Kristin Cavallari on Being a Boss and Her Emotional Return to Laguna Beach on ‘Very Cavallari’
Q&A
Starting a company from scratch is hard on its own, let alone doing it while cameras are following you every step of the way. This is the current situation for reality star turned fashion mogul Kristin Cavallari, whose E! series Very Cavallari is currently in season two.
It’s been an emotional roller coaster for the former Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and The Hills alum as she juggles being a wife, mother and boss. Cavallari took a break from her Uncommon James business to talk about what we’ve seen on the show so far and what’s to come.
We’ve seen a lot of growth between season one and season two. It’s clear you’ve put a lot of effort into building Uncommon James from the ground up. How would you say you’ve grown with this experience of being filmed as a boss?
Kristin Cavallari: I feel like we’ve come leaps and bounds from even what you’re seeing now. It’s interesting because we are still a startup. I haven’t even had Uncommon James for two years. When you think about it in that sense, we are going through what every other startup goes through. Ours just happens to be on national television. Putting those company vulnerabilities out there can be scary, but it’s also very real. We’re all learning and growing. I feel like I’m working really hard right now to get the corporate things in a really great place. I have some really strong leaders within my company now. I’m really looking forward to this year and the future of Uncommon James.
We’ve seen you have to make those difficult conversations. You’ve had to let employees like Shannon go, deal with workplace drama among employees, shipping catastrophes. You’ve had to look at your business model, take a step back and decide what works.
I find I have to do what’s best for my company. If I want Uncommon James to get where I want it to be, I have to have really strong, key people to help me. I can’t do it by myself. I can’t have people there who are doing the bare minimum or just skating by. I bust my a–. I hustle. I want people like that around me. So, I think I’ve had to learn that unfortunately as a boss you have to have tough conversations. In my situation, I’ve had to let a couple of people go. That’s been extremely difficult for me, but ultimately it has been the best thing for my company. I’m not doing this just to hang out. I’m really trying to build a huge brand. So unfortunately, I have to do some of these things for that.
Pictured: (l-r) Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari — (Photo by: Jake Giles Netter/E! Entertainment)
Outside the office, we get a glimpse of Tennessee home life, where your husband Jay Cutler has become one of the breakout stars of the series. Going from the NFL to a reality show, he’s made those who may not even been a fan of football fall in love with him and his personality. What do you make of it?
It has been exciting for both Jay and I to have people see his personality and sense of humor. For people to have such a positive reaction has been great. He definitely had this image in football. People are now able to see the real him, so that has been great. It’s funny to me too that people are really loving him.
We’ve also watched the role reversal where you are going out with your career while he is at home caring for the animals and stepping up a bit more with the kids.
It’s interesting because we really did switch roles. I couldn’t do any of this without him. It is this new normal. We’re just trying to figure it out and navigate through it, but everything is fine. We decided to show this normal transition, the ups and downs of marriage. The show is very real, and I don’t have a hard time putting that stuff out there.
You made a conscious effort not to have your children on the show. Do you see this ever changing?
They will never be on the show. I can promise you that.
The recent episodes we’ve see you go back to Laguna Beach, and really for the first time, talk about what you’ve been going through since losing your brother unexpectedly. You were really open and even got emotional coming back, when Jay was consoling you. Did you have any trepidation about putting that out there?
I absolutely was nervous about it because it’s an extremely real thing in my life. I’ve never been that open and vulnerable on TV before, even though I’ve been doing reality TV for a long time. They asked me in season one to talk about it, and I said no. I think it sort of came together and it was what I was really going through. The three-year anniversary of his passing happened to come when we were filming. I was in Laguna Beach with one of my high school friends who knew him. Everything just came together. Going into that scene, I thought I was going to be able to keep it together. Usually, I’m pretty good at doing that. It all just poured out. It was extremely real, and I’m happy it happened because if I can have one person going through the same thing feel connected in some way, then it was totally worth it.
Moving forward, what can we expect for the next part of the season?
In the next couple of episodes you see me trying to bring the staff members together and change the culture of Uncommon James. We are in a very unique situation doing a reality show. On one hand, drama is encouraged, but I really am trying to run a company that is not about that. I’m trying to rein that in. We got to Cabo. Jay and I talk about the ups and downs that we are going through. We just decide to put that out there.
If there is an opportunity for a season three, is that something you would do?
I think so. Yeah.
I wanted to get your thoughts on The Hills: New Beginnings. What have you heard about the show? Why is now the right time for it?
I think what is old is new again. A lot of old shows are coming back, so that is exciting. We’ll see. I really don’t know what to expect, but I’ll be watching like everybody else.
Speaking of shows coming back, you’ll be even busier coming up hosting Paradise Hotel on Fox in May. How did that come about? What can we expect?
It really works really well with my schedule because it’s just for five weeks. It’s in Mexico, so my family will come with me. It works with my schedule because my family will always be my number one priority. It turned out we weren’t filming Very Cavallari, and I was able to do it. I love shows like this, so I’m excited to do it. I was doing a lot of hosting for the E! red carpet shows. One of the producers from Paradise Hotel liked how I hosted. And so, I’m going to keep that out there and try to be me.
Very Cavallari airs Sundays at 10/9c on E!
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