Irene “Queenbii” Sosa is not just your typical esports social media manager who leaves her job at just taking care of pages, posts, schedules and deadlines.

Being the only woman in the Philippine branch of Indonesian esports juggernaut Rex Regum Qeon or RRQ was not even the first choice for a single mother who juggled different lines of work just to pay the bills.

Now, after all is said and done – it is in gaming and esports where Irene found not just a new game – but also a new career, the love of her life, and everything else in between.

Irene told Fragster that everything started for her in the esports industry when she started playing Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in 2017 – no thanks to her then-three-year-old daughter always using Layla in the background.

“I’m a mom of two, and then my youngest was three years old at the time and she started playing Mobile Legends. And then I heard, what was this “time to shine” sound that keeps playing repeatedly whenever my daughter plays? There and then I decided to play the game – until I loved it,” she says.

It all just snowballed from there – from meeting random players and being in gaming groupchats. Eventually, she became a supporter of then-pro player Ralph Mico “Coco” Sampang, and she became part of the admins of his fanbase, dubbed the “Pan de Coco Girls”, named after coconut bread – a breaktime staple in Filipino homes.

It all started snowballing from there. From being updated about the news, she eventually became part of Cignal Ultra’s fan group.

“That’s where I studied the art of handling social media pages. I thought it was the end. At the time, I was working at my daughters’ school as a nurse. I was able to watch over them and earn money,” Queenbii said.

She then went on to work for an Australian talent agency that handled different games and streamers. Irene also learned handling MLBB tournaments as well as did project management for Rod “Roadfill” Macasero during the pandemic to earn money to sustain her daughters.

And then, she saw an opportunity to work for RRQ when a friend posted he was looking for a social media manager.

“I passed my resume January 2022 but my work with my then-employer continued. After that, I felt like it was a dead end because I thought they were looking for more experiences. Compared to them, what did I do here in the Philippines? At the time, I felt like I was just a baby in the industry.”

However, Lan Rigates – who still currently manages RRQ’s Valorant team – told her that she was already being scheduled for an interview. “I got a call from RRQ asking if I was free that day. My friend told me I will be scheduled for an interview on the exact same day as my daughter’s graduation picture shoot! They said yes and adjusted for me,” Irene says.

“After interview, they asked for my passport and details – on the same day, I got the job.,” she adds. “I told RRQ at the time that I have a current job. They said it was fine as long as I deliver well. One month after I resigned from my talent agency job, I went to RRQ fulltime.”

 

And it was this connection where Queenbii worked her way up to the top – all while being allowed the flexibility of living her daily life.

“I am very much grateful to RRQ because they totally and unconditionally accept me and my situation. My time here if flexible because they know I really am hands-on with my time with the kids. When I’m not doing social media work, I do community engagement work. I try to build up a network of fans – the Pinoy Kingdom. There’s also days wherein I also do finance work,” she says.

However, there were also challenging times. Their League of Legends: Wild Rift team disbanded, and the Valorant team also got big – as far as being franchised in South Korea.

“I was the only Filipino employee for RRQ left here in the Philippines. This moment proved how greatly my bosses trust me – for that, I’m totally grateful,” she said. “One day, they told me to look for a coach, team manager – let’s try to join MDL Philippines.”

And it is this joining bid for MDL Philippines where the Queenbii became her own queen in her own country – managing their MLBB venture in the Philippines.

 

RRQ in itself is one of Southeast Asia’s biggest esports brands across multiple titles. Now, Irene manages not just the social media pages of RRQ Philippines – but also became the inaugural team manager for RRQ Kaito.

Currently, the RRQ Kaito roster is composed of people like veteran exp laner Kenneth “Kenji” Villa, exp laner Edferdz “Ferdz” Fernandez, jungler Gabriel “DENJIRO” Guinto, midlaner Carl “Minguin” Gallantes, goldlaners Kim “Dai Ki” Sebanes and Cymond “Cy” Torres, and roamer Denniel “xNova” Gomez.

“They (RRQ) truly understand me even in the smallest of things. From allowing me to catch up on meetings, as well as allowing me to take care of my kids or fetch them from school. That’s why I always do whatever they tell me to do with utmost care,” Irene says.

MORE THAN JUST “WOMANJEAN”

 

Irene and Manjean at an MPL event. (PHOTO COURTESY: MBC MEDIA GROUP/DZRH)

MLBB also led Irene to the person whom she showed the shape of her heart.

It was through Mobile Legends: Bang Bang where Queenbii was able to watch and meet one of the Philippines’ most well-known esports broadcasters, Manjean Faldas.

Irene and Manjean started dating in 2019 after a year of meeting each other.

“We just hit it up by constantly chatting, and that was it! I was also watching games when Coco was around and cheer for him during the comments section. This was the time when shoutouts were still allowed in the MPL broadcasts,” she recalls.

“I met him personally in (MPL Philippines) Season 2 and at the time, I was shy in approaching him simply because, he’s Manjean,” Irene says, with a great smile on her face as she recounted her love story with the man who made “isang one hit na lang” (EN: it’s just one one hit) a household phrase in Philippine esports.

“So we’d always meet for coffee and dates – and it didn’t take me long enough to say yes to being his girlfriend! I didn’t make it hard for him. I had a huge crush on him, too.”

She adds, “I already told him from the get go that I’m a single parent. If you really like me and decide to pursue me, it’s a package deal – you also have to accept that this is my situation as well.”

“He didn’t care though. He really liked me and pursued me.”

And this led to Manjean and her being an item – one thing that the couple decided to keep private for two years.

“Only a select few knew – like Wolf (Caisam Nopueto) and Butters (Mark Adrian Jison). That’s because everywhere Manjean goes live, I was there. I would be there to support him and watch him on the streams even if I was already sleepy,” Irene recalls.

Two years into the relationship, she eventually decided to make it public.

 

Irene and Manjean at a wedding. Aside from shoutcasting, Manjean has also ventured into events hosting. (PHOTO COURTESY: IRENE SOSA)

“2021, I posted our photo together – and I surprised even some of our friends! They thought we were just a new couple. Truth is, we’ve already been together for two years!” Irene said.

Now, Irene still continues to work and make her mark on her own – and Manjean only always says whenever she achieves something, “it’s all hers.”

“Up until now, we never deny when people ask us personally, but we also don’t broadcast it out loud too much,” she says.

She says, it was a mutual decision – as Manjean himself did not want the public to see him as just a stepladder for whatever success Irene had in her career away from the public eye.

“Both me and Manjean have this perspective of separating our work from our personal lives. Our relationship was personal, so we set it aside whenever we have work. I don’t like it when, say, one party is embroiled in an issue and the partner gets dragged on to it. Then it becomes constant,” she says.

ON BEING A MOM OF GAMER GIRLS

Irene says, her daughters – now 13 and 11 – are also casual gamers. She claims, gaming helps her daughters cope up with the stresses of academic life.

 

Irene and her daughters. (PHOTO COURTESY: IRENE SOSA)

“Studying can be hard – your brain gets tired from being exposed to a lot of school activities. My kids don’t usually go out that much – especially my eldest. She bonds with her friends through games like Mobile Legends, Minecraft, or Valorant. Sometimes I look back and say, before, it was just me who plays games. Now, it’s me and my kids. I play games for and with them,” Queenbii says.

She’s also teaching her children to be responsible gamers and just shut off unnecessary noise or trashtalking, while also raising them to be respectful gamers themselves.

“Back in the day, I’d always check up on them and say, “you have a lot of deaths, my dear – are you okay? Do they try and tease you for it? When they do, I remind them, “don’t talk trash about them.” You have to guide your children before you let them play it.”

“I remind them sometimes that people can be cruel in games – so I tell them to just mute people so they don’t get the receiving end of trashtalking,” Queenbii says.

And it is this esports experience that Queenbii exposes her children to, so that they are not in the blind as to what she does on a daily basis.

“Sometimes I ask them, do you want to be like Mommy? Do you want to join in esports?,” Queenbii says. “I sometimes bring them to the bootcamp too! I show them, this is Mommy’s workplace, this is what Mommy does. I introduce them to the players and managers, too!”

Queenbii says, she’s very open for her children to become part of the esports and gaming scene, if they decide to do so.

“I’d support them, for sure! Take it from me – I didn’t have a background in esports, but esports let me grow. For me, the best part of my job is, you’re meeting different people. You’d learn a lot from different people you meet everyday. You get to teach and also learn,” Irene says.

She adds, “I won’t stop them if they want to play, to enter the esports scene – but for me, it’s still better to have and push for them to finish their education. Esports won’t last a lifetime – pro players have timelines. If you want to succeed in esports, you need to have a backup plan – after you become pro, you should have a plan. After I play, what would I want to do? Should I coach, should I do shoutcasting, managing or backend work? Those kinds of stuff.”

ON BEING A WOMAN IN ESPORTS

 

Irene and RRQ Akira, one of Latin America’s representatives for the M5 World Championship held in the Philippines. (PHOTO COURTESY: IRENE SOSA)

Now in her 30s, Irene says, she still sees herself working in the esports industry.

“Depending on how my career takes me – if I achieved the goal I want to achieve this year, then I’ll upgrade myself. However, my love, dedication and passion for gaming is there, especially if you support different orgs. Maybe, who knows? In five years’ time I’ll still be here, Manjean and I are in the same industry,” she adds.

Queenbii highlights respect, not looking down on others, and companionship as the three biggest lessons she herself learned in esports.

“Regardless of whoever you talk to or is in front of you, you have to learn how to respect them. Being in esports doesn’t mean you should look down on people. Just because sometimes you are in a better position than others doesn’t mean you have an excuse to look down on anybody,” she says.

Irene also hopes, her success can be replicated by other women, especially for single mothers like her.

“For me, esports is a continuous learning process – you learn and study new things every day – you get to talk to different people and personalities,” she says.

“I’d tell them to just enjoy wherever life takes them – be it in esports or some place else. Things won’t come to you by forcing it – sometimes, it’s just will and perfect timing. Also, look at what aspect of esports you would be able to grow, in such a way that you can give out your passion and dedication,” she says.