There’s something beautiful that happens when you surrender to your internal compass. For one, you could go from being a seasoned makeup artist in Los Angeles, to one of Peloton’s most popular instructors. A little more surrender and courage could even catapult you to a star on Tyler Perry’s hit BET series, Sistas. This is Tunde Oyeneyin’s story, and there are still so many chapters ahead in her book.
The 40-year old multi-hyphenate creative has lived an abundant life in her four decades, which includes sculpting an enviable body from grit, alchemizing grief after losing her brother, father and mother a few years apart, and building a commendable career by embracing the uncomfortable. Tunde’s latest venture is joining the cast of Sistas during its milestone tenth season, which premiered on January 7. She plays Madison Truitt, a character who shares many characteristics with the fitness star.
We spoke to Tunde about how she made such a significant career pivot, an unexpected adventure she’s open to trying next, and how embracing discomfort has helped her achieve so much.
ESSENCE: As a girl who found herself in a career I didn’t exactly plan, I know that life takes the turns that it wants to take and you end up where you need to end up. At what point were you like, “Maybe I should pursue acting?”
Tunde Oyeneyin: Oh, gosh. I didn’t plan any of this. I was a makeup artist in LA for 16 years. I got an itch. I had this profound vision that I was supposed to work in the fitness world to the point where I knew I was going to be a vessel that allowed me to impact the lives of millions of people. Hello, insert Peloton. I’m able to do that every single day. I wrote a New York Times best-selling book. And I think that this was just an extension of this vision that I’d had. I knew that I was supposed to be a cycling instructor.
I knew that I’d be able to impact millions of lives by virtue of a bike, and I think that this was just an extension of that without knowing it. I write in a monthly newsletter and in this past month’s newsletter, I actually took a little clip of one that I wrote in May 2023. And I said something like, “I want to start pursuing things that make me uncomfortable and that make me nervous.” And acting was the number one thing on the top of the list.
And so I said I was just going to start taking acting lessons. Fast-forward to maybe a year and change later, I landed my first role, just like a little guest star moment on a cable show. And now, almost literally exactly two years to the day of writing that newsletter, I had gotten the call that I had booked this role on Tyler Perry’s Sistas.
And what’s so ironic, me and my agent and my manager, we laugh about it. A lot of times when you audition for something, you don’t quite know what you’re auditioning for because there’s just like privacy there. While I knew I was auditioning for this show, I didn’t know that I was auditioning to be a “Sista.” I didn’t know that until my callback. That’s a long way of saying this was something that I said I want to try, to practice, just to do something that is very uncomfortable. And it kinda got legs.
What other uncomfortable things do you see in your horizon that you want to lean into or try?
I love dancing, but I’m not like a one-two, one-two, one-two choreography person. I love salsa dancing specifically, and I started taking salsa dancing classes recently. I’ve never been one with the ocean for many reasons. It’s funny because now, I’m not saying I would survive for long if you threw me into the middle of the ocean. I can’t tread water, but I can do my thing in water. I was the girl who wore a T-shirt to the pool who never swam, and now I’m Sports Illustrated 2026 Rookie of the Year swimming around in the ocean, wearing swimsuits and modeling it. Like, what?
Look at that. Look at that!
Look at that! Every time I put myself in an uncomfortable space, it pays off. When I went to write my book [Speak: Find Your Voice, Trust Your Gut, and Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be], I wanted to do just like a book of pictures, cute pictures and quotes. It was just going to be like a little cute moment, little coffee table book. My manager said, “Why is this the direction we’re going?” And I said, “Well, I don’t think I have a story to tell yet.” And she said, “Tunde, what you’ve gone through before your 30th birthday is more than most people will go through in a lifetime. I think you can tell your story.” And so I put myself in an uncomfortable space and it paid off. And when I look back at the breadcrumbs that I’ve laid out, the data would show that when I put myself in spaces that I don’t quite know or don’t quite have figured out yet, it pays off.
Sounds like that’s your superpower, and I’m glad you’ve been able to identify that. What are some parallels and transferable skills between being a fitness instructor and all the other things you do?
Well, the character I play, Madison Truitt, she is very confident. She’s a boss, she’s an entrepreneur. She is in a primarily male-dominated space, and while she has her business in order, it’s her love life that has the big question mark over it. As far as Madison is written now, Season 10, Madison is very much like Tunde. And so a lot of the times when I was trying to figure out how to play out a scene or respond to another actor, I asked myself, “Well, what would Tunde do here?”
So knowing where to take her energy in a scene, I feel like that part felt natural. But, this is my first gig in this way, and so I can only imagine that this is a really rare, unique situation. The actors on this show, they are such incredible, warm, heartfelt people, like the entire ensemble.
I was so warmly welcomed upon my arrival, and then that sustained throughout shooting this entire season. And so, if there ever was a moment where I felt uncomfortable or unsure, they made me feel safe, and when you feel safe, I think then you’re more willing to explore and try, and try, and they gave me liberty and license to try.
That’s beautiful. And speaking of which, you joined the show in the 10th season. What was that like?
I think the beauty of Sistas is the ability to tell the story of Black women for a 10th season. It’s unprecedented. So then to join this legacy that is already existing, to join something that’s already winning, I’m really in a really privileged situation to walk alongside such incredible women.
Joining something that’s established, not only in terms of the build and the structure of the show, but also, the audience. To come into a space where I get to be an evolution and an extension of these Black stories that have been told. Just like I relate to my character Madison, my hope is that there are people watching that also relate to her and in some ways, maybe even aspire to be the boss that Madison is. She’s cashing checks. Like, Madison is cashing checks.
Sounds like Tunde! What kind of character would you want to play in your next dream role?
Somebody’s got to get me some type of sword. Listen, I’ve been training for this for the last 10 years without even knowing I was training for it. And I play crazy really well I think, so let me yell at someone, let me scream. Put me in some type of an action movie.
If you had to list three transferrable skills that have helped you the most throughout your career shifts, what would they be?
Confidence. Trust. Trust is taking it a step further where you assure yourself and reassure yourself that whatever you say is going to be the right thing to say. When I was younger, my mom used to always say a prayer over me. She always used to say, “May whatever Yetunde say be the right thing to say.” And whenever she would say that prayer, even in the moment where I thought I said the wrong thing, I knew it couldn’t be the wrong thing because even the wrong thing was going to be the right thing to say.
And so, trust to me is trusting that whatever I’m going to do cannot be wrong because even the wrong thing will be right. So, confidence, trust, and care. Like, handle with care. Care for other people’s feelings and emotions. Care for the amount of preparation that I put into anything before I step into it. Care for other people’s time. Care for my time. Care for my energy. So confidence, trust, and care.
Those are some strong ones. I know that you have experienced great loss in your life, losing your mom, your dad, your brother. How does their memory motivate you to keep going?
I lost my little brother when he was 19. Three years after that I lost my dad, and then three years after that I lost my mom. So, it was just like nine years of the worst, the worst, and then like the worst.
I had this thought maybe two days ago where I just said to myself, “Oh my God, like what would my mother say?” I want to have a conversation with my mom so we can laugh. Look at my life. I feel like we would just laugh because it’s all so unplanned. I think my mother recognized the light in me before I recognized the light in myself.
It was almost like for years she was trying to give me this gift. And it wasn’t until she was gone that I finally decided to open it. And inside of the box, it was a mirror where I was able to see myself. And in seeing myself, I saw the level of awe that she saw in me. And it’s almost like ever since the day that I saw myself the way my mother saw me for all those years, I’m in this space where no longer do I think that there’s anything that I’m not capable of doing. It’s just a matter of want and time.
That’s right.
Like making the time and figuring out if it’s something that I want. I would do anything to have any one of them back. Just a conversation. I know they can’t stay forever, but if I could have one more conversation with any one of them, I would do anything. And yet I realize that in losing them, I stepped into this version of myself. I don’t think that me and you would be having this conversation, Elizabeth, without going through those experiences. It doesn’t mean that I’d trade it, but I know that I wouldn’t be in this space had I not experienced the ultimate push of figuring out life.
When you lose people that are that close to who you are, shaped who you are, I think it’s then when you realize that nothing is forever. Time is the only currency that you will ever spend without knowing the balance. It’s the only currency you’ll ever spend without knowing how much you got left. And so, oftentimes I ask myself, “What do you want?” I’m like, what is the real meaning of life?” Maybe I just want to sell coconuts on the beach. You know, I’ll be a little island gal. I’m still figuring it out, and I think I have time to do that too if that’s ultimately where I land. But, through loss, I’ve stepped into a deeper understanding of the limited space that I have here. And so, I want to take up as much space as I can while I can.