Kristin Cavallari made her reality TV debut on Laguna Beach in 2004 and headed to The Hills in 2009, but now she’s the star of her own reality series, Very Cavallari, which takes a look at her life with husband Jay Cutler.
Very Cavallari looks at Cavallari as a businesswoman who launched the flagship store for her product line, Uncommon James.
Between her family and her staff, Cavallari’s life is busier and more entertaining than ever against the skyline of Music City, a.k.a. Nashville.
The third season of Very Cavallari looks at the expansion of her business and Cavallari redefining her inner circle of friends.
Global News spoke with Cavallari about Very Cavallari, returning to reality TV after Laguna Beach and The Hills and much more.
Kristin Cavallari: My experiences on Laguna Beach and The Hills are very different than Very Cavallari. I think primarily because this time around, I’m an executive producer, and it’s just more about my life as a whole. You see more than just one side of my personality that was heavily manufactured [on the other shows]. This experience has been really enjoyable for me, and ultimately, I’m really happy that I’ve gone back to reality TV because it was a whole different taste in my mouth. I’ve been having a lot of fun doing it.
How strange is it for you to have to sit down and do interviews because that wasn’t part of the other two shows?
I know! I actually hate the interviews. I really hate them because it’s kind of hard sometimes to go back and remember how you were feeling on a particular day, and you have to relive a lot of stuff that wasn’t always necessarily fun. Those are my least favourite days.
What made you want to come back to reality TV? Did you feel like there was more of a story to tell?
To be honest with you, it was to get Uncommon James out there and just to get the name out there. In the beginning, I looked at it as a primarily business decision. I’m really happy that I have gone back because I’ve had a lot of fun doing it. And of course, it’s helped my brand but it’s also just been fun. That’s just a cool thing to go through and to have this experience. I love the fact that Jay and I get to do it together and all of my friends. We’ll be bonded for life now because of it.
Is Jay more open to being on the show now? I know he was a bit hesitant at the beginning of the show.
Yeah, he definitely was. He’s more open to it now, I think because he had such a positive reaction from the show. People are really starting to get to see this other side of his personality and to see the real him. That’s been really nice for him, and he’s comedy on the show. He’s like the funny comedic relief.
How does your staff feel about being on the show?
They loved it, to be honest. I’ve actually had quite a bit of turnover because I worked really hard in between seasons 2 and 3 to get my company, the culture, to a really great place because it was in a really horrible place after Season 2. I care more about the company because the company is going to be with me forever. The show has an expiration date. I just really had to do the job of getting it where it needed to be, and because of that, I didn’t want to go back, and so Season 3 actually isn’t about the staff. It’s about the growth of the company. The only staff member that you get to see is Brittainy. Other than that, we took the cameras out of the office for the most part, and it’s more about my personal life and my friend group.
What advice would you give bosses who have to deal with someone like Shannon?
Well, I think with any employee who’s not doing their job or is disrespectful, you have to give them warnings. Ultimately, if they don’t improve, you have to let them go. The thing is culture can really ruin in a company, and you gotta get people who are there for the right reasons and who are going to work and go above and beyond. Otherwise, they’re not going to be a good fit.
You said Season 3 doesn’t have a lot of the staff on the show, which is a big change. What are you most excited for people to see in the upcoming season?
I actually traced my roots. I researched the Cavallari name, and we go to Italy on the show and you get to see myself meeting some family. I got to see where my great-grandfather grew up, and it was a really cool experience. Hopefully, people will like that and think that that’s kind of neat.
Is there anything that you’ve learned from your other reality TV experiences that you took onto your own show?
Yeah, absolutely, I think that I have a pretty good idea of what people want to see and what you have to do to make a good show. It kind of puts me in a tough spot though because I’m just not willing to do a lot of things that I did back in the day because now, obviously, I’m a wife and I’m a mom. It’s not just me anymore that I have to worry about. I also think it has to do with age, too. When you’re 18 to 22, you just think you’re invincible. It’s that age where you just kind of do whatever you want. I’ve grown up quite a bit so I think the hardest part is just continuously coming up with a compelling story for the show. At the end of the day, obviously, you have to make a good show, otherwise people aren’t going to watch it. The competition is so fierce nowadays. People going on reality TV know you have to act bigger and better, get all the headlines and get people talking in order for people to tune in. I just can’t do that, and it’s a good thing for us. But we’ve been OK so far. Hopefully, Season 3 does well and we can do another season.
Thank you! From Laguna Beach, I talk to both Alexes [Murrel and Hooser] still. Stephen and I have kept in touch. From The Hills, I talk to Audrina [Patridge] and Heidi [Pratt] quite a bit and Brody [Jenner].
If you could sum up Season 3 in a hashtag, which hashtag would you use to describe it?
Ooo…. #Rollercoaster (laughing).
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Season 3 of Very Cavallari begins airing on hayu Canada on Jan. 10.