At the tender age of 8, the rising young star began to recognize her parent’s powerful influence on myriad artists, molding and carefully cultivating their musical gifts through their home-based S&A Productions music production company. It was in the hearth of that home where her own musical gifts were sparked. It was here where a little girl’s talent was forged, as she began to emulate the techniques of vocal manipulation and phrasing while assimilating the process of constructing lyrical arrangements.

Ms. Jonez found an early musical muse in her mom: “My mother always inspired me,” she says. “She just worked so hard for all of the artists, and genuinely believed in their talents and abilities. She used to be a vocalist herself and had dreams of a becoming a singer. But with family obligations, life took a different turn for her.”

Her father also served as an early influence. “My dad used to write songs for some of the artists. There was always music in that home.”

The unexpected loss of her father’s record collection—stocked with “old school” classics by Stevie Wonder, Patty Labelle, Marvin Gaye and other seminal artists with which she was already familiar—yielded an odd blessing for the young Ms. Jones, who had retreated to a sibling’s music collection for inspiration.

“I grew up listening to my older sister’s music after my dad’s music collection was stolen while moving from Germany back to the U.S.,” she recalled. “So my journey of musical appreciation began in the early ‘90s with Lauryn Hill, Jodeci, Amel Larrieux/Groove Theory, Carl Thomas, Mariah Carey, Monica, Aaliyah. I would listen for lyrical content across genres and that’s what really pulled me in—the storytelling, the testimonies.”

World travel as part of her father’s military stint exposed Ms. Jonez to European pop and house music in Germany; to the West Coast swag; to the country twang of Texas; and back to the bluegrass sounds from childhood after the family’s ultimate destination in Radcliff, Ky.

“I used to go into the studio with my parents to recording sessions,” Ms. Jonez said of early, yet still-vivid, memories of her musical baptism. “I conversed with many of the artists and would observe them in the creation process right there in my parents’ home.”

With such an upbringing, a life in the entertainment arts was all but inevitable. By the time she was a pre-teen, Ms. Jonez would lead her hometown step team, the Black Ice Steppers, to numerous talent show victories and regional performances throughout Kentucky. With young Ms. Jonez serving as lead choreographer, the Black Ice Steppers would ultimately receive a standing ovation in the hallowed Apollo Theater in New York, where they were invited to return.

It was during this creative journey that Ms. Jonez began to literally find her voice. Growing up, those with whom she came into contact remembered her as the little girl with the big voice. Soon enough, this voice grabbed the attention of producers in her hometown and surrounding cities. Her unique vocal stylings would be featured on local rap artists’ albums—a milestone with which many artists would be content.

But Harmony Jonez wanted more.

Gifted with physical beauty, the statuesque Ms. Jonez pursued modeling. Her innate elegance caught the eye of a television producer for a regional, hip hop television program on the CW Network titled “DA Show” that she would end up hosting, boosting the ratings of the locally inspired broadcast as the “First Lady of Kentucky.” Her ease in front of the camera informed her role as television hostess interviewing professional athletes, artists and entertainers—including Michael Bush; Derek Anderson; Will Demps; Tyrese Gibson; Eva Pigford; Lance Gross; Twista; Roger Bob; DJ Uni; Tila Tequila; Lynn Whitfield; and many others—while alternately hosting live shows, album release parties and other musically centered events.

After a year hosting the DA Show, she found the work fulfilling as her professional profile began to rise. But she longed for her own voice to be heard. That opportunity would come on the set of rapper Jim Jones video shoot where she met her management consultants Ida and T.L. Harris. She knew this was her time. So with just $47 in her pocket, she packed up her 2003 Ford Taurus and headed for Atlanta to pursue her musical dreams. It was her leap of faith.

She moved to the big city and began auditioning with her five-song demo and a demo reel from the DA Show throughout Atlanta. An accidental meeting at a shopping mall with top playwright T.Y. Martin led to an audition for his production “You’ve Abandoned Me.” Despite her lack of acting experience, Ms. Jonez won the supporting role in the play. Pleased with her performance, the playwright would later cast her as the lead in his follow-up production “If You Love Me, Why Do You Cheat?”

She would later take a sabbatical from acting to pursue her first love of music, working with music producer Greg Charley who had previously written hit songs for such artists as Gerald Levert, the girl group 702, and Regina Belle, just to name a few. During this period, she would hone her writing skills as she composed songs with other independent artists.

Returning to acting, she landed feature roles in the comedy “The Change Up” starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman and the hit Lifetime “Drop Dead Diva” show. She would later be cast in “Forbidden Love,” another notable production. Today, she continues hosting numerous artistic events and lending her talents to various productions—from awards shows to plays to strutting her stuff on fashion show catwalks.

This is a multi-talented woman on the rise—unstoppable, unrelenting and tenacious in pursuit of her childhood dreams. This is her manifest destiny, and she’s just getting started. This is her time. This is Harmony Jonez.