Meet Jenel Stevens Thompson | Stuntwoman, Martial Artist & Certified Fitness Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jenel Stevens Thompson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jenel, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I wanted to be independent, work for myself and give myself the opportunity to grow as a business woman and entrepreneur. Working for a company was a great start for me, it gave me the resources, knowledge and experience I needed to branch out on my own. I wanted to start my own personal training business to have the freedom to create and shape my craft into something I could be proud of. But in order to do that, I had to make sure I had all my ducks in a row; that I had built up my clientele, had trust and support in the industry, had my finances in order, and made sure what I was building had a strong foundation so that everything wouldn’t come tumbling down like a house of cards. Then, after building my personal training business, I used that to branch off into creating a successful stunt career.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Starting my own personal training business along with my extensive athletic background has helped shaped the professional that I am today. I am most proud of the fact that everything I have done in life has led me to where I am now without even knowing it. I was a collegiate basketball player with numerous accolades, awards and achievements, I am a highly ranked martial artist in numerous disciplines, I have my master’s degree and a strong will to succeed and I enjoy doing any and every sport or active activity I can get my hands on. When I started stunts, and the first person asked me for a resume, I was pleasantly surprised that everything I had done for fun set me up perfectly for the stunt world – sports, my scuba certification, riding horses, my black belt, jumping out of planes, skiing, etc (the list goes on). It was far from easy though; there was blood, sweat and tears I put into playing Division I basketball, marital arts competitions and starting a business while tackling a loan I had to take out just to pay monthly bills. It was hard work, mentally, physically and financially, to keep pushing through when it just seemed impossible to reach my goals. But just like my motivation in stunts, I love to overcome fear, it’s rewarding and fulfilling to be able to look back after overcoming challenges and say – “I did that!” As an example, I had to do a high dive for a stunt job once and I had never done any kind of diving before in my life. The job was diving into the ocean from the top of a yacht which was 33 feet high – I was petrified. I found a dive coach but only had 6 hours of instruction. When I first walked into the session I said to myself “there’s no way I can do this”. But I did well in the lessons and when it was time to do the job, I only needed to do one take – it is my most proud stunt to date. Taking on hard jobs (whether in stunts or in life) is always scary, but I love to face them head on and feel proud of myself after. I like to joke and say that the bruises are my badges of honor 🙂

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Only a week?! So much to do in so little time. I would obviously have to take them to the most iconic spots in the city throughout the week – The Statue of Liberty, Madison Square Garden for a basketball game or concert, The Empire State Building, A hop on hop off bus tour, Time Square and to see a play on Broadway. Then after we hit all the tourist spots I would have to take them to the NY local spots. My favorite neighborhood is the East Village, so maybe we would do a comedy show by West 4th street or hang out in a dive bar. And you know we have to have pizza! I would take them to a few spots – Keste, Joe’s. Lombardi’s and course a late night dollar pizza spot, then they can choose which one they think is the best. One place I would have to take them, and more than once, is my most favorite restaurant in the city – little Ruby’s cafe. For some nightlife fun, we would go to a few chill lounges, especially the speakeasies I could find. I have been to a few, Keys & Heels for example, but I would research and find new ones that I haven’t even been to. On the back end of the week, a walk through Central Park and then maybe a Yankee game to top it all off

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
For the different phases in life that led to my current path I have to thank Kevin Dineen for helping me start my personal training journey, Sifu Dan Anderson and Dasha Libin-Anderson for putting me on an amazing martial arts/fitness journey and to Heidi Schnappauf, Mam Smith and Aja Frary for planting the seed for me to become successful in stunts. To my husband, for his support and help in reaching limits I didn’t think possible. And of course to my parents for giving me the perfect storm of roots and wings to navigate anything that came my way.

Instagram: jenel_stunts

Facebook: Jenel Stevens Thompson

Image Credit
Michael Anthony Hermogeno