That viral dance to this summer’s anthem “Pantropiko” was choreographed by then 19-year old Sheena Catacutan, having been tasked to create the steps for its chorus. It was late, she was exhausted, so she decided to just open her cam and just record what she had so far to submit to their team—and the rest is history. As 1/8 of the PPop girl group BINI, Sheena is poised to be one of the role models of this generation, while navigating her own growing up struggles with grit and grace.
What do you do for a living, and what are the things that make you feel more alive?
I have been in the showbiz industry for 5 years now. I joined PBB back in 2019 and I am now a member of the PPop Group BINI for 4 years. The things that make me feel alive would be going on a trip or a vacation with my family and friends. I love going to the beach, because the beach gives me comfort and a sense of calm that other places don’t make me feel.
How old are you?
I just turned 20 last May 9!
I am most known as… Sheena the PBB Housemate and the Main Dancer and the “bunso” of BINI.
I am most proud of… myself because after everything I’ve been through and the challenges I surpassed, I’m still thriving and pursuing my dreams, working to be the best version of myself.
What do you think is the biggest challenge, and the best thing, about being your age?
The biggest challenge of being my age is that I have to force myself to be mature. I have lived my whole life as a probinsyana girl and it was such a big change of lifestyle for me to live by myself here in Manila away from my family. I forced myself to think more maturely to be able to survive. For the past years I have been my biggest supporter.
But besides the hardships, I think the bright side of being my age is that I am not afraid of making mistakes because I know that I’m still young and I look forward to a lot of opportunities in my life—and that makes me have courage to take risks and try new things while I’m healthy and young.
How have you grown wiser in the past few years?
I have grown wiser with the experiences I went through in my past. Everything started when I lost my mom. Reality hit me hard that time and it made me realize how hard life is and that I should be strong enough to overcome my emotions. I also made lots of mistakes when I was in my teenage years but because of those I learned lots of lessons I can apply to my life as I grow older.
What is one misconception about your generation that you don't agree with?
One misconception I hear about my generation is that we are called “lazy”. I believe that we just spend more time online compared to other generations, which makes us seem lazy—but in reality we are more globally connected with each other through the internet and social media. That makes us more aware of what is happening in the world and it is also useful for a lot of other things.
What is the best piece of life advice you have ever received?
The best life advice I have ever received would be Hebrews 12:14 “make every effort to live in peace.” After reading that verse in the Bible I started applying it to my daily life and it has helped me survive each day without feeling overwhelmed by negativity.
Who are the women you look up to and how have they helped shape your life?
The only woman I can think of is my mommy. Up to this day I have no idea how she managed through with all the struggles as a single and teenage mother. She has been my biggest inspiration my whole life. Every time I have hard days or I feel like I wanna blow up any minute, I just think of my mommy and remember how she remained strong with her life. She helped mold me to be who I am now and I couldn’t be more grateful for having someone like her as my mother.
What are you looking forward to in the next decade of your life?
I am looking forward to saving enough money to buy my own house and have my own car by that time and my group BINI would already be a household name in the Philippines.
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