Kim Kardashian is often called the celebrity that’s famous for doing nothing, or people say that she’s famous for being famous. However, that’s not exactly true. Although Kim doesn’t have a traditional celebrity career — like a musician, actress, or athlete — you can’t say that she did nothing to achieve success. Kim actually worked very hard at becoming a celebrity. Let’s take a look at what Kim’s life was like before she was famous.
What was Kim Kardashian’s childhood like?
Way before everyone knew Kim’s name, she grew up in Beverly Hills. However, her childhood was far from average. She was surrounded by famous and wealthy people from a young age. Her father, lawyer Robert Kardashian, was close friends with NFL player O.J. Simpson and made headlines when he represented Simpson during his 1994 murder trial. Kim attended the private, all girls, Marymount High School, graduating in 1998.
Kim Kardashian was a closet organizer
Kim started her professional career as a closet organizer to the stars. She worked with celebrities like Serena Williams, Cindy Crawford, and Paris Hilton. In fact, Kim can be seen in scenes from Hilton’s reality show, The Simple Life, organizing Paris’s closet. In a 2006 interview with E!, Kim said: “I go to my client’s homes and I help them take whatever they don’t want and I sell it for them on eBay.”
Kim Kardashian worked the media with Paris Hilton
In the early 2000s, Kim became good friends with Paris. The pair could often be seen together, and many say that Paris is the reason Kim was able to become a “celebrity for doing nothing.” Paris may have taught Kim exactly how to get people talking about her, and how to get the media’s attention.
In an interview with Rolling Stone about this time period, Kim said: “We’d go anywhere and everywhere just to be seen. We knew exactly where to go, where to be seen, how to have something written about you. All you had to do is go to this restaurant, or this party, talk about whatever you want to talk about, and it would be in the paper the next day.”
The media strategy worked, and people began to know who Kim was. After a sex tape scandal, and an offer for a reality show, things really took off for Kim.
The Kardashian family owned DASH stores
In 2006, Kim, along with her sisters Kourtney and Khloe, opened a retail store called DASH. It was a boutique-style store that sold clothing and accessories. The experience of running the stores was documented on their new reality show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
DASH opened its first location in Los Angeles, but soon they also had stores in Miami and New York City. Spin-off shows Kourtney and Kim Take Miami and Kourtney and Kim Take New York featured the opening of these locations.
After 12 years, the Kardashians decided to close the stores and focus on other parts of their careers. In a statement, Kim said: “We’ve loved running DASH, but in the last few years we’ve all grown so much individually. We’ve been busy running our own brands, as well as being moms and balancing work with our families. We know in our hearts that it’s time to move on.”
They may have been too busy to continue running the stores, but many speculated that they were also losing a ton of money. In fact, people who visited the store said it was often empty of customers, dirty, and filled with unpleasant sales people. The Yelp reviews of the stores back up these allegations.
Even though the DASH stores were ultimately not successful, the Kardashians have had plenty of success in other areas. Mainly, the reality show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, has been running for a full 16 seasons and has multiple spin-off shows. At this point, there’s no stopping what the Kardashian name can accomplish.
