Kim Kardashian has been in the news lately (when has she not?) for telling Variety Magazine that her advice to women is business is to “Get your f*cking a$$ up and work.”
Her profanity laced yet seemingly innocuous advice has drawn lots of internet ire, mainly from people who have misinterpreted what she said, pointing to her being born into a prominent family and initially becoming famous because of a sex tape. The main point of contention is that there are many people who get up and go to work and never make anywhere near what she does. The problem with those statements is that Kim didn’t say anything about being rich or making millions on par with her fruitful family. Her advice was simply pointed to women in business and emphasizing the importance of working consistently . Still, everyone took her pretty standard business advice and decided to attack her because they resent her path to success (in other words, they are shooting the messenger).
While the Kardashian/Jenner family can be problematic and have undoubtedly benefited from every privilege known to man, few can deny their work ethic. My cursory knowledge of their ‘come up’ tells of a mother whose husband died and whose new hubby wasn’t getting as much work as he used to. So, Kris, through a series of events (some unfortunate, many scandalous) ultimately helped to create the empire we see today, fueled by their pioneering reality show. While it doesn’t look as if the family works very much, Kim Kardashian said in an interview once that it’s hard work to look like her.
As I had a Haagen Dazs bar for breakfast yesterday and chips for breakfast today, I can attest to the fact that simply keeping yourself fine and fit (or even setting aside time for plastic surgery) takes time, money, discipline, and commitment. And these women are committed.
Even if you come out of the womb blessed and connected, that doesn’t mean you will get up every day and work. But Kim and her klan apparently do. Just from the beauty and fitness standpoint, I have seen them consistently get up and work out, eat right, and do various beauty treatments. They do what needs to be done to influence the millions that follow them, and being an influencer is a job! Love them or loathe them, they cause a whole lot of conversation. They must be doing something right!
My response to anyone who is killing it is to congratulate, not hate! And take notes.
Life is unfair, guys. We can’t control what family we were born into. But we can control what we do with our time on earth. And as I sit here and type at 10:30pm at night, I am working–something every woman in business should be doing anyway!
Unfortunately I am not able to say no to Haagen Dazs at the moment, but I aspire to! Looking fine and flawless at every camera flash is important in my industry–and critics are harsh.
So even if Kim inspires me in that small way, I’ll take it.
I think too many people in our community are so quick to point out the negative. Negativity keeps you where you are or takes you down. See the positive. Take some advice from some billionaires and keep it pushing.
Just my thoughts.
Love & Light,
*I know I’m going to get criticized, so before you do, just know I am not self loathing and have lots of self love and love all women, especially black women!
Ask anyone who has met me. I just notice that all too often we are extremely critical of each other and of other people. If you go on blogs from other cultures, all the comments are nice and happy for the most part! And on our stuff, while there are many many (many) funny moments, we are also frequently negative. And I believe that a negative mindset can be just as big of a hindrance as a financial one.
The world is not perfect, the world is unfair, however there are things each of us can do every day to improve our stations in life. We may not all amass material wealth, fame, or Kardashian level success, however we can provide a good life for ourselves and our families. Step one: Get to work! There’s really no way around it, and hating on Kim K is not gonna get you where you want to go. FYI.
What do you think?
*My pix were taken at the Refresh Retreat sponsored by Mielle Organics in Cancun. I work my a$$ off. My Caribbean parents gave me a great education and that was pretty much it. Everything you see I have worked hard for, and I will continue to get up and work every day until I reach my goals.
