Between Ayesha’s Sweet July banner, which started as a culinary brand and has expanded to entertainment productions, books, and beauty products, and
Between Ayesha’s Sweet July banner, which started as a culinary brand and has expanded to entertainment productions, books, and beauty products, and Stephen’s recent global talent partnership agreement with Comcast NBCUniversal, the Currys are omnipresent in the media landscape. The couple moved to the Bay Area in 2009 when Steph was recruited by the Golden State Warriors, and began growing their family, which now includes four kids ranging from 12 years aged to 7 months. VF is delighted to include them in our Power & Glamour portfolio.
Vanity Fair: Both of you have been so committed to entrepreneurship. Can you talk about how that’s been a part of your life and why it’s been such a goal?
Ayesha Curry: I grew up watching my mom, a diminutive business owner herself. She owned a salon for well over 35 years. I saw how strenuous she had to work, but I also saw that she was able to call the shots. It’s kind of just what the women on my side of the family have done forever. My great-grandmother was the town butcher in Jamaica, and so I knew that whatever I was going to be in my life, I wanted to be able to have a little bit of control over it.
Stephen Curry: When we first moved out here to the Bay and doors started opening for me, it was the idea of changing from doing endorsements to an entrepreneurial mindset, where you have more control of your narrative. You’re building things that have more meaningful impact and ownership in the long term.
Both of you focus on developing opportunities for underrepresented voices. Has that been a priority?
Stephen: We’re unbelievably blessed and fortunate to be in this position. It’s something that’s become a non-negotiable that we think about for every project. So the documentary we did for Peacock, Sentenced, is integrated into our foundation and the work we’re doing for childhood literacy.
Ayesha: For me, it comes from experiencing the void. Once I did find that group of people who said “yes” and gave me the opportunities, I was like, Well, I’m not going to go at it alone. It’s time to create a space where many people can come in and join and sit at the same table. I wanted to make sure that I uplift the people around me who are like me and experiencing the same things—whether it’s in business or within any arm of the infrastructure we’re doing.
Ayesha, how was it working with Lindsay Lohan on Irish Wish?
Ayesha: Lindsay is an old-Hollywood professional. She shows up on time, never behind schedule, a one-take wonder. She did a lot of hand-holding, and she was patient, and she was like, “You’ve got this. Like, let’s try it this way.” She just happens to be my friend too.
Can you talk about your organization, Eat. Learn. Play. and your commitment to the youth of Oakland?
Ayesha: Coming here, we were like two adolescent kids in Oakland, and we started our family pretty adolescent. First off, we noticed that the Oakland community really wrapped their arms around us immediately. When we started to do activations for other charities, we noticed there were huge disparities. So we started to peel the layers back to see why that is, and how we could change it, and what that would look like. It took us a really long time to actually put the pieces together to find Eat. Learn. Play. We started locally so that we could really wrap our arms around the issues in their entirety. Partnering locally with the Oakland Unified School District ultimately helps change the narrative and the statistics of what’s going on in a more impactful way.
Steph, for the projects that you decide to pursue for your company, what is it that makes something a “yes”?
Stephen: I think it’s about who you’re working with, first and foremost. I never thought I would be in front of the camera acting-wise. But Mr. Throwback checked all the boxes. One, you like who you’re working with. Two, it was a subject that we thought would work based on a fun take on my NBA world. And that’s the filters that we put everything through. Now we’re in a nice little groove.
Would you ever want to host SNL?
Stephen: We want to host SNL. It’s something we both love watching. Our kids, they love it. I think it’s hopefully in our future.
Ayesha: We watch SNL as a family. Everybody thinks [Steph is] like “super athlete,” but I actually think he’s a theater nerd like me.
COMMENTS