Kendall Jenner | Exclusive Full Forbes Interview

[Music] Kendall it is so wonderful to be here with you today thank you for joining me thanks for having me I'm happy to be here of course so you are a household name everyone I think knows you you've had a successful modeling career what made you want to take the leap into entrepreneurship um I think I always felt a really strong passion for it obviously I come from a family of a bunch of entrepreneurs so I think it felt really natural for me I felt like I was in a place in um my modeling career as it was I was it was like coming up on maybe nine um now almost 10 years where I was just really ready for something new and kind of to take control of my own business in a way and um so I was I was really excited for it I always felt really drawn to it I just wanted to be really intentional with what I was going to go for and and I honestly think it was nice to take the time and to kind of mature Within Myself and grow and get older and realize what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be and feel like I was ready for that step so I I felt really ready and it's almost Indescribable I think I gave you some words but it's kind of a moment where you just wake up and you're like okay I feel like I'm really ready for this point in my life so that's so cool and I going along with that I've always thought like out of every single product or thing that you could have chosen why did you decide to start with tequila and I love tequila was a fan well there you go I feel like it was it was a lot of that obviously I was a fan as a consumer of of tequila um and so I really loved it and when I kind of I mean it's to make a long story short I guess it was it was something that was always my mom and my dad drank it all the time growing up I always heard about it and then you know as I got older and I would start drinking it I kind of was like loving playing around with as a consumer tasting different Tequilas loving different Tequilas kind of just loving the space again as a consumer not knowing too much about the ins and outs of it and um found myself really excited about it and really passionate about it for I call it Destiny I'm just like I don't know why but it ALS all of a sudden kind of I fell in love with it I fell in love with the space and really um was kind of looking at all angles and then um one day thought it would be really fun to to have a tequila for me and my friends it kind of started there as the smaller idea and then one thing led to the next and I had a whole team behind me and I um found partners and Founders that also really wanted to be a part of the space and then we then grew obviously we didn't know much about making tequila so we had to find the experts and through our team from there and um that's kind of the really quick version of how it came to be and how I got excited about it but it was it was basally me just being a fan of the space and um really enjoying seeing products that I had seen on the shelves and enjoying them and thinking oh this would be really really fun for me and my friends to have something and then it grew into this whole situation that we have now awesome and you talk about this great team that you built can you describe that a little bit about the people who you surround yourself with who help your business and and how that works yeah I mean I think that's obviously one of the most important things in any business is surrounding yourself with people that know that that they're the best at what they do and I think we were really eager to find those people and I feel we did our team is so amazing and we're small But Mighty I'd say still and we definitely started really small But Mighty um but we really we really went after some um some big players I guess in the industry who've been around for 40 plus years who really know what they're doing and um I feel very lucky and blessed that they were like that they took the leap of faith and the jump and they took the risk to come be with us on our team and it's just really worked out really well and I lean on them for so much information and so much knowledge and I've learned so much from them so I just feel really grateful to have had them on our team and yeah it's been really cool that's awesome and there's so many of these celebrity tequila brands out there you know R Ora George Clooney The Rock a lot of different people were you nervous um about standing out in a crowded industry and how do you set yourself apart I consider that like I consider that a healthy challenge like I think we were really ready we obviously know that there's a lot of amazing brands on on the market an amazing tequila on the market so for us it just made us want to be better and this was not something that um someone came to me with an idea or a brand that was already in development and wanted me to join this was completely my idea from the jump and a and a startup complete groundup process and so I feel like for that reason alone I really wanted I would never have done this had I not put not only 100% of my energy and my love into it but also really made it an amazing product like I really wanted premium liquid I wanted amazing packaging I wanted all the things to line up really beautifully so I think that for me it was it was just a big part of like obviously standing out is a is a huge thing for it as well because there are a lot of other brands but I think that I don't know I just I wanted it to feel 100% And I think that it that only drove me to feel like we had to be at the best of the top of our game basically knowing that there was other great products out there absolutely and one of the things that I always read about 818 and that I think is really cool is that it's a family-owned and operated distillery in Mexico tell me about production how involved are you uh talk to me about the the process I am involved every step of the way my hand is pretty much in every aspect of the business obviously I don't physically make the tequila but I I'm involved in everything yeah we're we're partnered with an amazing Distillery group O salave they are run by the Perez Family they're amazing I'm obsessed with them just like the sweetest kindest people and we got really lucky I think that what was really cool about grouos salave was um coming into their Distillery and realizing they had so many things that aligned with us at 818 and the biggest thing was their sustainability efforts and um my involvement is all around like I I'm I'm involved in everything we have weekly Zoom calls and we're on the phone with every single person on our team pretty much all the executives and we're talking creative and all any type of business conversation and we're pretty much all around the board and I'm always getting up to Ates on what's going on down at The Distillery and all the things so and obviously I'm visiting pretty frequently as well so I'm sure I feel really grateful because I like I said about having a great team like the Perez family is just amazing and being partnered with this Distillery is probably like I feel so blessed and I feel so like honored that we're part of their system and they're just amazing so that's great awesome yeah now you mentioned at the beginning of this interview you come from a family of entrepreneurs that's clear your sisters all have their own businesses how do you stand out and what is the the Kendall brand that you're trying to go for I mean I think that we all have our own Vibe our own personalities miss my sisters and I my family and I and I don't know I feel that I've probably said this before a million times um in other just interviews but like I I feel like since I was a kid I kind of always was a little bit like and and not to say that either is good or bad it was just I was always a little different I was always kind of sportier and maybe not as girly or you know stuff like that so I I just always felt like I had a little bit of a different path or something and then um yeah I I don't I don't think that any of it means one thing or the other I just think that my path led me here and I think that it feels really fitting for me and I really enjoy it but um it's interesting because I can ask for advice all day long from the people that have from my sisters who've done you know have made their own businesses and stuff like that but I feel like there's still some differences just obviously within the industries so did you ever feel I think I wanted to challenge myself yeah that's what I was going to ask like did you feel a pressure at all to like all right I got to be an entrepreneur I got to be a Founder cuz all them no I don't think I felt pressure I think I was really excited about it um I think like we said earlier like my my mom my grandma my sisters they they all kind of were those entrepreneur had that great spirit and so I um I really just followed their lead I think it was like kind of natural in a sense um and it felt just right I don't know it felt really good yeah no that's awesome describe how you spend your time these days like is it mostly 818 is it filming Kardashians is it modeling talk walk me through that it's a bit of everything it's like a good it's a good mixture of all um I think my main focus is my business is 818 um but I I still have so much fun modeling and doing all those amazing things so I think that I find time for everything sometimes it gets a little overwhelming AKA maybe this next these next couple weeks but I I really don't take it for granted and I think that I I love love working and I love staying busy and so I really enjoy it and I and I am a lucky Lucky Gal and I get to do all these fun things that were dreams of mine as since a young kid so I'm really happy that's amazing and speaking of of things you do um everyone knows you love horses and that's a hobby of yours is there any little known thing that people don't know about you that you do in your spare time I'm like a big Chiller I don't really do much chilling is great I chill I love like I love sporty things like I love anything thing cuz I feel like I just kind of grew up a sporty gal I love getting outside and I don't know I was I'm trying to think of anything sporty I like just I like we we ride around and we do like wake surfing like in at this Lake where we go it's just like all this fun stuff so I just love anything adventurous and outdoorsy but like that's fun I'm pretty boring like I swear I'm pretty boring well that leads into my next question it's like I feel like you know you've been sharing everything your whole life is there anything that's too personal that you're say like I won't share this at all yeah I mean I have a lot of that I'm like very much I like like to keep private stuff private personal stuff private like I just I don't know I've always kind of been that way even since I was a kid like before anything like I just always was kind of like it's my business and nobody else's so it's just always kind of been my motto speaking of that I think people also again feel like they know you because they see this one side of you that's out there um is there a part of that people don't see that you wish that they saw yeah I mean I think that that's kind of the the tricky part about wanting to keep a private life is I think it gives more room for people to create a narrative for you and think that they they can kind of put you in this place or in this box and be like okay she's this girl because maybe they've seen one or two things that they think has convinced them of an entire lifestyle of mine um so that can get frustrating I think at times when you're like it's not not accurate whatsoever but it's okay um so I think that that's where I I get a little conflicted in like okay I want to be as private as I possibly can for my own sanity and mental well-being um and it just makes me happy I think to keep things sacred and safe um so I just and then I'm like okay well then that also leaves a little bit more room for people to create their own narratives but I think I've accepted that and I and I know that the people around me and the people that love me and um the people that I want to know those things about me my quirky side my silly side my freak freaky weird sides like all those things I think that I all my special people around me now and I'm happy with that that's that's that's all you can ask for honestly and you know famous families they come and go but none has really had the viral staying power that your family has why do you think that is I don't know I guess I like I think that it's obviously a special kind of maybe once in a once in a few decades once in a century thing but it's it's obviously there's something I mean I it's like hard for me to answer that question but we're wild and we're funny and we're crazy but at the same time I think behind it all like the main the main energy behind it all is love and we just like have so much love for each other we stand by each other and I think that maybe that's it I I I can't really fully answer the question no that's a good I guess that's what I try and equate it to I guess so for a lot of the under 30 Founders that I talk with a big problem is impostor syndrome they don't feel like you know I'm empowered to be a Founder I'm too young I'm too X but you it's times 100 since you're in the public eye did you ever feel this way and how did you get around that yeah I think I I think I feel it a lot um I think there's a lot of pressure being one in the spotlight but then also um obviously running a a business um a business of your own so I think that I've felt that at times for sure I think I always try and like I'm as corny as it sounds I'm a big affirmations person so I'm always trying to talk up to myself and talk kindly to myself and remind myself that I'm worthy of all the things and that um everything is placed in my life for a reason and all the things so I feel like and I and I do feel prepared I do feel really like kind of what I was mentioning in the beginning I feel like a lot of where I was in my life when I made this decision was um at a place where I felt like I was ready um and I also felt like I was just meant to be here at that time so sorry to get a little spiritual but I just feel like that those gen those feelings genuinely help me get through those moments of impostor syndrome and I think um yeah that's that's helpful hopefully that's great question I think that if you weren already famous if you weren't already celebrity do you think you would have still gone and been an entrepreneur yeah I feel like I I have kind of that like work fighter mentality um and I think that I have a lot of drive in that sense so I do think that probably something would have come along um I think about that all the time because I'm like where would I have been had I not been doing this and and there's never really obviously super clear answers because it's the unknown but um I do feel like I'd probably have some sort of I don't know I'd be like an interior design or something I like love that kind of stuff so I feel like just naturally I maybe would have ended up somewhere like that but knows cool yeah you never know do you have one business rule that you operate by always no matter what um I think a lot of it is has to do with like trust your gut and I think that also surrounding yourself which we've also kind of T talked about a little bit here but surrounding yourself with people who you really trust and who you feel um really like specialize in a certain place that you might need that like uplifting help and I think that you know just the pros and like people that are really smart and want to feed you great advice and have your back genuinely I think that that's all super super important so yeah your environment and all the things but also your gut that's probably the biggest thing for me is following my gut that's a great piece of advice um and speaking of business so for you your family is really you know synonymous with with business how do you separate you know your your family time versus the the financial how do you navigate that Dynamic it's so funny you ask because obviously my mom is my mom but she's also my manager so we have moments like when we're talking on the phone and we're talking about business and we're like maybe having a heated conversation about something and then all of a sudden she's like okay I love you how are you feeling today and I'm like oh my God like yeah you're my mom too like and then we'll go talk about something else like a bad day or whatever very mom stuff mom daughter related things so so there is that that sometimes there can be confusing moments where I'll come over to my mom's house on a Sunday and she just wants to chill and I just want to chill and then we end up getting in these debates about work stuff or whatever we end up talking about so and I'm like but it's Sunday we should just be mom and daughter right now so we have our moments but at the end of the day I think we're really good at compartmentalizing I think all of us are we're all pretty pretty Pro not to toot our horns but we're pretty Pro and I think we get we get the separation between like work fam time and business time and all those things that makes sense um and speaking of of you and work in Brands so 818 is definitely your big business but the other business I think is is you as Kendall how do you decide which brands and posts to to be sponsored or who do you decide who to work with um that's a that's also very intentional for me like I'm I find myself to be a very intentional person so anytime I'm like working with a brand or um creating a brand or just doing something that is genuinely mean obviously everything has to feel super authentic to me but again super intentional like I don't want to I don't want to do anything that doesn't align with my vibes or my morals or my feelings and things that really make me feel good and make me feel like getting excited to wake up in the morning and I and I had to work to get to that place it wasn't always it wasn't always that easy I can't just say yes and no to everything I can't say no to a lot of things especially 10 years ago when I was starting you know it was a lot of yeses and a lot of um not only feeling great F to be in that position but just feeling like you know I wanted to build up my portfolio and my career and all the things but now I think I have the blessing of being able to say okay does that align with me and I wake up a really happy person because of that and so that's been something that I you know kind of had to find I don't think that came supernaturally there was a rough patch where I was like I'm saying yes to a lot do I need to say yes to all this and so finding that happy middle and um finding the blessing in that is also really important for me that's great and talk to me about what's coming up for you next in 2024 what projects excite you right now I mean I have I have stuff on the rise for sure and I'm very excited about a lot of things but I'm also I love I love to live in the present and I think that I'm really just trying to hone in on obviously although 818 is two and a half years old I I'm trying to also still live she's she's pretty young she's a baby so I'm still trying to live here and just enjoy it and also put a lot of my energy and my focus into it because I want to build it up to be amazing and really great so um a lot of my energy is there and I think I'm just kind of focusing on that but I do have things that always are flowing through my head I cannot wait to hear about them at some point in the future um now going back to to you as a Founder an 818 can you describe for me the biggest challenges you faced while being a first- Time founder um I think obviously there's a there's a learning curve and there's a lot of things that you pick up on and obviously I think one of the biggest things for me was um going from being you know you wake up as a model you wake up every morning and you're you're almost playing a character you're doing what you're told you're you're following instruction you're on set you're following what the photographer wants with the creative director once you're wearing what the stylist tells you all those things which is again super blessed to be in the position that I was in I've worked with some of the best people of all time and fashion so I'm really really happy to have learned everything and absorbed everything that I have but um I think what was really cool and a bit of a learning curve and it kind of goes into that like imposter syndrome thing where I was like oh wait I'm the boss like when I when I started 18 it was a little bit like oh my God like I can I can call the shots I can say this I can make the bottle look like whatever I want the bottle to look like and I could have the the liquid taste the way that we all love the liquid to taste so it just felt cool to be kind of in the in the captain's seat for a second I mean not for a second I'm still there but it felt nice to be in the captain seat and um I think that was a big shift for me there was obviously a learning curve and then also recognizing that being the leader and being the like the boss I guess was also setting a tone for the rest of the team and so you know having that positive energy walking into a room and having that good vibe is always going to like end up reflecting on the entire team and what comes out of the product and all the things yeah not be a Founder no but it was but it's been really really cool and such an experience and there's challenges and um obviously like being a a female founder in a predominantly male-dominated space like all those things have obviously affected certain things and but we take those as like positive challenges and we just want to become it it strives we strive to be the best version of ourselves at 818 and like right it just honestly sets the bar higher and we like love those kinds of challenges so yeah so you touched on this a little bit but speaking of challenges I know when you first launched the brand there was some criticism about cultural appropriation how did you navigate that and and how would you address as critics today we obviously learned we take notes and we move forward I think that that we addressed it at the time and we learned from that experience and we we love the consumer feedback and all those things so we we really took that took the time to recognize and and moved forward and only wanted to better our brand from that so awesome and Kendall I have two more questions for you the first being if you could go back in time and tell your younger self something before keeping it with Kardashians premiered what would you say to the Kendall then what advice would you have um I think advice would be like stop and smell the roses when you can as cheesy as that sounds um but I would also tell her that like enjoy the ride it's going to be like a beautiful one there's going to be ups there's going to be downs but like everything's going to be okay in the end and yeah amazing good advice for anyone honestly um and finally ending on a bit of a lofty one what do you want your Legacy to be oh my gosh um I mean obviously that's a very deep question and I'm sure people have given way better answers that I'm about to give but I think that again my corny my corny quotes probably but like I think like I want to uplift people I want people to I want people to feel a positive feeling when they hear my name see my face so I think that that overall just happiness and well-being is like all I would want from anyone who has any love for me anywhere and who remembers me down the line when no one cares about me anymore I just hope that like it's all positive and All Good Vibes and I think that that yeah I just want to yeah peace peace and love I love it well thank you so much kend I appreciate [Music] [Applause] [Music] it

Channel: Forbes

Views: 422,148

Keywords: Forbes, Forbes Media, Forbes Magazine, Forbes Digital, Business, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Investing, Personal Finance, Kendall Jenner, 818, 818 Tequila, Kardashians, The kardashians, Kim Kardashian, sprits, celebrity tequila, drinks, cocktails, Stella McCartney, Calvin Klein

Id: V-zW9jmYIq8

Length: 21min 54sec (1314 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 28 2023