Kris and Bruce Jenner

Kris Jenner calls herself “momanager.” She came up with that name when she realized that she was not only a mom to six kids but also their business manager. She jumpstarted Bruce Jenner’s career as well.

When she was first fixed up with Jenner after her divorce from Robert Kardashian, Bruce was best known as winner of the gold medal for the decathlon in the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics. For years he was trading off of that, but didn’t really have a formal career.

Kris changed all that. She had a lot of business experience because for many years she worked at both her grandmother’s and then her mother’s retail shops (candles and children’s clothing) in La Jolla, CA. Kris became Bruce’s agent, and together they built up a motivational speaking business that requires Bruce to travel the world. She also got him fitness equipment endorsements and TV celebrity gigs.

While Kris was married to Robert Kardashian she was really just a wife and mother. Married to Bruce, Kris was able to fulfill her dream of being a mom to six kids (four with Robert, two with Bruce), and hone her skills as a businesswoman. Robert was wealthy; Bruce was not.

Kris is the rainmaker in the Kardashian family. When she realized that Kim was always being photographed while she was running around with her Hollywood celebrity friends, she once again stepped in and devised a money making business plan for her daughter, which included modeling and fashion.

There was no question about it. Kris used her Hollywood connections to parlay one business into another. She carefully explains that each member of the family has to work long hours every day, sometimes seven days a week. Even before the family TV show, the Kardashians owned Dash, a woman’s fashion store in Calabasas, CA, and a children’s clothing shop nearby. Kim was also designing clothing and organizing celebrity closets.

The family got acquainted with Ryan Seacrest around the time Kim was appearing on Dancing With The Stars. After a few of the TV producers visited the Kardashian home in Hidden Hills, CA, and witnessed the chaos, one of them suggested a family reality show that depicted how they function.

One of the most impressive sights was watching Kris organize her family from her command center. Her home office was outfitted with computers, business telephones, smartphones, several TV screens, tape decks, electronic Rolodexes, audio equipment, headphones, dictating machines, and intercoms. When Kris picked up the intercom to tell her 10-year old daughter, Kylie, that she had a telephone call on line two, the TV scouts knew they had a potentially great reality show on their hands.

Kris was the one who pitched it to Ryan, even though the other TV producers were present at the meeting. She is also the one who has done the pitching for the fragrances, the Sears clothing line, TV spin-offs, personal appearances, book deals, and whatever comes their way.

Tomorrow, I will shed more light on the dynamics of the family relationship.