articles reach so far with the help of technology and the power of fandom to unite.

Could you share more about HIT!'s investment in out-of-home (OOH) promotions?

While digital media remains a powerful force, Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising has become an equally effective way for us to connect with Brazilian K-pop fans. They deeply value in-person experiences and take pride in dedicating time to their favorite artists. That’s why we make it a priority to allocate part of our revenue to Out-of-Home (OOH) promotions. Our goal is to create meaningful, lasting moments for fans, experiences that stay with them, unlike a social media post that vanishes within minutes on a never-ending timeline.

Our OOH (Out-of-Home) investment depends heavily on the artist we are working with and the project we do with the company. With our Stray Kids cover, we decided to host HIT!FEST as a way to celebrate the group's cover, but also their concert. The tickets (free) ran out in 20 minutes, and we had the event with over 500 Stays, which was very positive. The feedback from fans was incredible; we had covers, giveaways, official merchandise stores, all of this under Latin America's largest Ferris wheel, Roda Rico, in São Paulo. The event also ended with a mega light show on the wheel, and the magazine's fans are already asking for a new edition. We’ve also strategically placed promotional content in high-traffic locations like São Paulo’s subway system and even Times Square to boost visibility and create memorable fan experiences. By combining online engagement with impactful offline presence, we craft campaigns that resonate with fans in both their digital and daily lives.

Our collaboration with the JC Decaux subway system is purely content-based, meaning we do not incur any costs for featuring our articles. Instead, we established a mutually beneficial agreement that brought value to both sides without financial transactions. For high-profile locations like Times Square, we allocate a portion of our monthly budget specifically for promotional efforts. This includes large-scale displays as well as grassroots initiatives like street posters and fan events. A great example is the launch celebration for TWICE, where we organized an in-person gathering, because we understand how much fans value opportunities to come together, share their love for K-pop, dance, and celebrate as a community.

Additionally, our collaborations with brands and events, particularly concerts, have played a vital role in strengthening the presence of Korean culture in Brazil. We’re now focused on expanding this influence to other regions, including Korea and the United States, with the goal of amplifying K-pop’s global reach even further.

What kinds of stories do you feel are still missing or underrepresented in K-pop media today, and in what ways does HIT! Magazine aim to fill those gaps? Have you noticed any key differences between how the Brazilian and Korean media industries approach covering artists and pop culture?

One thing that I think is very different is that we always involve the fans, especially in the interviews we do with the artists. We always receive questions from the fans, so this makes them feel part of this process and, consequently, of HIT! itself. What I still believe is missing from the traditional and mainstream media is to have more interest beyond the big names in K-Pop, but also to know and bring to light these independent artists who are just as talented.

We understand that we need engagement and numbers, but that should not be the only reason to create content about a culture that is completely different from yours.

Brazilian K-pop fans are known for their passion and support across many groups. What do you think makes fan culture here so unique—whether in terms of emotional connection, musical taste, or how they engage with idols? What do Korean artists or companies often overlook about Brazilian audiences, and what qualities in K-pop idols tend to resonate most deeply here? 

Brazil is a multicultural country, with several colonies from other countries in various parts of it, just as it is a huge country. So, since we were little, we have always had contact with other forms of culture, other experiences and we celebrate that.

Despite having a troubled history, Brazilians are considered to be lively people, who like to dance, who are happy. All of this makes us also susceptible to artists who show some kind of engagement with us, we will always be open to welcome them. Our emotional connection ends up being even stronger with K-pop because we don't have as much access, so we cherish every moment we spend with the artists we love. Korea is very far away for us and not everyone can fulfill their dream of traveling there, so when an artist comes close, it's always a party. Brazilians also don't have a preference for a single group, we always like to explore and most Brazilian K-poppers are multi-fandom, which makes it easier to get to know new artists and buy their official items.

Something that companies still do is believe that in Brazil we speak Spanish, that Despacito is a Brazilian song haha ​. We understand that when we talk about Latin America, we think in Spanish, but it is not very difficult to find this information on research sites. I think that Korean companies really need to do more in-depth research about our market and our audience, which is why I started giving workshops for companies, focused on learning about K-Culture fandom in Brazil. Korean companies understood that in order to access and have something in common with their artists' fans, it was necessary to develop actions and platforms that would bring them closer together.

So knowing what your favorite artist thinks through social media, with them sharing a little more about their daily lives, makes fans feel like they are part of your circle of friends. It may not be so beneficial in certain aspects, but it is a strategy that works.

As for Brazilians, we also like this proximity, especially when it comes with an interaction directed at our country. Whether an artist listens to a Brazilian song or comments on a celebrity from our country, it is enough for us to follow them more closely.

I believe that the biggest difference is the lack of access, which generates this desire for artists who always go to other parts of the world, except for Brazil. This is the biggest difference, as is the engagement of the kings of memes on the internet, the Brazilian public, who are always ahead of the trends and top of hashtags for their favorite artists. Brazilians are a chronically online audience, which generates this feeling of belonging to their respective fan communities, making everything even more intensified.

Korean pop culture has grown tremendously in Latin America, especially in Brazil. How have you seen the Brazilian K-pop fandom evolve over the years? As perceptions of Korean culture shift, what role do you hope HIT! Magazine plays in shaping the future of Korea–Brazil cultural exchange?

From a very distant culture to an extremely desired culture would be a good summary. On the one hand, we have a representation of Korea, through dramas, which can be very eye-catching and really make people fall in love with the culture, and on the other hand, we have music that brings us other perspectives.

Brazilians fell in love with the Korean way of dressing, the way they relate to each other and the way they express themselves. I believe that we have a lot in common in terms of visual aspects and that this makes the connection very strong as well.

Ever since I discovered K-pop in 2008, I believe that the boom in social media has really been the catalyst for all this visibility. Before, we didn't have artists on networks like Twitter/Instagram interacting directly with us. Back then, we also didn't have easy access to concerts, official items, and we didn't even know when an artist was going to release something. So I believe that was the biggest difference that has happened since then.

Not only with K-Pop, but streaming services bringing K-Dramas to their platforms also helps in the discovery of the culture for people who had never even thought about Korea before.

I believe that in order to enhance cultural exchange between the two nations, interesting steps that could be taken would be extracurricular courses focused on Brazilian culture at Korean universities, as well as free Korean language teaching in Brazil on a larger scale. It is important that there is government investment in this exchange so that companies like HIT! can continue to bring not only quality news, but also events and projects aimed at fans who do not have access at the moment.

As HIT! Magazine continues to grow, what are your long-term goals for its international expansion — both in terms of audience and content? Beyond print and digital publishing, are there new platforms or formats you’re excited to explore as part of HIT!'s future to further connect Korean artists with Brazilian and global fans?

HIT! is now a 360 hub for Korean culture in Brazil. We offer content, courses, events, support and curation, creators, workshops, everything so that companies that want to work in Brazil can do so with an extremely qualified team that knows the market.

We’re currently focused on further expanding our magazine production capacity and global reach by partnering with international stores to distribute the magazine, though an English-language edition isn’t planned just yet, while also continuing to bring even more news with great partners.

Looking ahead, our goal is to position HIT! as a global cultural hub for Korean entertainment — especially in Korea and the U.S. Beyond publishing, we aim to launch professional training courses for those aspiring to work in the K-pop industry and host events in collaboration with major brands. 

We also wish to have an office in Korea, where we can create even more exclusive content and bring this idea of ​​priority to Brazilian fans. But beyond that, we want to take HIT! to other countries in Latin America, North America and Europe. Ultimately, we want to bridge the gap between K-pop and Latin America, fostering growth in the region and building a more informed, connected global fanbase. We have some plans, but we can't reveal much about them yet haha ​​You'll know soon!

Your journey from being a passionate fan to someone actively shaping how Korean culture is experienced and understood by others has been full of bold steps and turning points. Looking back, what do you think has mattered most in making that transformation possible — and what would you say to others who dream of turning their passion into something that can create real impact?

What really made me start the change was my dissatisfaction with what we had before and the desire to "reward" the fans who are extremely dedicated but who receive so little.

Looking back, my reason was because I am a fan. If I wasn't a fan, I wouldn't have had such a strong desire to start bringing solutions not only for myself, but for other K-pop fans. Whether in Brazil or beyond, your impact matters, so aim to uplift both the community and the industry through everything you do.

One piece of advice I can give is to not give up, join forces with people who share the same vision and who will always lift you up. There are a lot of good people who want to grow K-Pop in Brazil, so we need to come together to make it happen. And of course, study hard, always. Find your passion and study!