It all started on a trip to Thailand during the summer following The Brave Collection founder Jessica Hendricks' sophomore year at NYU. She was teaching English there, but decided to spend a couple of days in Cambodia as she felt it would be her only opportunity to ever do so. While there, she fell in love with Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, and learned about the highly spiritual and creative Cambodian communities surrounding it. However, much of the artisan community had been destroyed in the genocide in the 1970s.
"It was really wild, being a Tisch kid and being nurtured in this incredible creative environment at NYU, and then going to a place where that was all completely decimated," Hendricks said. "I really wanted to do something to support and collaborate with the creative community in Cambodia that still exists." She also learned about the human trafficking issue that is prevalent there, a form of "modern day slavery" she was not aware of until her visit.
Upon her return to New York, Hendricks was determined to tell this important story. Initially, she wondered how she was going to "lend her voice" to this struggle. After talking through her ideas with others involved in the non-for-profit world, she decided The Brave Collection was the answer: a jewelry company that combines style and awareness. The line includes an array of bracelets and necklaces, and is handmade by talented Cambodian artisans who come from underprivileged backgrounds or suffer from disabilities, many of whom are women, specifically mothers. Currently, Hendricks favorite pieces are the teal and the red bracelets.
"The artisan community in Cambodia is so talented and small and so ripe for projects that are challenging and exciting," Hendricks said. The Brave Collection also offers fair trade values, unlike many of the large factories that exist currently in Cambodia. She feel very passionately about working to alleviate this issue in the country which has risen to prominence. Ten percent of the proceeds from the bracelets also go toward fighting human trafficking in the country.
Jessica Hendricks is a 2010 graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and was recently featured on Forbes 2016 "Thirty Under Thirty" list, which showcases the brightest entrepreneurs in the country. Although Hendricks did not study business in college, she feels that her arts degree is still useless in her line of work. "I think that studying at Tisch was ultimately an education in storytelling and connecting with people," she said. "I actually feel like I use my training all the time, which is amazing, and also makes my parents happy."
For those looking for start their "The cross section of philanthropy and commerce is so intertwined right now," Hendricks said. "Current students grew up in a world where that was just expected. No matter what you're interested in, figuring out how you can use it to do good in some way is really important."
You can check out more information about The Brave Collection on their website.
