Life & Work with Founding Mother Thunderous La’Don Rochè

Today we’d like to introduce you to Founding Mother Thunderous La’Don Rochè.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started??
I started catching a rhythm at a very young age. I recall being called out at EVERY event with my family and being told “TJ, Get in front of the TV and show them you can dance”, and I would relentlessly each and every time! By High school, I was added to a dance class and it took off there. I join the dance team, dance company, drill team, EVERYTHING! I was the captain of my team by Junior year and that summer was when I discovered Vogue. The first Vogue video I ever saw was Katrina Ebony Here Comes The Hurricane. That was back when they would make a full edit on YouTube of popular performance girls. I saw Dashaun next and I saw myself in him, just on looks alone I had never seen some that expressive that looked like me. Then I saw Pony, But the final nail was Leiomy. After I watched her 720 spins off the stage on Foxy Milan, I did not know what I was watching anymore and was TERRIFIED!! I waited three days to watch that video again and I swear I was so scared for whatever reason watching that shook me! When I watched it again I felt different about what I saw, I felt like I wanted to learn and I would imitate all the elements. My bestfriend broke everything down to me and by the fall, I was walking my first virgin category, still in the 11th grade! Drag was such a different journey since I had already been in the ballroom for about five years by the time I embarked on Drag and the Drag community presented a new format of bringing myself into one.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. I have had multiple challenges, even consistently showing myself and proving myself at every opportunity that was given. At times I would wonder, “How am I gonna make it?” I would ask myself that so much & I still do, but I always find the genuine positive in why I’m even on this journey to begin with. I remind myself how many I have been able to grace and how much I have been able to accomplish and I pick up my foot begin to continue on my journey.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I like to believe that I am most known for being 100% authentically myself. I’d say a universal theme of what I specialize in is being an advocate for the LGBT black community. I began walking balls in Los Angeles at the age of 15 and I also found it drag at the age of 24 I believe. I have come to the realization that everything I have specialized in or wanted to specialize in has always been under the umbrella of representing my community. And I am proud of it!

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
It’s very important to have a quality character! It is very important to be yourself, and every bit of that. You may feel when you think you are too weird or too quirky or maybe even too feminine, that is what makes you unique. It’s called DNA! Accepting myself and its entirety and understanding that I will continue to learn more differences about myself that I didn’t understand before that I question helps me verify better with others. Using that with my craft of performing as a way of communicating helps me produce genuine art…

Contact Info:

• Instagram: SunOfTheDon
• Twitter: SunOfTheDon

Image Credits
Dylan D. Thai / Dylan D. Thai Productions Roberto Hannibal Roccos West Hollywood Roccos Roccettes