Photo Courtesy of sundayheadshots.com
New York City is full of amazing women living their dreams in all industries. It’s easy, once at the pinnacle of your career, to grow lackadaisical and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
But Sabrina Thompson, creator of beanpYe jewelry is not one of those lackadaisical women. In fact, Thompson is a fabulous designer, former TV producer, high school teacher and networking queen. Talking with her left us out of breath– the woman works hard!
We were first drawn to her gorgeous hand-painted bangles that have been worn by Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado and India.Arie. Imported from Mumbai, each piece has a unique design and inspiration.
Read what she told us about her jewelry line, other projects and the most surprising part of being an industry girl.
MN: Did you find a void in funky jewelry pieces in New York?
Sabrina Thompson: You would think there were a lot of options in the city for funky jewelry! [Laugh] I thought there would be, but I would go around and never quite see exactly what I was looking for. My jewelry and my bracelets are hand painted and imported from Mumbai. They are the void that was missing.
MN: When do you find the time to paint?
It’s funny, I’m a huge football fan. So during the season when a game is on, I grab a couple bracelets, my paint and a snack and focus in. I’m in my own zone. I’ll just watch the game and paint a couple pieces.
MN: When did the company start? And how did it initially pick up?
ST: The idea started in ’05 and then it really took off in ‘07. A lot of my work was placed by fabulous stylists. They have celebrity clients and need to style for a magazine cover, so they’d call me for pieces. When the piece got used on the client, not only did I get client credit, but magazine credit. It was literally a marriage made in heaven. It totally came out of the blue.
MN: Why did you choose Save Darfur as the charity to donate proceeds from beanpYe?
ST: I’m also a schoolteacher and the first year I started teaching, a lot of the kids had no idea that Africa was a continent; they thought it was a country. [Laugh] Don’t even get me started on all these stories that keep me on my toes! We talked about genocide and the Sudan and we even had a project on the subject. I’ve always just been fascinated with issues that affect people that look like me. I just really wanted to give to a reputable organization that helps Darfur.
MN: When did the teaching bug get to you?
ST: I’ve always loved working with kids; I’ve worked with kids from high school all the way up to now. I saw myself in the classroom when I was older—like 50, 60. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would just…Oops…I’m done with TV, let’s start teaching. I could bet my 401k on that.
TV was great and unpredictable, but I went from working talk shows to hardcore news for “Court TV.” And everyday for four years, I would cover molestation, rapes, homicide, rapes, homicide, and molestation—whatever order you want! I became very desensitized to violence.
After I would leave the office, it would translate to the rest of my life. I really felt like I wasn’t helping anyone. I was exploiting people for ratings.
So I went into teaching. I was in school and taught at the same time, which is difficult especially when trying to run a business. My kids are amazing. And I found out that there isn’t too much of a difference between working with kids and TV. They come from homes which they’ve been molested. Or where maybe they’ve witnessed a murder. Everything that I saw on TV, I saw the real deal working with these kids literally working in Brooklyn. So maybe instead of them going to an abusive mom, they go to an internship. You really see the fruits of your labor. You’re the teacher. You’re the doctor. You’re the parent. You’re everything with kids.
MN: Are you still working with Kuu, your networking company?
ST: In the past I would take the attorneys that were going to be on the TV show [“Court TV”] and bridge them with events throughout the country– rather it was a speaking at Yale or Delta Sigma Theta Sorority needed a keynote speaker. Now, I only do it where it’s a couple events a year and these are events that I create versus providing talents. I can set the deadlines and times however I want to and it’s not going to be solely for attorneys. I’m going to make Kuu maybe two, three events a year where it’s interactive. There will be prizes and games; just a break from the normal routine of life, to have fun.
MN: Give us the background on WEEN? Were you ladies talking over drinks and said, ‘let’s do this.’ Or was it brought to you and you joined the board?
ST: Valeisha and I have been best friends for twenty years. We’re both from the same hometown of Wilson, NC. Valeisha originally had the golden idea.
We created a mission statement and our demographic; we invited the women to see who was on board. And when I tell you we invited 20 women and 120 showed up… it was insane! But they were all 120 power players in music, TV and film. We had to move it upstairs on the rooftop of Valeisha’s apartment. And from there we just flourished.
We don’t judge. Everyone has a back story. You don’t know how she became CEO, we just embrace her making it. We as WEEN are here to give you a hands up rather than a handout. As women we’re so much more than what media puts out for us.
MN: What are some of the projects WEEN does?
ST: We surveyed 100 girls about what they want to be when they grow up. It did not go beyond model, actress, and singer. Like really. [Laugh] We might have had a doctor, but on the side she wanted to be a model. [Laugh] Which is fine, you can do that. But they don’t know that there are a thousand people that are around Beyonce to make her who she is. There’s an agent, there’s a makeup artist and we want to be able to give them their full options.
MN: Do you go out and target young girls?
ST: We eventually want to have a WEEN academy in which we would [help girls], during the summer. I think we’re going to partner with girls in five different cities in 2011 and partner with different high schools where they have a place to come a couple of times a month where we pair WEEN members in these cities with the high school. Whether it’s etiquette classes or how to clean up your resume, being fabulous, or saving your allowance.
But we also target women who are 30 and want a career change. We have workshops for that as well.
MN: Coming from the South, what was the most surprising thing about being a woman in the entertainment industry?
ST: You know, you want to be taken seriously. You want to be taken beyond your looks. And you want to have your work speak for itself. You want respect in the most legitimate way possible. If it takes you a little bit longer because you did it the right way, then that’s fine.
As much as I love this industry and how visible and spontaneous it is, it’s known for being such a grimy industry because people don’t play fair. If you’re not cut from that cloth it will really eat away at you as a human being. I’ve seen people come in one way and go out another. I refuse to do that. I’ll get out of it before I become the person that’s not from North Carolina.
