BY Pivotal R. Sales
March 8, 2021
Mrs. BJ Arnett and her husband Camy "Cameron" Arnett are the CEOs of
Camy Arnett Production Studios, also known as CAPS. As founders they produced and directed their first feature length film, Mattie the Discovery, and are executive producers to a number of CAPS originals and other indie projects.
Last month Mrs. Arnett was interviewed by The Epoch Times "Crossroads" host Joshua Phillip at the Content 2020 Film Festival in Texas.
As interim department chair of the Art and Fashion Department at Clark Atlanta University, host of two talk shows, an actress, producer, CEO and overall creative, this wife, mother and grandmother wears many hats.
Philip inquired as to how she has successfully merged business with the core values she stands by.
Arnett stated that she and her husband, actor, director and producer Camy Arnett understood that they were to "captivate the airwaves and... get good, healthy, strong value based messages about the love of Christ to people."
However, the Arnett approach to doing business has been unconventional. CAPS is a media company that moves in excellence, but it did not come ready made. The expertise of this media team was developed through years of training and time spent with its members. It is comprised of ministry partners whose God given gifts and talents were often discovered and trained from the ground up.
According to Arnett, "Every person that God brought us was an integral part of the vision God gave us. So we didn't step out of this community called the family of God and look for professionals already made."
As a result, the Arnetts not only have a team, they've grown a family, a community of media experts that care about people first.
She stated, "Business has its fluctuations. When its down, everyone on the team still needs to see up. That's what we've been blessed to have in CAPS."
An understanding of relationship didn't start with CAPS, however, for this entrepreneur. Arnett was born into a family that served the community. Her grandfather was a traveling primitive Baptist preacher who took care of his congregations with her by his side from her earliest memories. Her stepfather was a self taught engineer and local business owner. Her mother was an educator and an influencer in local politics.
At an early age, Arnett was taught principles of money management. She knew how to make meal plans, shop, and cook by the age of nine. The family's financial challenges were never viewed as lack because her parents didn't accept lack. Rather, they became teachable moments about integrity in the financial world.
Although raised with these solid values, Arnett's teenage and young adult years were rough ones.
She says, "I brought hard times on myself as a teen and as a young woman. I stepped out to experience life not knowing that all my life, I'd experienced the right life." As a failing college freshman she began to work and enter scholarship pageants to pay off debt. She doubled up on classes and made right the wrongs of her first term.
From entering the work force, she saw a future in Atlanta's entertainment industry. In her twenties, she became a TV host, producer, and entertainment / lifestyle reporter interviewing greats such as Lena Horne, The Judds, Danny Glover, Marie Osmond, Patti Labelle, and First Lady Rosalyn Carter.
She has not forgotten the bumps and bruises of being a young adult in metro Atlanta. Neither has she buried the business savvy that she gained along the way. These are the life and industry lessons passed on to her students at Clark Atlanta University.
Arnett told Phillip, "A young person comes to college with these big dreams of what they're going to be. They think this job is just going to somehow appear when they graduate. They don't realize it's going to take an understanding of how-to. My job is to lead and guide them in the how-tos."
At Clark Atlanta, she is the founder of the Fab Lab, a retail training space.
During COVID she initiated "Fab Lab Conversations", a series of virtual speaking engagements, one of which was Vogue Magazine.
She was recently a featured speaker at Harlem’s Fashion Row 3rd Annual Digital Fashion Summit where she joined fashion and retail professionals in a conversation about race and fashion.
Her talk show, BJA Today, was awarded "Best Christian - Freedom from Bondage Award" at Content 2020.
She and her husband are also features on an upcoming documentary series called "Creative Icons".
She continues to appear on podcasts world wide, the most recent being the Women World Leaders Empowering Lives with Purpose. She will be a featured speaker for the Black Fashion World Foundation's career day at the end of this month.
As Arnett puts it, "Poverty of the soul is the worst poverty you can have". Whether its running CAPS, mentoring students, or producing films, one thing is for certain. The Arnetts are redefining wealth and changing the global face of business one destiny at a time.
I Just love you and your TV show BJ and you are one of the smartest and kindest persons in Atlanta Ga. You make Atlanta better. Thank You so much!!
Love in Christ,
Minister Mildred Hall