Neva
Cole
Actress, Producer, Creator of Ni-Brand Fine Jewelry Jewelry from an Unlikely Source By Lisa M. Berman
What do jewelry and politics have in common? Usually not much, if it weren't for the incredibly fortuitous launch timing of the NOT INTERESTED brand. It’s as if the ni-brand.com jewelry collection was created overnight in response to one of the most contentious topics in the media today. Neva Cole, the first time jewelry designer admits, ”my jewelry was forged in bitterness, yet full of resilient spirit”. The idea was incubated during the last two-years based on not one, but several reoccurring incidents that Cole, like so many other women, has endured throughout her career. The jewelry represents their collective story. Beyond her obvious beauty, Neva Cole possess a quiet magnetic quality and swiftly infuses you with her insightful charm and wit sourced from intelligence. Cole has cultivated an impressive career in the entertainment industry as an actress, producer, founder of Reciprocity Films in Los Angeles and is on the production team of AmericanTheaterChannel.com represented by William Morris Endeavor. During her tenure in an industry, that is notorious for unscrupulous behavior, Cole tells us, “I have endured very uncomfortable advances, involving delusional behavior and sudden inappropriate actions. It exists everywhere”. While in transition as a single Mother, support60 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e November 2017
ing her then 3 year old daughter, she was shocked when, “A job that presented itself as an opportunity for financial stability, turned into a nightmare. It crushed me and left me floundering in many ways. This was not the first time I had been objectified. However, it was personally, the most devastating”. And so the unlikely jewelry designer was born. In the aftermath of the demise, she found herself with friends sharing "war stories" about their past and this kind of treatment. They could all relate to some capacity and knew men that were not immune to this harassment. At home, the idea was still omnipotent, as their collective stories swirled in her head. After some reflection, Neva began to settle into a calm realization of self - keeping track of the wounds, and more importantly the resilience and stories of hope. “Resilience is a choice." Pulling from positive role models from her childhood growing up in the Mid-West, she says, “I’ve been fortunate to be able to choose resilience. I want to influence people to multiply their own resilience and be an example to those around them”. Through her jewelry’s message, her goal is to literally “turn wounds into wisdom”.