WomenThatSoar-interviewWith2008Honoree-MaryAnnThompson-Frenk

She and her husband, Joshua Frenk, also established The John Philp Thompson Foundation to support research on non-radiation/non-chemotherapy cures for glioblastoma (brain cancer) in honor of her father who died from the terrible disease. Their first donation went to Duke University's Brain Tumor Center's Immunotheraphy program and their most recent donation went to a joint project between John Hopkin's University and the University of Milan.

WTS: Mary Ann, I'd like to start by telling our readers your spiritual birth connection. I read online how you where born in Mexico at 7:11 a.m. on Mother's Day. How was the date and time of your birth a significant to your birth and a spiritual connection?

MATF: It was significant in that those unique set of circumstances allowed me be adopted into a family that blessed me with incredible opportunities that I might have otherwise easily taken for granted. Opportunities being not just the financial means, but also what the financial means allowed me to pursue, such as an education, travel, and even the chance to meet my current husband…all these things, from the car I drive, to the house I live in, to the man I love were made possible because of my father's blood, sweat and tears. When your life is made possible because of someone else's dedication, you can't look at it with a sense of entitlement. Instead, you look at it with a deep sense of gratitude and responsibility. That understanding is the true spiritual connection, the true "gift", I received from being adopted.

WTS: At an early age you've accomplished so much. You're a wife, artist, businesswoman, and humanitarian. What drives you? And how have you been able to follow your passion and accomplish so much?

MATF: I keep a photograph on my desk of my 28 year old grandfather (Joe C. Thompson, Sr.)who was at his age one of only two people to have served on the city council's for Dallas, Oak Cliff (when it was a separate city) and Highland Park. During that time he was in the midst of fighting the Ku Klux Klan in order to integrate the State Fair of Texas. They had put him in charge of "Negro Day" and he therefore made a lot of friends with the African American community who would later work beside him when he began building Oak Farms Dairy and later 7-Eleven. He made many arguments against segregation and the Klan routinely terrorized his family, lighting crosses in their yard and gathering in groups of 20 to 40, all in their white cone hats and robes, threatening him to back down. But he didn't. Instead both he and my grandmother, Margaret "Peggy" Philp Thompson, were willing to risk their lives for years and the lives of their children, to fight for what they believed was right. Today, I live four blocks away from the old Thompson family home. The very fact that I can do this, let alone even be in an interracial marriage, is due in large part to the sacrifices made by people like my grandparents. When I feel discouraged, I ask myself ‘How many people would risk their family's lives to fight for human rights?' and I feel a kind of fire inside that I know was lit by generations before me. That fire fuels my belief in humanity's ability to evolve into a society consciously aware of how it is creating the culture future generations will inherit. I call being this, being a "conscious cultural creator".

WTS: At the age of thirteen you experienced a prophetic dream in which you where creating places throughout the world where people from different cultures met to exchange their unique knowledge of the arts, sciences, histories and spiritual practices. How do you see yourself accomplishing such a miraculous task?

MATF: When I told my dad about my vision, his reaction to me was, "If I can be successful in putting things (7-Eleven stores) around the world that serve to benefit my pocket book, then you can put centers around the world that can benefit mankind." He also said, "If it's important to you, you'll do it by the time your thirty." Yikes! I'm thirty now, and I'm glad I can say this vision is well underway!

WTS: I commend you for all the work you have done with The Memnosyne Foundation. I believe you have an amazing gift. Would you share with other's who may not be aware of the foundations mission what you do?

MATF: After my father passed away, Joshua and I discovered ourselves surrounded by people with all sorts of valid concerns and causes. However over time we recognized that so much more could be done with the means we had been blessed with if people were more willing to reach across the invisible boundaries of culture, class, religion, etc. in an effort to approach the inevitable effects of globalization in a responsible proactive way. While people were exploring how globalization would affect them economically, no one was speaking about its affects on the other critical aspects of human life. This led us to recognize the need to bridge people in the sciences, arts, religions, environmental studies, culture, technology, etc…in short the people who are proactively creating tomorrow's culture today… so that we could help the diverse people of the world consciously encourage an evolution for themselves and for future generations.

This is what led to the creation of The Memnosyne Foundation. Its mission is to provide mankind with the means to encourage positive, peaceful global collaboration in all areas of knowledge.

WTS: Some people may think that being the daughter of the late John Philp Thompson, Sr the founder of 7-11, that you didn't have challenges. However, it is just the opposite. You have had to face several challenges. Would you share your life trials and how you have overcome them?

MATF: I've dealt with a lot of things, such as chronic migraines, seizures, asthma, a hearing loss, racism, and other challenges. The hearing loss was pretty hard because it was tonal and the hearing aids didn't work for tonal hearing problems. Plus, I had astigmatism which meant I saw six images instead of one without thick glasses, three images with glasses, two with contacts which all around made it hard to read lips easily. But instead of exploring what they took away from my life, I'd rather explain what each of those challenges gave to my life by sharing part of something I've written: "…We are limited only by what we dare dream for ourselves, and once we reclaim our own journey anew, we will reclaim our world together. I don't just see a seed, I see a possibility waiting for a deva to take root within it and motivate it to become a tree. I don't just experience a hearing loss, I experience a call to appreciate another human being by fully focusing on their whole body when they communicate. I don't assume the spiritual paths of the world are too different to ever get along, I recognize that all the spiritual paths were born from the hearts of humanity and therefore have a common foundation where we can rediscover peace. I refuse to recognize my stroke as a limitation. I embrace the experience of being partially blinded as a reminder to fully recognize the limitless possibilities available to me if I will choose to fully perceive the world around me. Nothing is impossible. We just have to choose to reach for the Sun."

WTS: You lost part of your eye site. You promised God that if he allowed you to regain your site you would work everyday to touch the sun. What does that mean?

MATF: When I was little my father showed me an acorn and told me that the tree we were standing under had once been a seed just like it. He told me that in its lifetime the seed would have to work and work and struggle to penetrate deep into the earth so that it could work and work and struggle to stretch up tall enough to touch the sun. He said that it would never be able to touch the sun, but that it was in its effort to do this that it would accomplish the miracle of growing from that tiny acorn into the huge tree. That day he gave me a choice between continuing at Hockaday where I had to work extra hard to succeed despite challenges such as my hearing loss and racism or to attend a school that was designed for the hearing impaired; but where I would learn a lot less. That day I understood that the decision I made was more than just deciding where I would be going to school, it would be choosing what path I took in life. After that, "touching the sun" became a metaphor for the philosophy I chose to take in life. My mom later acknowledged my choice by giving me a framed copy of Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken". I still have it and read the lines everyday, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

WTS: I always ask women was there ever a time when you doubted yourself? If so, how did you overcome the fear and triumph to success?

MATF: I think of doubt as a symptom of a powerful tool towards success: humility. One of my favorite songs about this is "Shades of Gray" by Billy Joel. There's a part where he sings, "Shades of grey are all that I find When I look to the enemy line Black and white was so easy for me But shades of grey are the colors I see Now with the wisdom of years I try to reason things out And the only people I fear are those who never have doubts Save us all from arrogant men, and all the causes they're for I won't be righteous again I'm not that sure anymore" I love that song, because for me doubting myself is a reassurance that I'm being sensitive enough to others to act with humility. It's that balance of humility and confidence that leads to true leadership.

WTS: You are a young person with great knowledge and wisdom. What advice can you share with the younger generation of women that will help them on their journey to success and soar?

MATF: Discover your inner compass. By that, know where your passion and integrity stem from. Life is going to bring you lots of opportunities and lots of challenges. Not all things that look like opportunities will be doors leading to the path that's right for you, and sometimes the greatest challenges will be the doors leading to the improved version of who you truly are. Our society likes to think of life as climbing "up", but the reality is those who navigate from "within" that deepest inner core of their being are the ones who wind up living an inspired life, and what that "inspired life" is for you will not always be the same as what it is for others. Don't let anyone else define that for you, only let your own inner compass lead you to it.

WTS: If you had the opportunity, what is the one thing you would do?

MATF: If I had more control over my inheritance I'd increase my foundation's outreach so that I could triple the amount of people we are able to serve.

WTS: Whom do you most admire and who's a woman who soars in your life?

MATF: There are so many people whom I admire, and I've been blessed to be intimately inspired by so many people including my father John Philp Thompson Sr., The Very Reverend James Parks Morton, Phillip Shinoda, Phillip Collins, Venerable Lama Tenzin Dhonden, Ricardo Cervantes Cervantes of Teotihuacan who is one of my spiritual mentors, Ahmed Sirleaf, Gregory Gomez, Mike Ghouse, my husband Joshua Frenk, and others.

As far as women go, my grandmother, Margaret Philp Thompson, who was one of the founders for Thanksgiving Square, my mom (Debra Rutherford Thompson) who helped raise three of her nephews while taking care of her mother, working and putting herself through school to earn two degrees, and could still make time to twirl a baton in a mini-skirt on the SMU drill team – talk about time management skills!, Dr. Carolyn Farb, who takes time out of her busy schedule to mentor my philanthropic endeavors, Dr. Phyllis Curott, a social and spiritual activist,who also has taken time out of her busy schedule to check in on my spiritual endeavors, Gray Hawn, a world famous photographer who exemplifies fully living life, and many others.

WTS: If you were to leave this world today, how would you want to be remembered?

MATF: Recently, the Consul General of Mexico, Enrique Hubbard Urrea, surprised me when he wrote, "The Memnosyne Foundation has been working intensively to promote global tolerance and understanding, and Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk has been a visionary philanthropist that has inspired many people in the world to become better human beings." While flattered, I'm not sure I've earned this kind of praise yet. But I hope that whenever I leave this world, I would have lived alife worthy of those words.