How to Elevate Your Authenticity | Kim Kardashian's Advice in 21 Minutes

I know, you know, reality shows don't get the respect that I believe they deserve.

Why do you think people sign up to watch you?

I think because I am so open. My smartest business decision has been going for it and not being— like, having no fear. When you do take time for yourself, that's when, like, the magic happens and these ideas come.

Hello, Believe Nation, it's Evan. My one word is believe, and I believe in people more than they believe in themselves. And my sincere hope is that if you see in yourself what I see in you, you'll be able to change the planet. So to help you on your journey today, we're going to learn from entrepreneur, actress, and TV personality Kim Kardashian and my take on her top 10 rules for success. Rule number 2 is my personal favorite, and I'd love to know which one you guys like the best. Also, as you're watching, if you hear something that really resonates with you, please leave it down in the comments below and put quotes around it so other people can be inspired by it as well. And if you leave it within the first couple hours of this video going live, you have a chance to win one of 2 daily prizes.

Do you think that people underestimate you, underestimate your— how much you work on this stuff, underestimate your intelligence? And my question is, is that something you push back on or something you leverage? Definitely something that doesn't bother me. Okay. When someone underestimates me, I love to get to know them and have them have one conversation with me to just understand that it's, I mean, I think the easiest question to ask is, what does she do? What is your talent? You know? And I jokingly said, actually to my husband the other day, I said, you know what, my next answer should be like, Sarcastically, how lucky am I? If I don't sing and I don't dance, but I'm still doing what I'm doing, how easy is my job? I don't have to do any of that. I don't have to be on stage like you working, you know, so hard, but we're still driving the same car. We're still living the same life, you know, so lucky me, you know, if it was that easy. But, you know, I think it's just like the easiest thing to ask. For anyone to really assume that it's not a full-time job to have to sing sit and create things and come up with every single blog post, and I do, you know, 3 a day, and having to, you know, working on apps, it's— to me, it would be the same thing as people saying, like, anything blogging, like, what do you do? You're sitting at home in your apartment and you're just on the computer. Like, that is such hard work. I think people do say that about us. You know, and I respect it so much, you know, and they say that, you know, about the modeling world. Well, they just sit there looking pretty. It's a full-time job for models like my sister even, Kendall. I don't mind getting underestimated, but I feel for people that I understand how it could bother them if they were put in the same situation. Even filming a reality show, it's a full-time job. I mean, I think that— I know reality shows don't get the respect that I believe they deserve. And that's why I love being on one for so long. And I will always fight to be on as long as possible because I love to show and prove. But my personality is just, if you underestimate me, I would love to have a conversation with you. I would love to— I just like to prove people wrong.

Why do you think people sign up to watch you?

I think because I am so open. I think—

Now, you do these yourself. You said this, absolutely.

You don't have a team of people. I didn't see any chasing you around. Yeah, no, I don't have a team. I love to— if the whole connection is me with other people, I don't want someone else. It makes no sense to have that connection. You didn't think about that? You were puzzled when I said there are people that have that. You don't have anybody doing any of your social media? No, that doesn't make sense to me.

What have you found in these new platforms and tools? And you've articulated how each one is different, how you see each one meeting a certain purpose. What have you found has worked and what have you found hasn't worked from all of that experience?

I think that doing anything and everything, and I'm guilty of that before, people probably won't believe you and you probably don't even really grasp what you like. Now, if I'm going to promote something, I have to use it. I have to like it. I have to be active with it. I want to know the partners. I want to know who owns the company. I want to know so much about it. And I love to be loyal to that company and just do what's authentic to me. So, but I tried so many things in the past, and I think through all of that experience, you just learn what you like and what you love and But I think the key on social media is just being authentic. You have to have the work ethic. If you don't have that and you don't wanna work 24/7, then it's not really gonna go to, you know, work for you. But I also think that you just have to be super authentic no matter what you do, no matter what business you're in. Social media definitely helps to bring that vision to life and to share that with the world and to be accessible to everyone. But you really do have to do the work, and be authentic about it. My smartest business decision has been going for it and not being— like having no fear and just even if they failed and even if it hasn't turned out the way that I wanted to, I've learned so much from it. So my advice would be go for it. Everything's a learning experience. Is there something like a specific example you can think of that maybe wasn't the smartest business decision or something that you did that you're like, oh, okay, I could have done this differently? Back in the day, I used to just be involved with so much. Yeah. Whether it was like tanning or shoot, you know, I started— Throwing your name on everything. Yeah, which I mean, I loved the process of it all, but you know, being a cupcake, you know, sponsor to a cupcake store. I mean like everything, but putting, throwing myself into everything taught me everything I know now. So I wouldn't take any of it back. I pride myself in my work ethic and I work really hard, so I think that, you know, I think that sometimes when people hear that I might have gotten success off of a reality show, they take that as a negative. So I think that I, you know, we're filming our 10th season right now and we've had, I think, 9 seasons of success spinoffs, so our show, I mean, we have more episodes than I Love Lucy. I mean, we have so many amazing milestones that people don't really stop and think about. People don't understand when you are, even though it is reality, we wake, I wake up every single day at 6 AM and, you know, go to the gym and, you know, get my daughter up, feed my baby, get ready, film all day, sometimes don't finish until, you know, 8 or 9 PM, and that's every single day, 6 days a week for 5 months straight when we're filming filming, and so that in itself is a full-time job mixed in with every other project that we're working on, and I just, unfortunately, I just don't think reality TV gets the respect that it deserves. What did you imagine, what did you wanna be when you grew up? When I was about 13 years old, I looked at my best friend, and the show The Real World had just come out, And so I said to her, oh my gosh, that's what I wanna do. I wanna be on a reality show. And you have to be my manager. And she looked at me and said, well, I said, we both have to audition for The Real World. Let's make a tape when we're 18. We'll send it in to the producers and we have to do this show called The Real World. She was like, you can do it. I'm not a chance for me. I'll be your manager. You know, we'll make a tape for you. So it's just like such a full circle moment, 'cause she's a manager now, she's in the management business, and my show is produced by the people that did The Real World. I just thought our family life has always been interesting. It's never a dull moment. Everyone that came into our life said, oh my gosh, I can't believe you guys aren't on TV, or I can't believe your family isn't a sitcom or something. Since, you know, reality TV wasn't so popular then. So it's just, I mean, I did have a clothing store, which I still have today, Dash, that, you know, was fashion. When I was in high school, I worked at a clothing store. So if that didn't pan out, if the real world didn't pan out, then fashion is really what I wanted to get into. And I, you know, I worked at you know, the clothing store, and my sisters and I opened one up. And so I thought that's really where I was gonna be and that's what I was gonna be doing. You know, I think that my mom and my grandmother have always been really good role models. My mom is really strong. I think she's had to deal with a lot in her life, and she always puts on a brave face and always wants everyone to feel comfortable and confident, and I really admire that in her.

How do you find time to brainstorm where you can just shut everything out and take a pause and say, that, okay, maybe I ought to reexamine this?

Well, I think when you— I do take time for myself, and I think that's very important. And even going to Japan and seeing so many amazing things, I got so many great ideas. And when you do take time for yourself, that's when, like, the magic happens and these ideas come. And I think no matter who you are, what you do, if you don't take time for yourself, you can never rejuvenate and you can never get back that creative spark. So I do take time off and I do get a lot of ideas from my travels and just being around people that give me ideas and inspire me. So I think that is really important. And I'll wake up in the middle of the night sometimes with these ideas and I'll just send it to my team and hopefully not wake them all up in the middle of the night. Is in business, I love looking at my peers and seeing that, you know, young successful women like Jessica Alba, you know, I spoke to her this morning and we were just, you know, picking each other's brains on something. Like, I love her dedication and she's always been someone that I've looked up to business-wise. She's just a really smart smart girl. I call— I like to surround myself with people that I could always call for advice. You know, my best friend who's now in the management business has now gone into like product placement business and started a company on her own and it's been fascinating to see her build her brand and her business. One of my other best friends, two of them were in publicity for a long time, so I like to pick their brains on perception of things. And I just, I love to surround myself with people that I can call and get good advice from all the time. I think it's really important.

She had a terrible time. She came here for Paris Fashion Week.

That's right.

And she ended up being tied up to furniture with a gun pointed at her head in her luxury apartments. Hey, I want to talk to you about the Paris incident because I know you We did an episode on the show about it. And I haven't spoken to you since then. I've had your family members on. But I think that— I don't know that everybody understands how horrific that experience must have been for you.

Yeah, I mean, I know this sounds crazy, but I know that was meant to happen to me. I don't want to start crying, but I feel like that was so meant to happen to me. I'm such a different person. And like, I'm— I just don't want to start crying anymore. But yeah, I—

You can cry.

It was meant to happen to me. Like, the things— I really feel like things happen in your life to teach you things. And this was like— I'm just— Thanks. Like, I was— you know, it was probably no secret. You see it on the show and us being flashy. Like, I was definitely mature. Materialistic before. And not that there's anything bad with having things and working hard to get those things. And I'm really proud of everyone around me that's successful. But I'm so happy that my kids get this me and that this is who I'm raising my kids because I just don't care about that stuff anymore.

Really?

I really don't. Yeah.

You—

I mean, like I said, Everyone gets so excited. Yeah, you know, when they get things or every— you know, of course, when you get engaged, you're gonna show off your ring. You know, people, if they get a new car, I don't care what kind it is, you get so proud and you get so happy and you show that off on social media. But it's just— it's just— it's not worth it. Like, I don't care about that stuff. I don't care to show off, like, the way that I used to, even though there's nothing— truly, like, it's okay if you're proud of that, you know, and you work so hard and you get something. It's just not who I am anymore.

So you were— and because you were showing these diamonds, because you were in Paris, you showed off what you had.

Yeah.

And you think that that attracted those guys, and they said, "She has all this in her apartment." Yeah. And I just— I'm trying to understand. So— because I can't imagine being— you were alone. Yeah. And you're— it's— what time is this?

It was about almost, like, 2:30 in the morning, but what was crazy is, Meeting with my attorneys and knowing the information that I know now, they had been following me for 2 years. And they had been hearing interviews that I did, getting excited about this jewelry or this jewelry and saying that it's, you know, real. And it's not to say that I'll never wear jewelry again or anything like that. I truly don't know if I'd ever feel comfortable. I truly don't know if I'd ever wear real jewelry again. I, you know, just my whole life has changed as far as, like, how I travel and what— security. I never thought that I needed security staying outside my door, even though I had a lot of jewelry. And if you think about it, yeah, I should have had a security guard outside my door 24/7 when I'm traveling, and I didn't. Now I have several, just for me to be able to sleep at night.

But how did they get in the— the door was locked, right?

Yes, the door was locked. I didn't answer the door. They held a gun up to the concierge that was downstairs and said, led us up to Where's the Rapper's Wife. And then—

How dare them not know your name.

And, yep.

All right, so led us up to Where's the Rapper's Wife.

So yeah, they led him up to the room. And he opened the door for them, handcuffed, but opened the door.

So he must have called the police right away once— or did they probably held on to him so he wouldn't call the police?

They had, like, handcuffed him and tied him up in the stairwell so he couldn't. So when they left, I—

Were you awake or were you asleep?

I was just about to fall asleep, but I was awake.

So you heard people in there.

I heard people running up the stairs, and I thought it was my sister and my friend drunk coming home. And I was calling out for them, like— I debated going out, not going out, like, all night. And then finally, I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to stay in and pack. And my— one of my high school friends who's a stylist that came with us on that trip, she was downstairs in a bedroom, and they didn't know that she was there with us. So she heard what was going on, and she heard me screaming. And so she called my sister and my security.

But— okay, so— but let's get— they're with you.

Yeah.

They have a gun.

Mm-hmm.

Are you hysterically crying? Are you, like— how do you react in a situation like that?

Well, automatically, my, you know, your stomach drops. It's a feeling you can't even explain. And you, like, I knew that was it for me. Like I just—

You thought you were gonna die?

100%. 100%. I said a prayer. I'm like, I know I'm going to heaven. I hope my kids are okay, my husband. I don't wanna cry, you're making me cry. But you know, you, it does happen really fast. It was a good, like, you know, 7 or 8 minutes of like torture. But when I look back and I analyze it, I'm like, Okay, they weren't really aggres— like it could have been way worse. So I don't wanna sound, you know, like I'm not grateful. Like they, I'm out, I'm home, I'm safe. I'm such a better person. I'm, it's okay. Like let's move on.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Christopher Sumlin asked me to. If there's someone you'd like me to profile in a future top 10, please check out the link down in the description below and you can cast your vote on who we should do next. I also wanna give a quick shout out to 2000Books. Thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, "Your One Word," and doing that fun interview together on your YouTube channel. I really, really, really appreciate the support and I'm so glad that you enjoyed the read.

Today we have Evan Carmichael, my mentor, and we're talking about his awesome book, "Your One Word." Thank you guys again for watching.

I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love. I'll see you soon.

I've always been— I've always just been open. I've always been super open with my life, and, and that's just who I am. And it's worked out because that's how my family is too, so we can be really candid. And it's kind of the irony because my husband is He's completely the opposite. You know, he doesn't have Instagram. And yet we know so much about him now.

He's all over Instagram now with you.

Yeah.

In closing, when you appeared on the COVID of Forbes a year ago, you tweeted, "Not bad for a girl with no talent," which is quite an irony given the obvious talents you have.

Oh, thank you.

What do you say to those who downplay or dismiss your success? Or you just have the feeling that success is the best revenge? Are you able to be like the duck, just let it roll off the back?

I do let it roll off my back. I do feel like success is the best revenge. Absolutely. To say that I'm not human for people to always say crazy mean things, I mean, it definitely does get to me. But I think that I've, with the support of my family, we've always kind of come through on the other side. But to write that, I remember I was thinking, do I want— you don't want to be boastful and say, I'm on the COVID of Forbes, this is, you know, so amazing, which you do want to say, but of course people will be— say something negative about that. So I thought it was funny, just the little hashtag for people that might question how I got here or what talent I have. I was like, I'm on the COVID of Forbes, so I must be doing something right. I love sharing, but I do think there are limits to it, and I think you have to have boundaries. Well, do you have any?

What are your boundaries?

I do. I do. It took me a while to get to share things with my daughter. I was really hesitant about that for a while, and I still don't post all the things that we do on a daily basis, where I see some of my friends, their Instagrams are all of their children. So I am protective over that. I am protective over my relationship sometimes with oversharing about that, 'cause I've made mistakes and I think overshared in the past. Yes, yes. Which I think sometimes could be just, it didn't work out for me that way. Okay. So I felt like I would try.

Any particular sharing that you'd like to take back?

I'm sure I'd have to look at some I mean, even some— I love hair and makeup and the glam process, and I share a lot about that and tips and tricks. And I'm fascinated by the beauty blogger space and YouTube and how so many different beauty bloggers have risen to fame just off of their tutorials. I look at them. We do fun tutorials all the time, me and my makeup artists and hairstylists. So there's probably some great glam moments where I thought, what was I thinking? And why am I wearing that color lipstick? And why did I post that? Boundaries are definitely important. Social media is amazing and it's fun and it's great, but it cannot— you know, you do have to have boundaries just like anything else. You know, you can't watch too much TV, you can't eat too much candy. I mean, whatever it is, you just have to set boundaries. And I think there are certain guidelines with that of whether it's no No phones at the table while you're eating dinner or, you know, meals, and make that a rule in the household. I mean, I definitely will have rules for sure.