STRENGTH IN SOLIDARITY | NYC PRIDE

Since 2017, Athleisure Mag has been a media sponsor in partnering with NYC Pride. During June there are a number of events that take place that bring the LGBTQIA+ and city at large together to celebrate as well as to draw awareness and to highlight the talents, interests and passions of this community. We always enjoy Pride Island which is a fun musical festival that will be headlined this year by Christina Aguilera. There are other events that also take place in this calendar from The March, The Brunch, PrideFest and so much more.

We sat down with Executive Director Sandra Perez of Heritage of Pride, the parent organization of NYC Pride to find out about the roots of the organization, a quick history of Pride here in NY, events taking place next and how they are drawing awareness, celebrating, education and raising money for small businesses. In our JUN ISSUE #90, we will talk about the actual events that took place!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we delve into this year’s theme as well as events that are slated, can you give us some historical background on Pride in NY starting with The Stonewall Riots that took place in 1969?

SANDRA PEREZ: NYC Pride is an outgrowth of The Stonewall Riots. So the first organizers The Gay Liberation March that emerged from The Stonewall Riots, was a loose coalition of organizations that continued to really emerge from the activist perspective. They were focused on basic human rights, recognition within our community, but also really, Stonewall was about people being persecuted and that they didn’t exist publicly.

The cause feels very present. In the last few years and this year in particular. BY 1984, there was a decision made to formalize a pride organizer, we became and were named Heritage of Pride and we’ve been organizing the Pride March and all related events since then!

AM: Which is a huge job!

SP: Yes, we’ll be turning 40 next year! It is a big job.

AM: What is your role and what are the things that you do that are specific to the events for NYC Pride and then what do you do in terms of Heritage of Pride, year around?

SP: Oh my goodness, as Executive Director, it’s always funny because I say that I do everything and nothing, right? Because you have your finger in every little pot! But for the most part, I’m charged with overseeing our events, our fundraising efforts and our advocacy. For me, a big part of what I have been doing since I came onboard in Nov of 2021 so I’m not here 2 years yet, has really been working with the organization and learning. But also, reinforcing our activists’ groups. I think a big part of the story that never gets told about Pride is that so much of the work that we do goes on behind the scenes.

People will think, “oh a march just happened.” No, it didn’t just happen. We rely on 1,000’s and I mean literally 1,000’s of volunteers that help to pull off our events every year. They’re very committed and people come from great distances. They take off of work to volunteer because it is that important to people. I was just talking about this with a staff person, but they were like, “oh my gosh, we’re responsible to the community and making sure that everything goes well.” I was like, “yeah, welcome to Pride!”

AM: Absolutely!

What brought you to Pride and what made you want to work there and to be in the position that you’re in?

SP: I spent a lot of time in the not-for-profit sector. I had run a Latinx organization for many years, I’ve worked for the Ms. Foundation for Women as part of their fundraising and development teams. So for me, my goal has always been mission work. I feel very strongly about being connected to a mission that resonates with me personally. This is a job where I am able to bring every single aspect of myself to work.

AM: That’s great!

SP: Right? You don’t always get that! I can be the Bronx girl that I am, I can be a Lesbian, a Puerto Rican, an American, I can be all of those things. I can do that and be of service to a community that I am part of and I feel strongly about that.

AM: We love that this year’s theme is Strength in Solidarity. What does that mean and how are we going to see that throughout events that are offered this year?

SP: That’s so great! You know, one of the things that continually amazes me is that we open up our themes for nominations which are across the board. So this comes from volunteers, from the general public and this year we landed on Strength and Solidarity, because we felt that it captured the call to action that we need to issue this year. The way we’re seeing that and the way that we’re trying to live into that theme is really looking to bring in all segments and to speak to all segments of the LGBTQ community. There are a lot of differences within the community, but I think that the challenge that we are all facing is very clear. For me, being able to work hand in hand and to work across different organizations is really a big part of what we try to do.

So for example, in The March, you’ll see that we’re looking forward to it. It’s our signature event and in there, it highlights our community partners this year. So you will see organizations that are celebrating big anniversaries this year – PFLAG and The National LGBTQ Task Force. Lambda Legal is being honored as community heroes. We have people from every sector that we also lift up as Grand Marshalls. The Brown and Black trans community is also very prominently represented as our drag queens who are in the front lines now every single day. For us, it’s also challenging. For the floats for example, what we try to do there with corporate partners that have a float, we try to marry them to one of our community based groups that they can share that float and to really expand that opportunity to get people to be involved and represented in The March as well as not just a corporate partner.

AM: That’s amazing. We didn’t realize that.

SP: I know a lot is made of corporations that are involved in Pride events. I am very clear that we vet our partners. A number of them we have asked point blank - what are you doing in our community and how are you living into your DEAI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) at your institution. It’s just a really important moment for us to look at not just unity and solidarity within the community, but to also place and emphasis on allyship and what needs to show up for us at this point in time when so many of our rights are being attacked, violence is an ever present risk that we’re faced with, our volunteers are faced with as well as our staff. It’s a celebratory moment, but it’s also a somber one.

AM: I couldn’t agree more. When we first approached by your team back in 2017 to be media sponsors, people asked why we would want to participate. The first response was that I think it is important to be an ally. As Co-Founders, I’m Black, the other co-founder is a white man and we are a heterosexual couple. On various sets, our teams have had those who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community as well as we have covered those who are as well throughout our issues.

I have always felt that you should be a good ally and be able to share those stories within your pages as representation is important. It’s always been important to me as I want to be able to see myself when I'm out in the world. I've had very close friends that I knew of over the years whether it was being sent to conversion schools/therapies, having a hard time coming out to various people in their circle or simply just not being able to navigate their lives who committed suicide. For me, these were people that were my friends and even in the midst of their struggle there were such a rich fabric in terms of what they offered to the world and each time I always felt so sad that they felt that that was what they had to do and that there wasn’t enough that they could stay and either increase their circles or find community that they could navigate differently.

From those experiences, I have felt that it is always important to be an ally and to have representation reflected. I appreciate that your organization is looking to embrace and work with those that are in your community as well as outside of it. It’s also great to know that when you are with corporate partners which is necessary to put on a production of this nature, that you do create accountability and that you ensure that the benchmarks align with it being done in a way that works for what you need. I really appreciate that.

SP: Yeah, I think that in part and parcel of that, is really looking at engaging. We don’t just have sponsors, we call them partners. We call them partners for a very specific reason. We want to go beyond the exchange of a check. It’s about what are you doing to our community, what are you doing for our community, are you engaged in dialogue? How can we facilitate the dialogue and how can we educate you as to what kind of support our community needs.

I have one of our Co-Chairs, Sue Doster who always says, “we set the table so that people can sit down and have the discussions that need to be had." I say yes that’s what we do and that we go a step further by providing people with the opportunities to do better. For me, that's a real important part of what we need to be doing in the future.

AM: Who are the Grand Marshalls this year?

SP: I'm excited about this year's Grand Marshalls: Billy Porter (American Horror Story, Pose, 80 For Brady), Yasmin Benoit, AC Dumlao, Hope Giselle, and Randolfe "Randy" Wicker. We do have our Grand Marshalls, once again nominated by community members which is really great. I think that they reflect a lot of the community, they reflect the very best of advocates, and they reflect the very best champions that are out there and we look forward to having them take the spotlight and stepping off The March.

AM: For those that may not be able to be there in person, will you guys still have The March broadcast on WABC and will there be other ways to access this event if they miss the live airing?

SP: Yes! I’m very happy to say that we just renewed our partnership with WABC!

AM: Nice!

SP: So you can see us for the next 4 years on WABC!

AM: That’s fantastic!

SP: We’re really happy about that. The March is a live broadcast for 3 hours. You can also see it on ABC7NY.com, ABC News Live, and ABC7 New York's Connected TV apps on streaming platforms Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku. We love for people to know that they can watch this in person, live at home or at another time!

AM: Pride Island has always been one of my favorites! Our team enjoys going – we loved when we saw Madonna back in 2019 – such a great performance. People were losing their ever loving mind! Christina Aguilera just got named as the headliner this year and I love that you guys will hold this at Brooklyn Army Terminal. What can we look forward to in terms of this event?

SP: I mean, I think you can look forward to the great music that has become part of Pride Island and it originated as Dances on the Pier! When we first started way back when, the community had no place to dance because it was forbidden right (Editor’s Note: Dances on The Piers started in 1986). They threw whole parties on the pier and those have morphed into things like Pride Island and so many other events that happen that Fri. and Sat. So Pride Island, you can see a lot of activations, we have talent, we have a few surprises I’m sure and great fireworks which always is fun, we have food and Christina’s set! We’re very excited to have her onboard, she’s such a great champion for the community and I‘m just as excited as you are, let’s just put it that way!

AM: When I saw the release pop out, I was like, “what?!?”

SP: I did squeal as well! There’s no jadedness here! We get very excited over the talent that we have on stage for Pride Island. But equally at all of our events.

We have PrideFest which is our street fair that takes over downtown and that’s 3 stages going on there. We have Family Fest, we’re going to prominently feature members of our community on stage with lots of local talent because this is where they grow and we want this to be a showcase of our community as well as local talent as well. We’re doing Youth Pride this year again in Brooklyn which is an important event for us because we know how much pressure young people are under. We know that it is not a safe time for them. So to be able to partner with Target over many years and they have been the ones advocating for this being a totally free experience for young people to celebrate in safe spaces. That is going to be a fantastic event. I’m really proud that we do that.

AM: I love that when you’re looking at the different events, that you present, The Brunch this year has Black chefs from the LGBTQIA+ community or that TEAZE focuses on women – you create programming where you can really showcase representation so that people can step forward and see something that can interest them. Why is it so important to do that and it’s so complex because you only have so many days but you’re targeting so many demographics?

SP: Yeah we do, because our community is not a monolith. We come in every shape and color and our interests are varied. The event producers that we bring on every year are from the community and have a real commitment to lifting up different segments of our community and that’s what you see when you see The Brunch. We’re celebrating Juneteenth and understanding that historically Black and Brown folks have been marginalized not just in mainstream, but within our communities. So really lifting up that talent and really lifting up our partnerships and what we plan to do beyond The Brunch and beyond the month of June.

AM: How far in advance do you begin planning for the next upcoming Pride event because it feels like you would be working on this one as well as the next one already.

SP: Absolutely! One of my big commitments is to get us to a place where we are planning this 2 and 3 years in advance! Because that’s the time that we would really need to be able to realize the vision, right? One of the things that we’ve done this year that’s different is that we have lightened our calendar and we decided that there are certain events that we do usually in June that were not getting the attention that they merited. So for example, our Human Rights Conference, it will move to Oct. We feel that it will be a really great time to go from the lighter aspects of Pride and really dive into the issues that are facing the community. Not just the issues, but the people leading us and offering new answers. So we’re very pleased that we’re going to move and lean into what we call Pride 365, which means that we will be present in terms of having productions year around. So we’re looking at having a fuller calendar Oct. – Dec. that will allow us to do our Human Rights Conference. We have moved our Family Movie Night and are looking at making it a monthly. It’s really about targeting families and children so that they can participate in a safe theater experience with other parents because I think that that is important to be able to build up that community. Parents who have children that are from that community are also important as well.

AM: It’s great that you looked at what you have done over past Pride months and were able to segment what made sense to stay in that period as well as looking at the longer view by seeing how you can create a fuller schedule that takes place throughout the year. It allows for those that are looking at what you do to understand that these are ongoing initiatives and are not designated for June only. Once again for those that are allies, that we shouldn’t be rallying around June but there are everyday efforts that can be done and are available.

SP: It is an everyday effort and we realize that we need to be banging that drum. We have a very unique space within the LGBTQ ecosystem, but organizations are year around. It doesn’t matter the size, we’re one of the largest Pride organizations, but I’m thinking of rural communities that are trying to put together their first Pride, most of these things come from people who want to create a safe space and our programming allows them to do that if they can leverage our work in service of their community, that really is the goal there. To teach that voice and to keep that platform open for the people that we serve.

AM: Are there organizations or charities that a portion of the proceeds of the sales of tickets/admission go to support?

SP: Actually, we’re very proud of our Pride Gives Back Program! It is a grant program wherein we award upwards of $100,000 a year to a variety of different groups that can apply to a grant program. This year, I think that we’re just sending out the award letters. There may be 15 groups in our cohort and they range from very very small organizations to large organizations who are looking for either support to stabilize. I think that what I love about the Pride Gives Back Program is that it really speaks to the organizations that are at the absolute grassroots. They’re not necessarily being funded yet and we get to find them, fund them, and incubate them. We have some of our grantees who use our space to carry out their events. We really do try to support their work with publicity as well as resources as well as staff time. We want them to succeed, we want them to feel that they are part of our organization.

We’re doing that and we’re also expanding our partnership that we have with Mastercard which will allow us to pilot a grant program for small businesses. We’ll be making announcements for that, later on this month.

AM: We were talking a bit about volunteers earlier, is there still an opportunity for people to be able to apply to be involved in this year’s events?

SP: Absolutely! We are always looking for volunteers. This is the time of year where we sign people up and we make it really easy. All they have to do is to visit our volunteer page and what we do there is provide information to come to meetings and our training. Our volunteers can be hybrid. You can be a day of volunteer and you’ll get some training. We have very experienced volunteer captains and there is always time to hop on board this train!

IG @nycpride

PHOTOS COURTESY | NYC Pride

Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see STRENGTH IN SOLIDARITY | NYC Pride in mag.

FROM THE RING TO THE WORLD WITH DARIA BERENATO

We're excited to have Daria Berenato for this month's cover. She wrestles in the WWE under the name of Sonya Deville. This athlete started as an MMA fighter and transitioned into becoming a WWE Superstar who uses her platform as an activist for the LGBTQ community, supporting those that are looking to break barriers and of course continuing to expand her empire in fashion, acting and more. We also talked about her upcoming fight with former tag team partner, Mandy Rose on WWE SmackDown on May 8th!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Great to catchup with you and an honor to have you as our cover as we've enjoyed having Nattie, Carmella/Leah Van Dale, Naomi/Trinity Fatu, as well - when was the moment that you realized that you wanted to be an athlete?

DARIA BERENATO: Oh my God, an athlete? From the first! I used to play basketball at 4 or 5 years old in the driveway. I spent my entire life playing sports from basketball to lacrosse, soccer, track and field. Then on to MMA – Mixed Martial Arts to professional wrestling. So, I don’t even know what my life would look like without sports!

AM: I remember you on WWE Tough Enough but you actually started as an MMA fighter! What was it about that sport that drew you to it and what was your transition to wrestling and joining the WWE?

DB: Yeah so when I was 15 or 16 years old, I was in high school and I played school sports my entire life. I just wanted a change of space and I wanted something different. I always had dreams of graduating from high school, moving far away and being on TV and acting as that was always a passion of mine. I wanted to explore something else also. I didn’t know if it was going to be playing a musical instrument or a marital art.

This was a discussion that I had with my mom one day. I had been watching a lot of MMA videos and had been watching Gina Carano, a big female fighter back in the early 2000’s/2010 probably when I was watching her. I thought it would be so cool to see a chick in a cage and get into a fight and then you see her interviews in a dress. It was so cool to see someone so badass and then to be able to see her feminine side. I liked the idea of someone being beautiful and then being tough at the same time. It was really cool and I became obsessed with the MMA. I started watching every UFC and every Pay-Per-View fight night and eventually I was like, “I want to fight MMA,” and my mom was like, “I don’t even know where you would do that around here.” There weren’t any UFC gyms around here to do that. I went to a local boxing gym that was 45 minutes from my house and I started boxing judo and Jiu-Jitsu and I just loved how pure the sport was. I loved how it was a one woman sport, but that you had a whole team of coaches and training partners that you needed to work with together to get the win and stuff. It was just a really cool community and I loved it. So I moved to Florida to train with American Top Team which is one of the best teams in the world when I was 17. Literally, the day of my high school graduation, I drove down to Florida.

AM: Wow!

DB: Yes. I’m really impulsive like that. When I want something, I will do anything to get it and my heart and my mind is 120% in what I do. So yes, MMA is what I did. I fought and trained while also pursuing acting at the same time. I did that for the next 4 or 5 years and finally, I was hosting AfterBuzz TV podcast in LA where I was living at the time. Maria Menounos, is also part of the WWE family and used to be on E! News.

AM: She’s actually in this month’s issue as well! Completely random that this happened!

DB: No way! Aww that is like so perfect! So her and her husband owned Afterbuzz TV and they became mentors to me. They just took me under their wing and told me that they loved my attitude and they loved my spirit. They thought that I could do something special. So the WWE asked Maria to be on Tough Enough as a contestant and she was like, “hell no. I’m too old for this. But I have the perfect girl and she’s a fighter.” They called me and they thought I was going to say no because they thought that I was so MMA that I wouldn’t want to depart from it.

But they called me and I said yes right away because I saw the opportunity. I didn’t necessarily think that that meant leaving MMA at that moment, I just thought that it was a competition and reality show that sounded like a good opportunity. I just said, let’s do it. That led me to WWE and I ended up getting it. I mean, I was working my butt off to be ready for the tryout and to do the best that I could. I kind of felt out of place at tryouts because there were a lot of bikini world champions like Mandy and fitness models and I was just this little rough around the edges Jersey girl who fought MMA. I definitely stood out in that sense.

A couple of months later, I was hired and the rest was kind of history. I just fell in love with the world of WWE. It was everything that I had always been looking for. It was the performing and competition aspect all rolled into one for my career. Honestly, it was so meant to be and it’s just exactly where I should be.

AM: In terms of Sonya Deville, can you tell us about this persona and what are the similarities and differences between you and her?

DB: When I was first developing Sonya’s character, she was very simplistic at first. She was just a badass that was an MMA fighter who was coming into this world. All she cared about was fighting and winning. She’s a very straight to the point kind of character. Over time, being with Absolution (trio that comprised Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville) on RAW and being on Fire and Desire (tag team of Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville) on SmackDown with Mandy and working with Paige in the past. It all kind of added to the persona of Sonya Deville. Because life experiences make us who we are as people.

So that’s kind of the case with Sonya. She was definitely third wheeling it a little with Absolution and with Fire and Desire, took a backseat to Mandy Rose because it was about Mandy’s magazine covers ironically. It was Sonya always taking the back seat to everything that Mandy was doing because that was just the dynamic of the team. So, Sonya had enough and a lot of what you’re seeing now on SmackDown is a compilation of everything that Sonya has been through emotionally. Everyone is starting to realize that Sonya is a bad B.

AM: Yeah she is!

DB: She doesn’t mess around and she has a little bit of an anger issue I think that we are starting to see and a little bit of an anger problem. But she’s calculated and much more calculated than what I think that we ever thought Sonya was. She’s not as impulsive as she once was. She’s more calculated and every move and everything that she does is made with intention and purpose.

AM: You guys have a fight this Fri on SmackDown!

DB: Yes we do!

AM: The internet is all over the place talking about this. So many of our readers are asking what you can tell us about this and any goodies you can tell as we will drop this issue a few hours before your fight!

DB: Oh wow! I think that you’re going to see a side of Sonya Deville that you have never seen before. Nobody has ever seen this before! She’s been waiting to get her hands on Mandy Rose for years! You have to understand that this isn’t something that just developed over night. The fans are just seeing it happen overnight because Sonya has been keeping it inside just planning and bottling it up. They have to understand that this is a plan that has been coming to fruition that has been in the works for 4 years. 4 years that Sonya has been getting stepped on and has been keeping a mental piggy bank of things that she can use against Mandy Rose. You’re going to see all of that come to fruition on Friday night!

AM: Oh my gosh. Well obviously we can’t wait to see all of this, how it develops and what happens afterwards.

So right now, when you look at the word normal, it’s an interesting word to say, but when you look at an average week as a WWE Superstar, what is it like with you training, getting prepared for matches and you guys are actively still participating in your sport where others are not able to do this. How has that been for you?

DB: We’ve all just kind of developed our own systems at home. Because obviously no gyms are open so I have been training in my home gym that I have built over the past few months. It’s great and I’m blessed that I have it as it is a space that allows me to stay in shape and ready at all times for the ring.

When we show up to film, it’s a completely closed set and we’re doing everything that we can – no crowd nothing! I think it’s pretty remarkable to see that we are able to go forward in a way that is still keeping everyone safe and healthy, but also being able to put a product on television right now so that people can hopefully be distracted for a few hours of their week and not have to think about everything else that is going on out there in the world right now.

AM: We totally agree with you. When your shows were coming out, we wondered how you would be able to do what you guys do without an audience. But when you’re watching it, you’re still seeing the drama as if there were a million people in that room. We commend you for that. The amount of travel that you guys do, the hours you spend going from one place to another while being fresh faced and ready to give it all for your fans is just something that you guys do as a team that is so great.

DB: Thank you. I mean being part of the WWE, it’s a very special thing and very unique. Because of the scheduling, the travel, the amount of shows that we put on a year that people don’t realize. So in a time like this, we have to reinvent the wheel a little bit and recreate. It’s fun for me as an artist and as a performer. It’s been super fun for me to have to dig a little deeper and to see what we can do to still put on an incredible show without the fans. Obviously, the fans are a huge part of what we do.

AM: In terms of training, what are your go-to workouts that you focus on to stay fit and what are workouts that we can do at home?

DB: I switch it up almost every day. Because it obviously gets monotonous to do the same thing every day. I’ll wake up some mornings and do a mile run or an 8-10 mile bike ride on the days that I don’t feel like lifting weights. Some days I don’t feel like lifting weights and my body is telling me to take it easy on the weights. So I’ll just do some cardio on some days or do some laps to the pool. Some days I will do a full on lift mode for weight training. Usually I will do a high intensity workout or a circuit workout one day a week. Then the other 3 or 4 days, I will do an actual weight lifting workout which will have a back and thigh day, shoulders and tri day or a lower body day. That’s kind of how I break up my week.

I’m always switching it up and I always say that if you have a kettlebell or a dumbbell, there is so much that you can do. The options are endless and they’re still available if you go on Amazon and so many other websites that are still selling them. Resistance bands are so amazing. I have a couple of at home workouts that are on my YouTube channel – Daria Berenato. You just have to reinvent the wheel a little bit right?

AM: What are your 3 power foods that you like to eat when you're training?

DB: Redcon1 Mint Chocolate Chip Protein is my favorite thing in this entire world! I’m obsessed. There’s these Kodiak Protein Pancakes mix that are the best in the entire world that I have had in my entire life. Eggs are then my day one go to! I probably have them 6 days a week if not 7. Eggs are so easy and I will do egg whites a lot too. It’s easy to get protein.

AM: One of the things that we love about you is the fact that we know that you’re athletic, you have a fitness focus and you also enjoy eating fun stuff like donuts and other things like that. That’s so important as coming from a fashion/fitness perspective, there are so many people that make others feel bad that even those who do take care of their bodies – that there is a stigma if you engage in that. You’re able to hold both of those things and you normalize that. Why was that so important to you to include that and bring it into your brand for fans to also see that.

DB: I truly believe that life is all about balance. I definitely have a type of personality where if I become focused on working out, I become obsessed with working out. If I’m dieting, I become obsessed with dieting. I’ve always kept a really healthy balance with my diet. Ever since stopping MMA, in MMA you’re dieting and your carb depleted and calorie depleted because you’re cutting weight for your fight. That was super stressful on the body and the mind. So when I switched over to WWE as a professional wrestler, where we don’t have weight classes and a weight to make, I kind of promised myself never to diet that hard again just because I didn’t like how I felt even mentally doing it. Now I have developed something that works for me. Everybody’s body is different, we have different genetics and we work out and train differently too. But I have gotten my body to a point where I know what I can and can’t have in a week and what I need to do to burn it off if I do want to have it. That’s how I think. Work hard, play hard is definitely a motto that I have that follows me into the kitchen too. I love donuts, I love pizza – I probably have pizza once a week, I’m not even going to lie.

AM: Nice.

DB: Yup, I have those pancakes, they’re protein – but they’re still pancakes. I have them probably once or twice a week. I like to enjoy my food for sure. Me and Mandy had our donut show DAMANDYZ DONUTS which is now Daria’s Donuts! We don’t do that show together and I have been producing my own content for that show. I think she has been doing her own show. I don’t pay attention to her in what she does. It’s been really fun to try different donut places all over the world and I cooked my own for the first time.

AM: How’d that go?

DB: It was an absolute mess in the kitchen! But they actually didn’t taste that bad!

AM: Well there you go!

DB: I baked them, I need to fry them next time.

This week, I’m dropping a poolside workout for my fans. So it’s a really cool brand that we have created with Daria’s Donuts and is everything that we have talked about with health, fitness and a little bit of enjoyment and lifestyle stuff.

AM: What is your favorite donut in your favorite city?

DB: In Louisiana, I’ll never forget when I took a bite out of this donut. It was in Lafayette, Louisiana and it’s called Meche's Donut King. It’s a tiny little hole in the wall. Best donut that I have ever had in my life.

AM: What donut was it?

DB: A hot, classic glazed donut. But it was warm, the bread was moist and it was just perfect.

AM: I've been a fan of E! Total Divas and have enjoyed seeing your storyline on it. What was it about being on this show that made you want to be apart of it?

DB: They auditioned me for Total Divas two years in a row actually. The year before, they decided not to add anybody new. When they asked me to do it, I immediately said yes. I love Total Divas, I think it is one of the coolest shows because it gives the mainstream demographic a look into our lives. People don’t watch wrestling – like growing up, I didn’t watch wrestling. But I remember walking into my mom’s room and she had on Total Divas. It was the episode when Nattie busted her nose or something like that. I’ll never forget it. I asked my mom who the girls were and if they were wrestlers because I couldn’t understand it. She explained it to me and I knew I wanted to do that.

I swear on my life, I went online and went to apply. I don’t remember why, but I couldn’t apply. Either I wasn’t 18 yet or at the time, you couldn’t have tattoos. Either way I forget. There was some stipulation on the website where I told my mom that I couldn’t do it yet. It’s really funny because life comes full circle!

I was intrigued through Total Divas because I watched E! It was such a cool look to show our world and what goes on behind the scenes for those that don’t watch wrestling. Maybe looking at it could help them get into wrestling, enjoy the sport and fall in love with it just like we did. It’s really been fun and it was a no brainer when they asked. Of course, I was nervous about putting my whole entire life out there – my family, my friends and my relationship. That was nerve wracking. Obviously, it's much more nerve wracking to be yourself on camera versus playing a character on camera. It was a really cool experience and I feel like I have learned a lot more about myself doing it and I would definitely do it again.

AM: Who are you close to in the WWE that you consider being in your squad?

DB: Well Mandy was. Liv Morgan, Carmella – those are the ones that I’m closest too. Bayley, Becky Lynch – those are like my girls.

AM: Love that. Once again seeing all of those interactions on the show is fun for the Athleisure Media team as we love seeing a number of the people that we have done photoshoots and interviews with and seeing how their personalities on the show are just like when they were with us on set. Or seeing a scene and knowing that we were with them the day before.

DB: Right! That’s funny. We have such a good locker room because we all get along so well – we’re blessed. We have Trin, Saronas – we have such a cool locker room.

AM: We have been media sponsors for the past 4 years of NYC Pride as we think it's so important to celebrate and be allies to the LGBTQ community. As the first openly lesbian Superstar in the WWE how important was it for your to share your sexuality and how can the WWE improve representation and equality?

DB: Absolutely. It’s funny and I’m reminded every single day why I share my story and why I’m open about my life to the fans. Obviously, it’s not the easiest decision and not the easiest way to live. It’s much easier to just be yourself and to think that no one needs to know. I chose to share my story and I’m s happy that I did because I hear from people every single day that they are struggling with coming out and figuring who they are and sharing it with their loved ones, family and friends. We’ve made leaps and bounds in the LGBTQ community and in the world with acceptance and equality. But there is still so much to do. The fight is never over and I think it is so important to have an ally in the public eye. For me when I was growing up, the only gay person that I ever saw on TV was Ellen Degeneres and so there wasn’t many other representatives that I knew at the time.

So for me, a closeted gay girl that grew up in a small town in south New Jersey, I didn’t even think that it was a thing. I didn’t think that I could possibly be gay because I didn’t know anybody that was. I would have thoughts and I would push them way down in there because I didn’t think it could be. It seemed far fetched and I didn’t allow myself to be who I was. I find a lot of light in being able to do that for this generation’s Daria. I want to be the voice for the little me that never had one. For all of these kids, teens and adults who are dealing with these things now – they know who they are but they don’t have anyone to talk to about it or they don’t think it’s ok – just help them with their struggling emotions and let them know that it is more than ok. It’s more than ok to be who you are, it’s more than ok to love who you love and there is nothing to be apologetic about. Anybody who is meant to be in your life, will remain in your life, those who aren’t will exit. Everything happens for a reason and there is no love that is not pure.

I like to be that voice because I know all to well that feeling of not feeling you have anyone to relate to.

AM: What LGBTQ initiatives do you support?

DB: About a year or two ago we worked with WWE to get the first line of LGBTQ wrestling shirts. I got my “Put Your Hair Up and Square Up” rainbow shirt, Finn Balor got his, Becky Lynch got hers, Charlotte Flair – a bunch of Superstars I think 10 of them got them. The proceeds of the rainbow shirts went to GLAAD We were on the GLAAD Pride parade float in the NYC World Pride Parade. I was the representative for that! I got to ride the float and to represent WWE which was a super cool experience. We did the Spirit Day Lounge and NY ComicCon a few years back in NY. Slowly but surely, we’re getting a lot more involvement with community and I push for it every year. We’re always having meetings about it and what we can do to represent.

I have my own line called Rainbow Love which is completely LGBTQ friendly forward clothing line. One of the first shirts that we dropped said, “You Are Not Alone” with the Suicide Prevention Hotline on the back. It’s a super cool shirt and one of my favorite designs in the entire line. It’s so strong and it’s just so powerful. It just speaks for itself and lets you know that you shouldn’t be afraid to talk – to reach out for help to talk to somebody as we’re all going through shit and life isn’t every easy, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel with a silver lining. It’s ok to have a Heavy Heart, but Rainbow Love. There’s a bigger line which is called Heavy Heart which this is apart of.

There’s a bunch of different ways that I try to do stuff like that. This year, I had planned on being on 6 or 7 Pride floats with the WWE behind me. Obviously, plans have changed on that a little bit, but we are working and talking about how we can be there to support virtually.

I look back at myself before I came out and know that I wasn’t able to be myself. When you’re keeping this secret from people that you are close with and those that you love the most, and you can’t act the way you want to in public it’s such a depressing feeling – it affects and manifests in ways that you can’t imagine and you don’t realize it. I mean, hindsight is 20-20 and all I can say to people is that being open and honest with who I was was the best decision that I ever made.

AM: Tell us about Quibi's WWE unscripted series "Fight Like a Girl."

DB: This was a really cool project. WWE partnered with Quibi which is a network with bite sized videos and a new series called “Fight Like a Girl,” focuses on a young woman who wants to make changes in her life for the better. She is teamed up with a WWE Superstar to help reach those goals and accomplishments. They go through a training program at the state of the art WWE Performance Center in Orlando as well as an extensive physical training, emotional training, mental training and mentorship program with Superstars. It’s really a cool show. I was partnered with a girl named Samantha who was closeted to half of her family and she was nervous to tell her father’s side. We just talked honestly and I just told her my journey and I think she was able to relate to the things that I said. I used fitness and force and working out as my biggest crutch when I was going through everything. It was my sanity and happy place when I was going through a lot of the stuff that I have been through. I think she was able to relate to that and she really got into working out and got in incredible shape and it was such a cool experience to see her total mind and body transformation. It was really cool.

AM: Circling back, we were talking about your clothing line, Rainbow Love, how did the line come about?

DB: My good friend Bobbie owns Black Craft clothing which is in Hot Topic and a couple of other stores. He wanted to expand and make a new line as he had been working on that for years. He wanted to make a new line, Heavy Heart and he called me up to be apart of it. He said that he didn’t know the kinds of things that I was into, but he knew that I wanted to make a clothing line anyway. He asked me if I wanted my own line under Heavy Heart. I would be able to name it, come up with the concept – whatever. We went back and forth for months with ideas and throwing things against the wall to see what would stick. I told him that I wanted to do something that I was passionate about and I didn’t want to just throw a logo on a shirt and call it a day. I suggested doing a LGBTQ forward line and he thought it was dope. We came up with the “You’re Not Alone Shirt” with the Suicide Prevention Hotline and a few other shirts, another one called True Colors, a couple that just says Rainbow Love with a cool graphic of my face on it. We just hand designed all of the stuff and we wanted the line to be very raw. We wanted it to speak for itself and let people know that it is ok to express your emotions and to be as dark or as bright as you feel. Life’s not always perfect and it’s ok to be in your feels. It’s ok to have a Heavy Heart, but Rainbow Love. It’s been really cool and I think the fan response has been incredible.

We’re trying to set something up where maybe one of our product’s proceeds will go to a charity or maybe a percentage of all of the products will. We don’t know all the details yet but we are working on that. I just want to be able to help in any way that I can with Suicide Prevention and LGBTQ community in general. It’s been so cool and my fans love it because it is something that they can relate to. The clothing line is friendly to them. It’s more inclusivity that’s subtle but really sweet at the same time.

I wanted it to be clothes that I would rock everyday that you would see me in. I wear the shirts all the time and it’s totally my vibe. Obviously, it’s black because I wear a lot of that, but it’s got the color pop on it too and that matches with my personality as well. I am a little social butterfly despite my dark character persona with Sonya Deville. It’s relatable and true to who I am.

AM: A number of people from the WWE like Dwayne Johnson and John Cena have gone on to having movie careers, competition reality shows etc - do you have plans to follow in their footsteps?

DB: That’s been a goal of mine as acting is my passion and my first dream! Something I have always kept in mind is that you have to go where your path takes you. You have to work hard, but if life hands you a lemon – you have to make lemonade. That’s what I did. I got a little off of the path of becoming an actor, but I actually found something that could get me there in a better way in my opinion. To follow in the footsteps of John Cena, Dwayne Johnson and Dave Bautista – guys that have come over from WWE and stepped into Hollywood. That’s ultimately the long time game plan. I want to act in television and in film. I’d love to be in The Mandalorian or The Fast and The Furious.

AM: Could so see that.

DB: Right? It would be so fun! I feel like I have created a little brand for myself with WWE and that’s just going to continue to grow and it will make the transition nice and smooth. In the meantime, I have been working with an acting coach, Sean Whalen for the last 2 years. I have been putting in extra hours which isn’t always easy when you’re on the road, but it has helped tremendously with everything that I do from WWE to acting. That’s my goal to be the first female that has made that huge leap.

AM: What advice do you have for women and girls on how they should blaze their own trails in career and in life?

DB: Well if it helps any – I was called crazy and ridiculous. I was 17 moving out of my house saying I was going to be a professional MMA fighter and an actor in a time where Ronda Rousey didn’t exist yet in the UFC. It was a horse of a very different path and no one thought that I was capable except for myself. The power of believing in yourself is so strong! I would say, say less – do more. Put your head down and work your ass off and you can literally accomplish anything. My story is a testament to that. There were so many times that I got down on myself and I said, "I'm not going to make it," I still woke up every day at 6am and trained for 4 hours and then bartended until 2am and did it all over again. You’ve got to grind if you want it. Just don’t ever give up on your dreams. There’s nothing more gratifying in your life than living your dreams.

AM: We like asking people who are 3 people that inspire them in their careers or in life whether you know them personally, follow them online etc?

DB: Ellen Degeneres for sure, Gina Carano and I’m going to go with my mom. Everyone plays a certain role. Ellen showed me at a very young age so much strength and resilience. She wasn’t only in a very male dominated world but a hetero dominated world. She broke down so many barriers for women and LGBTQ people. She’s inspirational in her own right and went through so many struggles being who she is.

Gina Carano was the first pioneer of the MMA for women and was one of the first huge female superstars that people would actually pay to go see. She’s incredibly badass.

My mom is just the definition of unconditional love and support. Although everyone else called my dreams crazy, she did not call them crazy and for that, she is my day one!

IG @SonyaDevilleWWE

PHOTOS COURTESY | PG 16, 26, 28, 30 + 32 WWE | PG 18 + 21 Vince Trupsin | PG 22, 24 + 39 Ryan Loco | PG 35 TOTAL DIVAS -- Season 9 Gallery -- Pictured: Sonya -- (Photo by: Brian Bowen Smith/E! Entertainment) | PG 36 TOTAL DIVAS -- Maui Vacation -- Pictured: (l-r) Carmella, Sonya -- (Photo by: Mario Perez/E! Entertainment) |

Hear WWE Superstar & E! Total Divas', Daria Berenato/Sonya Deville this month on our show, #TRIBEGOALS -which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.

Read the April Issue of Athleisure Mag and see From the Ring to the World with Daria Berenato in mag.