ou’ve watched her, gorgeous smile and all, as she interviews DMV notables on the new SHY TV, but what else is there to know about SolDenise Medina? Plenty.

For starters, Sol is Latina (if you couldn’t tell by her name, which means “sun” in Spanish) and is very proud of her Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage. She was born in the Bronx, New York, and then at the age of 12, she and her family moved down south to West Palm Beach, Florida after her father, who worked in the T.V. and radio industry, got a job there. “I claim them both because as a child I grew up with family around, and the culture and language. In Florida, we have family there, and it is very Hispanic. And I grew into a teenager there, so I claim both of them,” Sol said.

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Hosted by SolDenise

An independent spirit, Sol left home at the age of 18 to join the Air Force as a bilingual radio operator, which is what brought her to D.C. “When people initially see me, they automatically assume, ‘Oh, she’s a girly girl.’ But I’m actually a good mix of both: a girly girl and a tomboy,” she said.

After her stint in the military, she then got her Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and her Master’s in Security Management. She now works as a Senior Information Security Engineer for Homeland Security. Sol is a “jack of all trades,” and while at her day job she’s an admitted “IT Geek,” Sol has also indulge her glamorous side with modeling in print campaigns and acting in commercials for fun. She also takes time out to travel up and down the coast (including Caribbean coasts) to see her family often.

How did you become the fabulous host of SHY TV that you are?

I am very shy actually. People would not assume that, but I am a shy person. I’m shy but at the same time I am very outgoing. I started to come out of my shell and hit the nightlife here in D.C. because I used to not go out. So, I started seeing [SHY.] One day, SHY asked me what I did and I told him I modeled. And so that’s when he told me about SHY TV and what his vision was for it. And I told him that I’d definitely be open to it and to let me know. It must have been a year and a half later that he called me one day and was like, “Okay, are you ready?”

Has being the host of SHY TV affected your life at all?

It has made me come out of my comfort zone because of that shyness I have. It also has me doing things that I love. I love talking to people. I love asking questions and getting to know different walks of life. At the same time, it has also made me remember a big part of who I am, which is outgoing…goofy.

So, now that you’ve been coming out of your shell, what’s your nightlife like?

When I first started going out and actually acknowledged there were parties every night of the week in D.C., my friend and I stumbled across Josephine’s and I fell in love with it. D.C. definitely competes with Miami. It definitely competes with some parts of New York and its growing. The nightlife is becoming crazy, in a good way. My girlfriends come to visit me and they’re like, “Oh my gosh, it’s fun here.”

Other than hitting up the hot lounges in D.C., what do you do in your spare time?

I work out everyday. I’m really into that. It relieves stress. It lets me wind down and it’s the one time of the day that I don’t have people in my face or I don’t have to work on something. I can think about whatever I want to think about. Working out and dancing. I love to dance, salsa, merengue and bachata. I love Hip-Hop. I love all types of music and I can dance to anything.

Do you have any pets?

Yes, I do and her name is Sassy. She got her name because that is her personality. She’s a teacup Maltese and she looks like a little white cotton ball. She’s really, really sweet.

What is one memory from the military?

I can’t speak for everyone that goes through Air Force boot camp, but when you go to boot camp your drill instructor assigns you details. As soon as I got off the bus, we were in formation and all of the drill instructors are screaming and pretty much playing the role to scare us and stuff and that’s when they started assigning people their detail. I remember standing there, trying to mind my business and trying to look invisible pretty much and my drill instructor came up to me and said, ‘You look like you’re tough enough to be dorm chief.’ Dorm chief basically was the drill instructor while the actual drill instructor wasn’t there. So anything that went wrong was the dorm chief’s responsibility. I wasn’t too fond of it at first, but it taught me a lot.

Now that you’ve learned a little more about the “host with the most” and Sol’s turn in the hot seat is over, continue to check out Sol on SHY TV as she explores all that is hot in the DMV. And maybe Sassy will make an appearance, too.

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By Jan F. Lee Shy Magazine Staff Writer/Journalist