Featured Contributor Sonja Hegman

This month we are featuring technology journalist, Sonja Hegman. She writes for media outlets such as MediaBistro and The Motley Fool. She has an unforgettable style about her and she is someone you might think should have been in the audience at an Elvis concert, his early years. Her favorite movie is Pulp Fiction and she enjoys Sangria on Friday afternoons at her home in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her cat Fitz can be found curled up in her lap as she writes about Twitter, Facebook and the latest in technology news. She brings a fresh and modern style to Luxe Beat Magazine and we know our readers will enjoy Sonja’s take on the gizmos and gadgets, she discovers in her cyber travels.

Bio: Sonja Hegman is a journalist turned author and social media pro who can start a conversation with anyone. She has a bachelor’s in journalism and thought she’d be an ambulance chaser the rest of her life. When she realized the newspaper world was imploding, she got out before becoming a casualty. She’s also been known to hum while she works and creates word combos like “Stymied Skeptic” and “Writer’s Chat Stew.” She currently writes regularly about social media, tech and business for mediabistro, Luxe Beat Magazine and soon enough for The Motley Fool. She has authored two books, “Trials of an Entrepreneurial Virgin” and “Moving at the Speed of Twitter”. Sonja can be reached at http://sonjahegman.com or @ChiefWordsmith.

How did you end up writing in the technology space?

My specialty is tech, something I never I expected to write about. My focus is primarily on social media and new media. I think I’ve always been a tech geek it just took me a long time to come to terms with it. Growing up, I was more interested in the pop culture of tech gadgets than in celebrity pop culture.

Are you more passionate about writing or photography?

That’s tough. They’ve played tug-of-war a lot throughout my life. Right now, I have a renewed passion for writing. I lost it for a while earlier in my career. But my passion for writing truly started after I wrote a love story for Valentine’s Day in eighth grade. It was a hit, and I became a writing machine.

What is your writing process?

For my own blog, I have a loose editorial calendar. I say loose because some weeks I’m inspired to write something completely off the cuff. I rarely use outlines. The only time I used one in recent memory was for my first book, and then I didn’t follow it. I tend to layout my articles and blog posts in my head before I write them.

If you could be anyone else, who would it be?

Hemingway, if only for his writing ability.

What motivates you to be a luxury journalist?

I like seeing how high-end products and tech eventually tickle down to the masses.

What is one of your favorite travel memories?

My parents didn’t fly, so we had a 1970s Winnebago that we’d use for vacations. We’d never go more than six hours away, which was to a cousin’s farm in central Minnesota. On one trip there, I was probably 6, I saw as calf being born. I remember it being the coolest (and grossest) thing ever. It stood up almost immediately, and I thought it was weird that human babies couldn’t do that same thing. I named the calf, Pearl, and cried my eyes out when my parents said I couldn’t bring her home with us.

If we came to your hometown, what would recommend?

Well, my hometown totals about 300 people. Main Street has a tractor shop, a grocery store and a bar/grill. However, I currently live in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area. Never come here in the winter. In the spring and summer, people flock to the lakes for fishing and boating. Everyone goes “up north” to their cabins. If you’re ever in St. Paul, go to Bennett’s Chophouse on West 7th. It will be the best meal you’ve ever had.

What are three necessities you won’t travel without?

Slipper socks, at least one book, and headphones.

How do you enjoy spending your free time?

I read a lot (surprise, surprise). I’ve also gotten back into photography after inheriting my father’s old 35mm SLR. But what I really enjoy doing lately is taking my old makeup and drawing with it on canvas. Sounds weird, I know. I’m not a drawing kind of artist so my creations are quite abstract. Who knows? Maybe they’ll be worth something one day if my cat doesn’t destroy them…

If you were stranded on an island, name one person and three items you would bring.

My hubby-to-be, a knife, a Brita water filter, and flint or matches.

The business of luxury is always changing. Where do you see it going?

Two words: Wearable tech. We’ve already seen it on the fashion runways for Fall. I look forward to seeing the creative ways tech will continue to be used. One thing’s for sure, it’s going to explode this year.

What does Luxe Beat Magazine mean to you?

Luxe Beat has given me a whole new audience to teach about tech and up-and-comers in the field, which is fantastic.

To read the Luxe Beat Magazine version of this article click on the title Luxe Beat Magazine – Featured Contributor Sonja Hegman.