Kandi Burruss Talks Reality TV & Business

Hola Chicas,

Today, ‘On the Couch’, we have Kandi Burruss of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

‘Why’, you ask?

Because! *snaps fingers in a z formation*

Y’all know I love me some RHOA… and hell, given the opportunity, I’d interview Kim… and Dwight! Anyway, besides being one of the realest cast members, Kandi is the poster child for entrepreneurship. She dishes on the pros and cons of being on reality TV and shares some tips for those of you thinking about venturing out and starting a business of your own. Enjoy!

CN: What can we expect from this season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA)?
KB: Well you know we always have a lot of drama. That’s obvious. You’ll be able to see more business ventures. Like Phaedra is branching off into new things, I’m branching off into new things and you’ll get to see the whole process and how we make our goals and plans come to life.
What’s cool is you’ll actually see Phaedra in the courtroom! I didn’t even know they let reality TV cameras in the courtroom, so that should be interesting. You’ll see me working with a country artist and that’s a big deal for me because I’ve always wanted to do country. Everybody else has stuff going on too, but we really don’t know what the other people are taping. Like during the season, I don’t know what Nene’s doing, she doesn’t know what I’m doing… you may hear little things but you don’t really know for sure.

Do you hang out with any of them outside of taping?
Sure! Phaedra and I definitely. Sheree actually comes to hang out with my family quite a bit. She loves to eat and my family loves to cook.

I have to ask. Are you team natural? If not, have you ever thought about going natural?
Currently, I’m majority natural. Not on purpose though. When I started wearing sew-ins regularly, I didn’t see the need to continue relaxing my hair. I’ve been natural before, prior to RHOA… about two year before I started the show, I was natural for like 5 years. It was really long and really thick and I would not do it again. The reason why I say that is because for me, once you press your hair on a regular basis, you get the same result as having a relaxer because it doesn’t curl up anymore. The problem is, the roots are still puffy. That’s not cute and I’d rather have it one way or the other. Either all curly and fro’ed up or straight.

Did you ever wear your natural hair out and curly?
I would wear it blown out or fro’ed up, big and wild.

I’ve heard that you have a new show on Bravo called the ‘Kandi Factory’. Congrats! How did that come about?
I had pitched a couple of ideas to the network last year and they decided to go ahead and give me the opportunity. They helped me develop the idea. I wanted to do a show where I could take people and do the same thing that I did with Kim. Taking regular people, some talented, some not so talented, and show them what they can achieve with some practice and guidance. It takes three factors to create a pop sensation– the song, the look and the performance. By the end of the season myself and a team of expert will turn two people into superstars.

When will it air?
Toward the end of the Housewives season.

You mentioned your work with Kim. Do you ever plan on getting back in the studio with her? *singing* ‘don’t be tardy for the party’… that’s still my jam!
I’m good on that. I’m not trying to be funny or anything. I mean, I helped her, introduced her to some people in the industry. We just didn’t seem to… we just weren’t on the same page business wise. So I thought it wise to take the music out of it, the business out of it, in order to remain friends.

Before Housewives, did you ever see yourself in TV?
No, not at all, I didn’t see this one coming. Especially not reality TV. I had dreams of acting, I always wanted to act, but this is not that, this is real life. Honestly, I think everything happens for a reason. Tiny came to me with the idea first. She had the bright idea of pitching a reality show… me, her and one other girl. This was before the thing with Toya. So when the producers decided not to put me on that show, I was sort of disappointed, but it was her idea and I couldn’t even be mad about it. I wasn’t even thinking about TV before she came and talked to me. But then the producers of RHOA came to me and I was like, ‘okay’, everything happens for a reason!

Is it awkward having the cameras around while you’re trying to go about your business?
It’s not as bad as it seems because I’m a part of a larger cast so the camera time is split and there isn’t a crew with me 24/7. So I pretty much know the days that they’ll be taping me and we kind of know what I’ll be doing that day. The only thing I hate is that I have to schedule around my camera time and also some of my friends have shows of their own on other networks and we can’t be on eachother’s show. That makes things very hard. Because maybe I’m having an event and I want my homegirl to come but she can’t ‘cause she’s on BET and can’t be on camera for Bravo. Or I can’t be caught on camera for BET. So it’s that kinda stuff that irritates me.

But although we all have some complaints, I don’t really focus on them. What you get from being on the show is exposure for your other businesses. If you’re being smart and you have something you’re working on that you can promote or use the show to promote it, then the annoyances don’t matter. It benefits everything else you’re doing.

With that, I want to ask if you have any advice for the working, entrepreneurial mothers that read my site?
First and foremost, never quit. Never give up. Because just as soon as you quit, trust me, that opportunity was probably on it’s way tomorrow. For me, I never worry about ‘no’. It doesn’t bother me or stress me out if somebody says they don’t like something that I did, or they wasn’t feeling me or this particular thing that I want to make happen. I can take rejection. Some people can’t take rejection, can’t take critiques. You have to stay open when people are trying to critique you. Don’t get defensive. I never get offended. I say go hard and never fall into the worker bee syndrome. What I mean by that is that I have a lot of friends who want to start their own businesses, but because they’re scared to go after their dreams, they get stuck in the 9 to 5. They’re too afraid to step out on their own and take a chance because they know as long as they’re at work, they’ll get that check and they have insurance. Forget that. Go after it because eventually you may be making more money than you ever could’ve imagined… but you have to get out there and give it a chance.