In this conversational interview, host Lee Richter chats with NFT enthusiast Tamara Thompson about the state of women in crypto and NFTs. They discuss how community platforms like Clubhouse, Discord, and Twitter Spaces foster connections, and highlight the low participation of women in crypto (around 6% in the U.S.) and the need to lower the fear barrier. Tamara shares her experience receiving a free BFF friendship‑bracelet airdrop during a livestream, which can be redeemed for a future NFT mint, and the strategic decision to sell one bracelet while holding the other. They talk about risk‑aware buying and selling tactics, emphasizing starting small and only investing what one can afford to lose. Educational initiatives such as Curious Addies are mentioned as early NFT‑focused learning projects. Brand collaborations are explored through the example of Rebecca Minkoff’s NFT launch that integrated QR codes linking digital art to physical products. Lee adds observations from the NYC NFT conference, noting large QR‑code installations that bridge offline audiences to NFT projects. Throughout, both speakers stress mentorship, community support, and actionable steps for newcomers to engage in the NFT space.
Chapters
Well, here we are in Arizona, your home state. And this is my friend Tamara. And I am so excited because we collaborate together behind the scenes on so many things. We've been friends for a long time. And we inspire each other.
We do.
And I will say last summer, you invited me to Napa Valley. And it was the first time, one of the first times I actually sat on a panel and discussed NFTs in public. And it was with you, some of the people that you trained.
No, we were on Clubhouse at the Same time she had her phone on Clubhouse while she was doing a panel. I was like, this is, this is multitasking. This is awesome.
It is. It's like cross-pollinating the communities, right? And I gotta say, I learned a lot in Clubhouse around NFTs. And you and I've been in many rooms together with some celebrities. I'm inspired in there. Are you?
I am. It was one of those things where I actually talked to some of my influential friends to actually talk them to getting into Clubhouse. And I thought that was really unique, even clients and friends. And they were like, oh, wow, this platform is a great opportunity.
So yeah, and it was last It was during the summer of the pandemic, so all of us were home. It was the perfect timing to be there because we really were yearning to hear each other's voices and connect. It almost felt like I was seeing you in person just by seeing your picture and hearing your voice. It was such a great connection, but it was also a great proving ground of things to think about. And NFTs were part of that conversation. And I will say, I was so honored when you invited me to that mansion in Napa and we got to sit there and talk about it with your clients and just share some ideas. And even we were inspired to take action. And so one of the things I wanted to have you do today is to share with the audience. I knew you were already in crypto. You've already been an enthusiast, enthusiastic buyer of crypto. You've reaped some benefits of it. But here in the NFT space, I would love you to share some of the ideas and some of the action you've taken just in building your portfolio and your connections.
Yeah, so I think one of the biggest things is being able to follow those communities that you really connect with. Right. So a lot of the people that I've been jumping in with myself personally is the women in crypto and women in NFTs and helping reach more of that audience. Because literally, isn't it like 6% of women in America own crypto? I'm like, that's only 6% of American women. And I think it's what, 19% of women like in general, like are in that? It's like a huge, like differential spot here between men and women. And so I've been really on this. mission to reach more women, to get people into this, because I think that fear factor steps in there. A lot of people don't know what they don't know.
Mm-hmm.
But they're also looking for other leaders like Lee as a visionary to come in and help follow and provide those step-by-step things as well. And so I've been able to build really great relationships with some of those big female communities that are really starting to take off and inspiring more women. I saw last week alone in the BFF community, the Blockchain Friends Forever basically helping encourage more women into their community. I saw them have women come in there and they got their first NFT drops. So they're like, I don't know what's going on, but I'm excited. They're like, I bought my first ETH, you know, things like that, like really gets me jonesing. So.
But what I love is you and your partner each got one. So you're both in this. And you're coming up with strategies on how to handle it because now it's worth thousands of dollars. You just got them for free, right?
We did. We got an airdrop because we were actually live on the 50 founding members of the community livestream. There was over 5,000 women and more people on that livestream. They had Mila Kunis, they had Gwyneth Paltrow, you know, they had different people coming in and they're all wanting to help support these women. And so that was what was unique about it. And those women that showed up live, that's the big key, showing up.
Showing up.
When they did that, they surprised us and they dropped us an airdrop of this friendship bracelet. And so they used that Next month, we get to use that as a token to turn that in and actually mint their actual NFT launch. It's going to be 10,000 NFTs, and we have no idea, like, the suspense behind it right now. But it's exciting to be a part of a community, and the Discord communities and people talking and the people tweet— tweeting and Twitter Spaces, they're so big. And when you find the ones that you really mesh with, like, go double down in there because they're always there to help support you.
Absolutely. And what I love is behind the scenes how excited you guys are. But also, you're seeing the future value, you're seeing the value of being part of the community. But also, there's a lot of unknowns still, right? But you're still excited about it. You're not afraid, you're curious, and you're on the journey.
That's another good point. I don't know if you— have you heard of Curious Addies?
Not yet. Tell me.
So definitely look up Curious Addies. So Curious Addies is— they started the actual first NFT project on the educational side. So if you look it up, Curiosities.com. And it shows this whole husband and wife project that started together because they're really big in crypto first, but their whole essence is to help educate people more on NFTs. And they just dive in there, they, they, the owners reach out, they're constantly communicating, they want to help more people. So again, it's that essence of wanting to help support people.
I love that. So getting back to the BFF bracelet, you guys have been getting bids behind the scenes $2,000 for your bracelet that you have for free. And you're even like, should I sell it? Should I keep it? There is a strategy around it. So what are you thinking personally around your strategy around purchasing and selling NFTs?
Well, you actually came up with a great strategy behind the scenes is because we have 2 of them, why not sell one now for profit and then see what we could do with the second one with, you know, using that token and applying it to mint an NFT that could potentially go grow even more. But I think one of those things is we've been in this space so much with NFTs. Yes.
Mm-hmm.
There's opportunities where you're like, wow, it just took off. Like the Bored Apes. Yeah. And things like that, you know, the CryptoPunks. But then there's other, you know, ones where we're like, we get so hyped up and then we see it start going and then it just tanks. We just have to be aware that that is actually happening and you can't be afraid to lose. We always say like, when you're putting your money into something or putting your crypto into something, Like, start smaller if you have to and just put what you aren't afraid to lose.
Exactly.
Because if you're putting like, you don't want to put your house down in there, you know. Not yet.
You don't want to put the house payment in there.
But it's cool to watch things because crypto is so volatile, but it's also exciting because you get those—
We just watched some of those roller coaster rides happen.
Yes, with Bitcoin and everything. It's crazy to watch, but it's the excitement feeling of it. But yeah, like I said, like when we're teaching, educate other people, just even if it's $5, you know, or $10, $100, whatever you could put in just to start.
Buy as a fun enthusiast. Now we're not telling you what to invest in. We're just suggesting to come join in this fun paradigm and play.
Exactly. Yeah, because I purchased lots of NFTs. And I've had some that are starting to take off that are the floor prices, You know, better than, you know, it started at. And I have others that basically went under, you know, and then I had people come in to offer more money for other ones. So I've sold some. So it's just being able to kind of pay attention to the market and just see what's going on because we're all here for the journey right now.
Wow. In one of the other podcast episodes, we talked about the value of people being able to see in your wallet that you've bought and sold them. So actually you having some sales in your wallet could be a real benefit. because it shows people that you're actually in on both sides of the marketplace and taking it seriously. We've seen other platforms looking to see for other players just like you. Are you buying and selling? Are you creating and consuming? Are you collecting? So I love that you've been sharing this journey with us. Are there any other pieces that you want to share that have inspired, inspired you or your team? Yeah.
So it's more like things on the down low right now, but we're having talks with opportunities with people to actually create more of a movement with specific types of NFTs, but ways to, you know, mint and create these NFTs, but also create and connect it with a product and bring some other people in there. As long as it's someone like an influencer in a certain type of space or industry. Like, example, I think a really great example was Rebecca Minkoff when she did her NFT launch in New York, and she had it sponsored by Yahoo. What was unique about it, because she's a fashion designer, She turned around and had a specific model, you know, model for the NFT digital art pieces. And in each piece, it modeled one of her specific purses for her fashion line. And so it was cool because they had QR codes where people could go bid on the actual digital thing.
Yes.
But then you had the opportunity to go see that and be like, oh, I can go buy a purse. You know, there's different ways to think about how you can create something with a brand that you already have. And so that's a lot of the types of energy and types of things we're talking about in the backend with some of my friends.
I love that you brought that up because when I was in New York City for the NYC NFT conference, what I noticed is in Times Square is not only were they bringing up NFTs and honoring them, but they had gigantic QR codes that anyone could hold up their phone and learn more about the artist, more about the launch, or more about the people that were behind it. So that's another way is look for those QR codes, be curious, open it up, and just get to know who is behind that project. Really, really good idea. I actually have some masks that they gave me, the masks that they're wearing, and it's done with NFT and original art that the artists have then licensed. But each one has a QR code that people can go on and learn more about the artist and the launch. And I think that that's one of the things that they're very savvy in, is not only seeing what you have that's stagnant, but the next step so you can be in the community. So I love this. I love marketing. I love sharing this. And you are such a natural at sharing it with because you do take action. Not only do you get ideas, you actually do something with those ideas.
But so do you. Yeah, you as a visionary too. So I'm always grateful to have you in my space.
So thank you. And I just think back to that beautiful mansion we were in in Napa. Our friend Charles Byrd was with us, some really great people. Shannon was there, and I saw Shannon and Let's see, in Austin, Texas the following year. And it was really great to remember.
He just spoke also at a crypto conference, I believe.
Oh, he's taking it off. He is. Yes, I think he created a $100,000 or a million-dollar project that all is around NFTs. So I'm really proud of him and, and just watching him take action. That's what you do. You surround yourself with action takers. And so it just multiplies. So Tamara, thank you so much for inspiring me, but also thank you so much for supporting Me too.
Thank you so much.
Appreciate you. More to come, you guys. Stay tuned.
