By Nicole De La Cruz
Katlyn Jimenez also known as Officer Jimenez had some very great times before becoming a safety intervention officer at Rialto High School. Not many knew that she was a bartender and DJ’ed before her job at Rialto High School.
Jimenez first got a job as a bartender which influenced her interest in becoming a DJ. She started bartending in Arizona at the age of 19.
While bartending, Jimenez realized her love for music. She would hang out with the different DJs at the nightclubs and become more interested in practicing and mixing music. The other DJs would teach her how to mix and blend music. When she would mix and blend music, Jimenez said it would make one long dance song.
Around 1985-86 Jimenez started to DJ in nightclubs and she even had a mobile DJ service. Her mobile DJ service would be a weekend thing for weddings and quinceaneras. The name of her mobile company was “Sargent Peppers Mobile Music,” and her DJ name was “DJ Kathy.” She liked to wear what was in fashion in those years.
She worked in a nightclub named “Robby’s” in Pomona, California, and a couple of nightclubs in Orange County. She would later DJ for famous dance groups and artists including Martha Wash, Trinere, Tiffany Darwish, Stacey Q, and the Village People. Jimenez shares, “I just loved it, I love music.”
Jimenez was so in love with music and DJing that she was a professional DJ for around 20 years. She didn't have a signature move but she loved to blend music to make it sound very smooth. Jimenez also knows how to rap and did a rap while DJing.
Many DJs usually scratch when playing music to add some beats but DJ Kathy loved to have smooth transitions to make the music more enjoyable.
Jimenez left DJing to be a security guard at Stater Bros. which started a new path of experience for different types of jobs.
Jimenez currently does not do anything with DJing and loves her job as Rialto High’s safety officer.
Her advice to people interested in becoming a DJ is, “You have to have a passion for music, and practice, practice, practice.”