For Sonya, a professional singing career was the furthest thing from her mind while growing up on a dairy farm in Red Hill. “My intention wasn’t to sing, even though singing came naturally to me. It was to go to college and be a speech and drama teacher,” says Mendez, who still does the occasional theater bit - with her latest efforts coming in the South Pacific play that recently ran at Windward Community College. “I didn’t grow up with the idea that I was going to be an entertainer. In fact, it wasn’t until I was about 14 that I really began to study my art.”
By her senior year at Aiea High, Mendez was working at the Honolulu International Airport as a lei greeter, making “the minimum wage of $1.25” when she happened to catch an ad in the paper that requested “a singer-dancer for a show in Waikiki.” Turns out the ad was placed by Carole Kai, who had been looking for a back-up singer. Kai offered the job to Mendez and the youngster gladly accepted, despite the fact that her first gig on Maui happened to be on the same night as high school graduation.
“It was too glamorous a job to pass up,” recalls Mendez, who nowadays works as one of the judges on Hawaii Stars, the TV karaoke show hosted by - who else? - Carole Kai. “I was thinking, ‘Should I skip graduation or make money?’ In the end, I decided I was going to take the money!”
Since moving back to the Islands in 1998, Mendez has remained busy, working on her first CD (which will feature the already released hit Luau ChaCha-Cha) and doing community service, which included being president of the Kapolei Rotary Club.