Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonja Elise Freeman.
Hi Sonja, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started in Houston, TX in 2004 Divine Voices Media with a radio show on KPFT 90.1 FM Pacifica Radio with my show “Divine Voices with Queen Diva from 3 am to 6 am every other Wednesday. I was the only Black woman producer and host of a late-night talk show on the air that shared positivity and peace of God, just merely sharing inspirational songs recorded by Pop and R&B artists and then talking on various topics to encourage people to walk in love. I produced and hosted this show for two years. After that moved to internet radio on podomatic.com and then by 2010, I moved to BlogTalkRadio.com to start producing my present podcast “Diva’s Diamonds by Queen Diva. I just celebrated my 10th Anniversary in August 2020 and received a Proclamation of Recognition, “Diva’s Diamonds Day,” from the City of Prairie View Mayor David Allen. In 2012, I moved to New York City and began to produce and star in my Off-Broadway and Broadway production “Strength of a Woman: A Phyllis Hyman Tribute Starring Queen Diva.” It is the only Phyllis Hyman tribute approved and supported by the Hyman Family, Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray of the City of New York. Today I am preparing to record a complete soundtrack album to the Strength of a Woman: A Phyllis Hyman Tribute, a documentary and the opportunity to perform at a major performing arts center in 2021-2022. In January 2021 I will be kicking off my 30th Anniversary in the Music Industry with my virtual concert on Metropolitan Zoom on January 30, 2021. I moved back to Houston in 2019 to prepare to study for by Executive MBA at Prairie View A&M University College of Business in Spring 2020 and happy to share that I completed my first year of graduate school on December 12.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would say this has been a wonderfully challenging road along the way. LOL! When I started with Divine Voices Media, I was all over the place doing production, consulting, brand marketing, coaching, and so on. I had to finally narrow down to one thing that I am good at and that will bring in consistent revenue. I realized performing my Phyllis Hyman tribute was the most consistent moneymaker for my firm and what I loved doing the most is singing and performing live in front of intimate audiences. 2020 has been very hard for all musicians, including me, since venues have been closed, concerts canceled and postponed. There are alternatives to still sing in front of our fans and followers, such as virtual performances with online promoters on website performance portals, social media lives, and some are still performing outside on the street corners using as much Covid-19 precaution as possible. I, unfortunately, have not been able to perform all year. I have made plans to perform on Saturday, January 30, 2020 on Metropolitan Zoom a new show called “An Evening with Queen Diva: Salute to Soul Divas,” where I will sing songs from my favorite soul divas such as Diana Ross, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole and Toni Braxton to name a few. I have been in grad school all year, so instead of performing, I have put my full attention to my studies, which have definitely paid off because I am an honor student and inducted into two honor societies and asked to join another one in January 2021.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
On my 52nd birthday, which was October 10th, I won the inaugural Ms. WIBOP 2020 and Miss WIBOP Photogenic 2020 Women in Business Online Pageant that was specifically created during the pandemic for women in business to compete entirely online by submitting photos, an essay, virtual interview and a business video, think “Shark Tank” style presentation in 2-3 minutes to share about our business. On the day of the competition, we did an introduction. I loved pageantry, and I was so elated to find this pageant system that combined business professionals and pageantry together. My platform is my Diva’s Diamonds: Words to Inspire, Empower and Encourage Online Movement that I have been sharing for ten years on social media. I am determined to strive to share words of inspiration, empowerment and encouragement daily. What I loved about winning this pageant the most is I get to share my title, platform, and business online, which I have done for the last 16 years. This title was meant for me! LOL! I absolutely love connecting with people via the internet, and I have become even more connected with Zoom, Streamyard, Restream, and other virtual meeting experiences. I am most proud of accomplishing this win at 52 years old, and I never imagined in my 50’s that I would be competing in a pageant that I truly believed was for me. I am an Executive MBA honor student after 29 years of trying to return back to school and recently named HBCU Beauty Alumni of the Year 2020 and inducted into Alpha Kappa Mu National Honor Society. I am overwhelmed by all of this yet beaming with joy because although I thought I would attend graduate school, I did not know when. Delayed does not mean denied. What sets me apart from others is I am relentless in completing a goal no matter how long it takes to happen. LOL! 29 years is a very long time to wait to return back to school, but I just knew someway and somehow I would be able to do it. Being relentless is definitely something that was passed down to me by my Mom “Mama Darlene” McPherson who was a single Mom raising me and my brother at 16 years old, poor, on welfare, but decided to become a nurse and elevate herself, her children any means necessary to be successful. She has worked 40 plus years in nursing as an Army Reserves Veteran during Vietnam. and today still works from time to time during the pandemic to help with hospice care.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My Mom! My undergraduate voice teacher, the Late Dr. Ruby N. Hebert, taught me so much from the age of 17 to 22 as a young vocalist, woman, future teacher, and musicianship. She was so tough on me and made it very clear to me from day one that there is no such word as “Can’t” because it did not exist in her vocabulary, so I had to erase it from my own. Those four and a half years I worked with her was the most challenging learning experience of my life. She stayed on me daily. There was never a time that she didn’t ask me the question in class and after class. I was always the one she chose to sing an example of the music in University Choir and I could never be late or not know my music. Back then, I thought she was picking on me, but now I understand she was preparing me to be excellent. She wanted me to try with confidence every time I sang a song, whether it was sight reading it for the first time or was working on the music for months. I really didn’t understand then because I really thought she was picking on me.
I remember telling her that one day. I said, Dr. Hebert, why are you always picking on me? There are so many other students in the music vocal program. She looked at me and said,” Do you really think I’m picking on you, Sonja? You could be a “diva” if you would act right! I am gonna keep working on you until you are ready to do some real singing instead of what you think you are doing around here!” LOL! She was so tough on me!! I thank God every day for her guidance, instruction and coaching. She would tell me, “Sonja, you don’t need a voice teacher you know how to sing I am merely coaching you on how to use your voice. You have to discover for yourself how to use your voice and how to get top performance out of your voice because your instrument is on the inside of your and not out the outside like instrumentals. Being a vocalist is much harder than being an instrumentalist because your instrument is in your voice box, and your body has to be in tune with your instrument. I can guide you but you have to put in the work! I never forgot those words and that was in my sophomore year. After that, she didn’t have to push me anymore.
As a vocalist, I learned by practicing 8-12 hours a day, seven days a week to learn how to practice to learn my body, voice and instrument through song. From singing in the hallways of the music department in Prairie View, Texas, to singing on Broadway in my own musical tribute that I produced and starred in on my own terms was priceless. Unfortunately, Dr. Hebert never got to see my success in New York City. But one thing she did tell me a few years after I graduated and I called her discouraged about my music career, “As long as you are not singing on the street for change, then you are doing alright!” LOL! I said, “Dr. Hebert!!” She said, “Hey, all that matters is that you keep singing, preparing for your spotlight, and it will happen. I believe you will do just fine and you will sing in your old age as long as you take care of your body and instrument your voice.” So at 52 years old, I am still singing and thankful that I don’t look my age and still healthy to perform. I have been blessed truly, and I do not take for granted anyone that has crossed my path to instill into my wisdom, knowledge, and experience to be the success I am today.
Contact Info:
- Email: divinevoicesmedia@gmail.com
- Website: www.divinevoicesmedia.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/divinevoicesmedia
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/SEFMSWIBOP20
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/divoicesmedia
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/queendivatx
- SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/DiVoicesMediaWorldwide
- Other: www.blogtalkradio.com/divas_diamonds
Image Credits
Graphic Jones for Graphic Jones Photography (for Metropolitan Room Flyer and PVU T-shirt)
