Debi Nova’s New Take on Tico Time: You're Right on Schedule
Article by: Sophia Claire — CEO and Founder Mariposa Journal
Photo Credit: Matías Sauter
I won't lie, walking into my interview with Debi Nova, my heart was racing. After all, it’s not everyday a young, aspiring journalist gets the opportunity to interview a Grammy nominated musician. Luckily, the second I heard her voice, my nervousness dissolved. Some people just put you at ease, and Debi is absolutely one of them.
We started from the beginning. Debi described something most Ticos know well — the difficulty of discovering your passion and fulfilling it, oftentimes leaving that territory end unexplored. Be that as it may, she was luckier than most. Her family tree is rooted in music, exposing her to all its wonders from the age of four. She began playing piano at home in San José, accompanied by the singing of her relatives.
At 13, she discovered La Academia de Música Moderna, where she studied until 17, mastering everything from Pop to the Blues. Her teacher, Miriam Jarquín, recognized her outstanding talent and helped launch a career for her in Los Angeles, California. She went on to study under Miriam's professor in Pasadena, just northeast of the city.
"I felt invincible," she tells me. Trading San José for L.A. at that age, the options and opportunities felt endless. She lands on the perfect analogy: "The first time I went to an L.A. supermarket in 1998, I walked down the housegoods aisle and thought, why are there so many different kinds of toilet paper here compared to the few we have at home? That is my eye-opening metaphor for what it was like to move to the States.”
The question felt unavoidable: wasn’t she scared? Moving abroad at that age is a challenge for anyone, let alone to a place as vast and overwhelming as Los Angeles can be. But that's where her Tico roots come in. Debi never felt alone. She always had her home to return to. "I think that growing up in Costa Rica, you have such strong family values. It took away the fears, knowing I always had somewhere and someone to go back to — my family," she explains.
Photo Credit: Yarro Angulo
Debi's studio album 3:33, released in 2020, was a landmark moment in her career. Featuring her hit single Quédate, the album earned her a Grammy nomination and quietly planted the seed for something far greater. Enter Círculos 3:33, a passion project co-founded by Debi and Hija de Tigre, a Costa Rica fashion brand, built around a simple but powerful idea: bringing Tica women together.
It started, as great things often do, by accident. What began as a marketing strategy to promote the album, quickly became something neither Debi nor her collaborators could have anticipated. "We went to the women’s soccer team and a female surf collective in Jacó, and we spoke about the songs that told stories everyone could relate to," she recalls. "It was magic — we cried, we laughed, and left that space feeling so much better about ourselves. I knew I wanted to do more of this.”
And so, in June of that same year, Círculos 3:33 was officially born: a full platform complete with a blog and podcast, creating a space for women everywhere to feel seen, heard and connected.
Four years ago, Debi became a mother, and of course, instantly fell in love. She and her husband chose to raise their daughter in Costa Rica. A thoughtful decision made with the priorities of family and Pura Vida in mind.
Of course, as all mothers know, raising a child changes your life. Debi couldn't help but write about it, as an outlet for her and a way to connect with mothers all over the world living her reality. In 2024, her album, Dar Vida came to be.
Most recently, Debi released Todo Puede Convertirse en Canción, an ode to the power of music as storytelling, and a reflection of the creativity that has defined her career. On April 24th, she gifted listeners with the deluxe version, featuring four additional tracks.
While Debi isn't sure what her future holds, she is working on a new album, one she plans to record this summer. A tribute to the voices of Costa Rican artists of the 1960s and 70s, the project is inspired by her late grandfather's recordings — this fascinating part of him lovingly engraved in her newest work.
As someone curious about numerology (holding the number 11 close to my heart), I had to ask her about the meaning behind her repeated use of the number three. ” She shared, "I started noticing when I was very young that I would always look at the clock at 3:33. I knew that was my number. It became this special moment when I would smile inside, reassurance that I was where I needed to be."
The symbolism has followed her throughout her life, and today she offers these words of wisdom as it pertains to understanding one’s purpose and passion: “I was 40 years old when I released 3:33, and I was right on time. It's about not comparing your journey with anyone else's. You're not late, you're not early, you’re simply where you're meant to be.”