In the latest issue of ROLLING OUT Magazine, "RHOA" star Kandi Burruss discusses her business portfolio and how she stays on top of her paper (and yes, this "ATL Housewife" is a millionaire). As she runs several companies that produce everything from iTunes apps to sex toys, Kandi's business swag on....
While "RHOA" producers focus on petty catfights and arguments, they seem to be missing out on another big storyline, and it's that Kandi Burruss is building a successful business empire right before our eyes.
In the latest issue of "ROLLING OUT" Kandi opens up about the moves she is making behind the scenes in corporate America as she builds her wealth saying,
“A lot of my peers, some … are rich, and the next thing they’re broke. I knew that you had to have multiple streams of income to become a millionaire or to stay a millionaire. So that was my thought process; what type of business would I have outside of music?”
To get started, Kandi asked herself a series or questions and envisioned where she wanted to go.
“How can I go from being in the music industry or being on television, or whatever I’m doing, where do I go from that? To me, I’m constantly trying to think of things so I can maintain my lifestyle, and to take care of my family in the way they are accustomed to being taken care of. What keeps me motivated is providing the best life possible for my daughter, my mother and myself. That puts me in that grind mode; I want to keep my security.”
Then Kandi spoke about a few of her companies and what drives her "business model."
On her new reality show, '‘The Kandi Factory,’
I get to take your average everyday person who may have a dream to become an artist and give them a total makeover. Me and my team of [industry] professionals are going to transform this person by giving them a new song, a new look, a new style, hair, makeup, choreography, everything it takes to be an artist.”
On her iTunes App, Kandi Koated Spades
“There are so many African Americans who buy video games and so many apps, and only [approximately] five African American-owned companies that actually make the games and build apps. So I partnered up with Konsole Kingz in Atlanta and they helped me to do my spades app, which is great. I like to play spades.”
On her fashion boutique, "Tags"
“Any normal person wants to look good, but I wanted to make my store affordable, where you could buy a hot outfit, look good, and you don’t have to worry about breaking your bank. And I think we’ve accomplished that with Tags.” It’s funny, when I first opened the store, a lot of people said crazy stuff, like, ‘oh she’s going to go out of business, and I just said, ‘they don’t know me because I do not lose.’ ”
On her sex toys, "Bedroom Kandi"
“It was something that I did for fun that I really thought was necessary … we need a little way to spice up the relationships and spice up the bedroom.
On her business philosophy,
“There’s only one queen bee; there are thousands of worker bees. They have a team, they go out and gather the honey, and they do what they are told what to do all the time.” Burruss says. “I don’t want to be a worker bee. People work that nine-to-five job that they don’t really like or they don’t want to do. But they’re used to getting that check every two weeks and they don’t know what they would do if that check didn’t come.”
“I don’t know if I’ll get a check next week, or next month, but if I go real hard within so many months, I should see something. Sometimes you have to step out on faith and just go for it, [otherwise] you’ll be stuck in the worker bee syndrome forever.”
On taking risks
“It’s very important to take risks, because I hear so many people say, ‘I would love to do this,’ or, ‘I have dreams of doing that …’ And they never take the step to do it. Fear has no business being in your head if you want to take things in your life and your career to another level of success.”
FABULOUS advice Kandi!
Photos via Rob Ector/Hair: Derek J/Makeup: Lakeisha Quinn/Styling: Shun Melso
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