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by Borden Black
Both actress Shari Perry and musician Devin Johnson believe their parents were instrumental in their success. Devin just signed a contract with Universal Motown Records Group while Shari acted in the Lifetime television series Any Day Now for three years. Although both are now young adults, their parents recognized their talent early on and nurtured it.
Devin’s mother Neresuia Johnson laughs that he was born with two sticks in his hand. As a child he followed in his brother’s footsteps playing the drums in church. “He had a natural ability to play the drums,” his mother recalled. Initially Devin didn’t want to sing, but she encouraged him. “She knew that if I wanted a future, she had to push,” Devin added.
And push Neresuia did. Although she was a single parent, she enrolled him in music summer camps and lessons, and when she didn’t have the money to pay, she found him sponsorships. She did research and drove him to lessons, rehearsals and auditions.
Neresuia went as far as Chicago and Los Angles as Devin pursued his American Idol Dream. Devin remembers that cost his mom her job. “She couldn’t find work for two years,” he said. He was cut before the final 10, but his mom told him: “They do not dictate your destiny.” The young musician agrees and says he gained a lot of connections from the experience.
While at Hardaway High School, Devin started a musical group, Music’s Definition, and then went on to Berklee College of Music in Boston. Then, like a mother bird, Neresuia shoved Devin to the edge of the nest, telling him he either had to get a job or get serious about signing with a label…and that’s just what he did this past year.
She has spent all her savings but Neresuia doesn’t have any regrets. “I did what God would have wanted me to do for my child,” she said. “Everyone has a gift. You encourage the gift in your child. I did whatever I had to do.”
She says Devin’s drive then put him over the top. He has remained grounded, and Neresuia believes that is due to her constant reminders “to be humble before God.”
“The morals and values I was taught keep success from going to my head,” Devin concurred.
Neresuia is still involved in co-managing Devin and his company DevinAire Entertainment. And she is still sacrificing, driving from where she now works in Mississippi to Columbus every weekend to be with her son. “The road has not been easy, but we trusted in God.”
The road has also been long one for Unetia Perry. “When she (daughter Shari) was 18 months old, I knew there was something special about her,” recalled Unetia. Father Vince remembers that when she was a little girl, Shari always liked to sing and dance. “Not only did she like it, but it sounded good.”
Unetia, who majored in drama in college and acted in Springer productions, took Shari with her to rehearsals. The child would work on her homework behind the stage and before long she was auditioning and performing, herself. “It was a pastime,” Unetia recalled. “It was something we did together and enjoyed.” Because of that love for theater, the youngster took classes and was enrolled in drama summer camp at CSU and then the Springer Academy.
While performing at the Springer, Shari came to the attention of an actor’s union member who introduced the Perrys to a talent agent. They went to Atlanta where Shari read for a role. She continued to receive callbacks and finally flew to Los Angeles to screen test for a series pilot. Unetia had just taken a new position with Synovus, and they allowed her a leave of absence to travel with her 11-year-old, but after Shari landed the role and the series was picked up, Unetia felt it was best to give up her career.
We did a little research about child star actors going astray,” Vince recalled. “We wanted to keep her grounded, so it was not an option to let her go on her own.” For three years—66 episodes—Unetia and Shari would spend about half the year in LA and the other half in Columbus.
“It was not all glitz and glamour,” Unetia said. The separation from family and friends was difficult, but they found friends in a church outside the Hollywood area.
Shari believes the parental support was important in maintaining normalcy and keeping her education on track. She was schooled one-on-one at the set and took independent studies. After the show went off the air, Shari finished high school at Pacelli, and instead of returning to LA, she decided to attend college at University of Alabama, Birmingham. The drama major has since been in a couple of other projects and, while auditioning, is now working at the Columbus government television station.
Asked for advice to parents in a similar situation, Unetia offered: “Definitely support them in what is available locally and stay very much involved. You have to take your role as a parent seriously.” Neresuia Johnson agreed and said her family lives by the following motto:
Talent is God-given. Be humble.
Fame is man-given. Be thankful.
Conceit is self-given. Be careful.
Ability may take you to the top,
But it takes honesty, integrity and
character to stay there.
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