(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Some of us know her as a reality TV personality, a momager, an entrepreneur or an evil genius. There isn't a word Kris Jenner hasn't been called. The matriarch of one of pop culture's most famous families, she has single handedly turned the word Kardashian into a noun, verb and a household name.
As one of the most controversial families in the media the Kardashian/Jenner brood bring about a range of mixed emotions. They are labelled as attention-seeking, fame-hungry, talentless opportunists or innovative, feminist-empowering, millennial, intelligent celebrities. Whether you love, hate or are just indifferent to them, you can't deny that they work, and work hard. This is all thanks, of course, to mummy dearest.
'We (the kids) were joking the other day, saying how annoyed they (kids) were with me their entire teenage lives because I made them wake up at 7am in the morning whether it was summer vacation or not," Kris says, "I just believe that a lot of it is about the way that you train yourself and the discipline and the dedication and the focus."
Kris was in Dubai to announce that she will be serving as chairman of the board of a brand new exclusive Legacy Business school. Based in New York with plans to open in Dubai as well, Legacy has a new kind of educational experience that's all about popular culture, fashion and a new way of looking at business in today's global economy.
Sleek in black, with not a hair out of place (we even noticed that a plaster on her foot was practically the same colour of the bronzer brushed on her legs), Kris spoke about the power of social media and the oldest rule in the book. Hard work pays off.
Dubai is a beautiful city
We got a little lost so I now know Dubai really, really well. I can drive anybody anywhere, I know how to get on to every freeway and we drove to the Dubai Mall five times, from every direction. Beautiful city!
On The Legacy Business School
I always say to my own kids and people that I've know for many years to find your passion. If you can find a place where you can do that and then somebody can help mentor you and offer you a unique opportunity it could be golden. For me this is the perfect storm at the perfect time in the perfect place, which is New York and eventually Dubai.
Balancing family and business
The balance is tricky. I'm not going to lie. It's tough to try and teach somebody that. If you're young it's a lot easier because you don't have the kids involved but as you get older . . . for young women, young people with families, who want to start a business, my advice is to find something that you really, really love to do. Sometimes we don't know what that is yet.
That's what I tell my kids and their friends and all the young people that come to me for advice, I always say, 'OK what are you good at? What do you love to do? And let's start there.' I think so many of us have so many things locked inside that we don't even know we are good at.
Mentoring
I love to mentor young people and somebody who gets excited about life and wants to learn. I think one of the most important things that over the last 35 years that I was able to help teach my kids was about work ethic. I think if I could be a little bit strong about that and talk a little bit about my experiences and what I do with my girls and how I wrap my head around building a business . . . I think that's important to young people and that's what I can offer. I just love a great opportunity.
On finding success
I think it's all about how hard someone wants to work and how much somebody wants to put into something. I often talk to my friends about this and their kids. I think it's all about really having work ethic. It goes back to that. You have to really find what you love to do and then be serious about it. Because no one is going to hand anybody anything in most cases; 90 per cent of the time you really have to work hard. There are so many different ways to build a business today.
When I first started my show, and I'm the creator and producer of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, I think we barely had Twitter! Kim said, 'are you going to Tweet today? And I was like, 'Tweet? What the heck is that?' She had to teach me. Every day there is another app, everyday I wake up and there is a new filter. The technology is going faster than any of us. I have such great respect for some of the younger people today who have become bloggers and started their own businesses by getting on the Internet. And I think that the young people today just need some direction. And I'm excited to be a part of whats going on right now.
Motivation
I think my kids keep me going and I love the business that I've created and the life that we all have. It's exciting and a lot of work. Every day is a new day. I kind of wake up everyday and feel like I work for a different company. Like today I'm focusing on the business school and then tomorrow, Kim or Kourtney and Kanye just flew to Iceland today, which seems like a gazillion miles away. Everyone is doing something every exciting everyday cause we work hard at it. And if we didn't have something to do, we just sort of try to recreate the wheel and doing things that we really love.
Inspiring Women
I think when you're in the business of business and fashion and you love everything going on with the apps and the technology its exciting, cause there is something going on every second. But I think to inspire other women, men included of course, but other women, it's so important. I've raised five really strong daughters with completely different, crazy personalities so, it's definitely a juggle.
The favorite child
I'm really proud of my girls and I think it's funny cause we have a joke like everyone thinks that I have a favorite. So I say, 'yeah, I have a favorite child. Everyday it's different. Everyday I have a new favorite.' Everyday we tease at home, 'whose the favorite today?' But I think to encourage your kids to reach for the stars and if you don't have kids encourage your friends, I think two heads are better than one. So I believe in a lot of just brain storming sessions. I think you can do a lot of that with the people you surround yourself with and believe me it's always about the people you surround yourself with. I tell that to my kids all the time. So take a good look around and see you are who you hang out with, sort of.
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