Brockton ex-convict tells her success story on BET's 'American Gangster: Trap Queens'

BROCKTON — In life, we all have chapters in our book we don't read out loud. It could be from embarrassment or not being ready to speak about the past.

But not Brockton resident Ayana Bean.

She is on rooftops shouting her story of going from being a convicted felon to transcending into an Amazon bestselling author, BET TV personality and founder of a non-profit organization.

In 2013, Bean was convicted of stealing thousands of dollars of financial aid funds through her job as a financial aid adviser, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts and was sentenced to a year and one day in federal prison.

"When you read about my past conviction, it's in human nature to judge and formulate your own opinion without knowing me," Bean said.

"I take full responsibility for my crimes and the students I have affected. I have served my time, and now I'm opening a new chapter of healing and redemption."

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During the time of the crimes, Bean was a mother of two living and working in Boston trying to help the father of her children with an active drug addiction which later led her down a path of fiscal ruin, Bean said.

Bean does not blame anyone for her actions, but many life circumstances played a part in why she committed fraud, she said.

With the money, Bean could feed her family while leveling up in the music business and becoming a liaison for big names in the industry, including Def Jam, Sony, Eone formerly Koch Records, and Interscope, she said.

"Music helped me to drown out the pain of abuse, violence and dysfunction. My love for music and the music industry was my escape from reality. However, I had no escape when my decisions caused me to be locked up and sentenced to a year and a day in prison," said Bean, using a phrase that would become the title of her book.

After serving her sentence, in 2014 Bean went home to live on her mother's couch In Hyde Park. Embarrassed and mortified by the consequences of her decisions, she began brainstorming a new life for herself. She imagined a life free of guilt and pain, one in which she could uplift other women like her.

"Going to prison weakened me as a person. I felt stripped of all my courage, stripped of independence and knowledge. I was judged by my peers, but I wanted a better life and slowly stopped caring about what they thought," Bean said.

"I carried a heavy load of things that were going on in my life, and I put on a brave face and kept moving. I kept trying at life every day no matter the scrutiny," Bean said.

One day, the tables turned, and she received a phone call from producers at BET wanting to film an episode about Bean's crimes and success in the Boston music industry for "American Gangster: Trap Queens," which follows several women for their crimes in America.

The true-crime documentary series features Bean on season one, episode seven. The 41-minute episode gives a timeline of the rise and fall of Bean's life.

"People always make an assumption of who you are and judge your character based on the decisions you make. So often, we make decisions that don't fit our character. It's not right, and it's a stigma that society cast on you forever as a formerly incarcerated individual. I am more than my crimes and mistakes," Bean said.

After incarceration, there are several roadblocks an individual may face, such as finding a job above minimum wage and acquiring housing, Bean said.

"Society does not welcome you back with open arms once you get out of prison. The system in itself is broken," Bean said.

Despite how Bean feels society views her, she gives other incarcerated women hope for a new beginning with her new self-help book, "A Year And A Day: Memoirs of a Regular Girl," and television appearance. Bean self-published the memoir to honor her journey of redemption, she said.

And so far, Bean has sold over a thousand books and was a top seller in the ebooks department on Amazon by selling over 20 books a day, she said.

The memoir describes Bean's entire life up to the present with all the trials and tribulations in between. Bean's close friends call her Alice in Wonderland due to the nature of her trying to escape the painful realities, Bean said.

"I want to teach other women and girls that life is full of challenges, and making the right choices will help us overcome them," Bean said.

"I am telling my story of going from the darkness of prison to the shining light of a businesswoman. I want to help women avoid poor decisions that can lead to imprisonment and motivate those currently in prison who may feel trapped internally. I want to encourage women and girls to be patient with themselves, and to let them know that choosing the right thing to do, is always the best thing to do," Bean said.

Sharing the unfortunate turn of events that caused Bean to be incarcerated was difficult. However, being open and honest about the crimes she committed opened her eyes to the people she hurt and gave her a way to heal completely.

"It was a hard therapy session. I learned that my crimes had victims. It was painful to hear the things you did to yourself. The street life is overly glorified, and it doesn't make you tough to go to prison or do wrong by others," Bean said.

"So many women with the same story as me reached out after the show aired. A young woman with a similar crime decided to pack up all her stuff and leave Massachusetts out of embarrassment and shame. The woman told me she didn't know there were others like her, and it felt good to have someone who can understand her situation and not judge," Bean said.

With Bean's newfound platform, she can travel the United States and share her experiences on major media, including "The Breakfast Club," a popular radio show based in New York City.

Bean's interview has generated over 1 million views on YouTube, and it's not stopping there. Bean is launching a non-profit that will help incarcerated people re-enter society and give them resources to improve their quality of life, from finding better-paying jobs to assisting with housing.

Enterprise staff reporter Alisha Saint-Ciel can be reached by email at stciela@gannett.com You can follow her on Twitter at @alishaspeakss. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Enterprise today.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton's Ayana Bean appears on BET 'American Gangster: Trap Queens'