How Sonja Yantzer Became Rayna Jo Zest

Some names are created for branding.

This one was already hiding in my own.

At some point, I started looking at the letters in Sonja Yantzer less like a name and more like a puzzle. I moved them around, tried different combinations and discarded plenty that sounded completely ridiculous.

And then it clicked!

S-O-N-J-A Y-A-N-T-Z-E-R
R-A-Y-N-A J-O Z-E-S-T

Rayna Jo Zest.

Every letter was already there.

And somehow, the rearranged version felt like the creative side of me that had been there all along, too.

Rayna

I was immediately drawn to Rayna and its association with queen.

By then, a crown had already started appearing in my photos. It began with a milestone birthday shoot—the kind where showing up in an obnoxiously fluffy skirt and a crown seemed entirely reasonable.

That crown eventually became more than a prop. For me, it represented permission to take my creativity seriously and see where it might lead.

When I began writing my children's books, Rayna felt like the right name to put on them.

Jo

Jo is the quietest part of the name, but probably the most personal.

It's a nod to my mom, Joan.

I loved that a little piece of her could be woven into the name I would use while creating something entirely new.

And Then There's Zest

That one didn't need much explaining.

Zest has energy. Personality. Spark.

It's color and humor and choosing the interesting option when the ordinary one would technically work just fine.

And considering those were the letters I had left to work with?

I'd say they landed exactly where they belonged.

So, Who Is Rayna Jo Zest?

She's not really an alter ego or some completely separate version of me.

She's still me.

Sonja Yantzer rearranged. Literally.

But the name gave me a place to lean a little further into the creative part of myself—the part that writes children's books, follows strange ideas, loves a good story and isn't particularly interested in making everything sensible.

What started as a pen name eventually helped shape something bigger, too.

Zest found its way into Zestful Productions, and the crown stuck around.

Funny what can happen when you rearrange a few letters.

Be bold. Be playful. Be a little extra.