In case you haven’t noticed, R&B singer/Reality show star Kandi Burruss is building an empire.
90’s kids may still identify with her as the former lead singer in the group “Xscape,” who is now on some crazy reality show. On the other hand, reality show junkies may know her as the star of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” who just happened to be a singer at some point in her life.
She is both, and a lot more.
Following in the footsteps of Oprah Winfrey and Tyra Banks before her, Burruss has used her celebrity to build an impressive portfolio that includes music, product, retail, mobile gaming, real estate and media.
After the disbanding of Xscape in the late 90’s Kandi went on to become a solo singer and even more successful songwriter penning tunes like “No Scrubs” for TLC, “Bills, Bills, Bills” for Destiny’s Child, as well as cuts for Mariah Carey, Usher, Alicia Keys, Pink and Whitney Houston among others. After a couple missteps in her singing career, Kandi resurfaced as a cast member of the popular reality series The Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2009. Since then life has only gotten sweeter.
Kandi’s current business calendar includes hosting her own online talk radio show “Kandi Koated Nights” and producing her new Bravo TV series “The Kandi Factory” which is centered around her talent development complex of the same name. She co-owns “Tags Clothing Boutique” which currently has two locations in her hometown of Atlanta. In addition to being active in the real estate market, she also owns her very own “adult luxury” brand, “Bedroom Kandi.”
We caught up with the mogul-on-the-go to get the story of how she’s managed to from a lead singer to a leader in business.
BlackEnterprise.com: What was it about the music industry that made you want to become an entrepreneur?
Kandi Burruss: When we started the singing group I was just a teenager. When you start making that kind of money, you never want to go back to a point where you are not financially secure. In the music industry we hear all kinds of stories about people being hot one minute and the next they’re going bankrupt or losing their house. I never wanted that to be me. And my mom would always scare me saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” I went from being in school everyday to being on TV, so it’s not like I had that experience of going to school and getting a degree. So for me, if I’m not singing how can I maintain this lifestyle? So I would read financial books on how people maintained their wealth.
Do you remember what you did with your first big check?
Our first check was not a big check, it was very small. But what I did with mine was go in with my mother and buy the house across the street from where we lived and kept it as a property. My mom always would tell me stuff like “good credit is better than money.” When I was a teenager I would balance my checkbook down to the penny. I don’t do that anymore, but I was very careful with every dime. I might have been better with money then than I am now.
What are some good financial practices that you do now?
At first I fell into the trap of letting the business manager pay the bills for me. But when I heard that Oprah writes her own checks and pays her own bills, I figured that if I want to be like her one day, I need to step up and start doing that myself. Month to month, I look and see what checks come in and go out. And I’m glad that I pay attention because just recently someone tried to do fraud on my account. People think when you make a lot of money that you don’t pay attention.
Another thing I do, I have a bank account that I keep large amounts of money in, and an ATM card that I keep hardly any money in. When you have that card, you are constantly swiping and you lose track of what you’re buying and overspending. So I separated the account I use to pay my bills with from the rest of my money and put it in
another bank. So if I see something I want, I really have to think about it now because I’d have to go the bank and physically take money out, because I don’t have enough money on the ATM card to splurge. That’s when you realize that you really don’t need it.Do you remember any advice from anyone other than your mother? Another celebrity maybe?
When I was 19, I had the pleasure of being on tour with LL Cool J and he would give me tips here and there. One of the tips I held on to, was when I just bought my house that year. I bought my first house when I was 19. He said, always have one house and one car that you own. At the time I didn’t own anything, I just had a down payment like anybody else. But he told me with every check I get, put something extra towards the principal of the house. He said to pay the house off because you never know what may happen. You may have bought the house when you had checks rolling in, but if you’re in a 30-year mortgage, you don’t know what can happen later. So try to pay it off before the term of the loan ends.
Fast forward, what is in your portfolio as of now?
I have the music thing going, with songwriting and royalties. Then I have “Kandi Koated Enterainment” which has a production division and talent management division. I have multiple real estate properties, some are rentals, others I just have. I have two clothing boutiques in Atlanta. I have “Bedroom Kandi” which is my “adult luxury” line. I have my “Kandi Koated Spades” game on the iPhone. I have “Kandi Koated Nights,” my online radio show. I have my own TV show, “The Kandi Factory” on Bravo too now. Kandi Factory isn’t just a show either, it’s also a building I have for artist development. I’m also adding TV and video production into my portfolio, everything is going to the next level right now.
How was it breaking into the sex toy or “adult product” industry?
I have “Bedroom Kandi” and I have “Bedroom Kandi Boutique Consulting” where we come to your home to present the products. Since Kandi Koated Nights became popular on the internet, I figured we needed to do some kind of product to go along with the show. I stopped by Dr. Laura Berman’s show for an interview and she gave me some of the products from her sex toy line. Of course as a woman I’ve owned some toys, but it never crossed my mind to have my own line. I figured if she could do it, so could I.
When I did some research I found out that one of the richest women in Europe was a billionaire from having her own toy and lingerie line. So I found a smaller company that had the technology to make toys that could vibrate to music. Later on, a bigger company that knew of me and my interest in the industry through RHOA, reached out to me wanting to license my name. So I had to decide between licensing my name for six-figures, or take the gamble of owning my own company. I believe in ownership so I took the risk and partnered with the smaller company, OhMiBod, to develop my toy line and within the first couple of months of release we won an award for “Best Toy Line at the AVN Awards. Within the next few months we made all of the money back.
After that we launched the boutique consulting and have over 20,000 women wanting to sign up. So the Bedroom Kandi brand has really taken off. And it’s classy and promotes health and wellness too. There is a lot more to sex toys than just being raunchy. I know women have them, women with children have them, so why not make it more acceptable.
How much of an investment did you have to make initially?
It was a few hundred thousand dollars that we had to put into the initial production of our first two toys in the collection. Now we are developing more products like candles that turn into massage oils and vibrating lollipops. At first we were going to do just one item, but within 4 months there was so much talk about it that they said we might need to make more. I thought it was a good idea to do just one toy because I’m not known for adult toys, plus the African American community is so hush hush when it comes to sex, but it turned out to be a great decision.
What made you want to jump into retail?
I just wanted to have multiple sources of income. As a person who came up in the entertainment business, I know you can go through slow periods. So I wanted to do something that I could have a steady flow of cash coming in. My friend Peaches had stores before and decided to stop because of divorce and other things. She had an eye for clothes and knew how to run a store. One thing I hate to see is people make money and jump into a business and get a cousin or friend who doesn’t know what they’re doing to run it, I hate that. I had the finances and she had the know how, so I thought Peaches was perfect to partner with. After five years of convincing she finally said OK.
How have you used social media to promote your brands?
When it comes to social media, when you stay engaged with the people who support you, they love that. People will support you if they see you are in tune with what’s going on. So I started doing Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and all my businesses are a part of that too. I think I might have been one of the first people to put together a “tweet and meet.” It was me, Rashidah, Diamond and some of my friends. I figured we could invite people to hear our new music. I just wanted to go to Dave & Busters or something. But the response was so overwhelming. There was a line out the door and there were people who flew in from the Bahamas just to see us. That’s when I learned how big of a tool it was. It’s even better if we are showing support among each other.