The Reality of Reality w/ Kandi Burruss

Summary

Podcast Summary: Keep it Positive, Sweetie

Episode: The Reality of Reality w/ Kandi Burruss
Host: Crystal Renee Hayslett
Guest: Kandi Burruss
Release Date: September 28, 2025
Duration: ~77 min (excluding ads, intro, outro)

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Episode Overview

In this deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation, Crystal Renee Hayslett welcomes the iconic Kandi Burruss—Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA) veteran, and Broadway producer. Together, they dive into the realities behind reality TV, surrogacy and fertility journeys, motherhood, managing business and fame, financial literacy, and the importance of authenticity and community impact. Kandi brings humor, candor, and business wisdom, giving listeners insight into her multifaceted life and legacy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kandi’s Atlanta Roots & Family Background

• Kandi shares about her Atlanta upbringing and large family:
  • Born at Crawford Long (on Peachtree), raised off Washington Road in East Point. (04:13)
  • Her mom is the youngest of 14; Kandi has over 80 first cousins, many like siblings. (04:54)
  • “I’m from Atlanta. Stop playing with me.” — Kandi (04:43)
  • Her brother died when she was 15; Riley (her daughter) is named in his honor. (05:56–06:06)
  • Her father’s side is smaller; her grandfather was a bishop. (05:19–05:29)

2. Journey with Fertility, IVF, & Surrogacy

• Openness about fertility struggles and decision for surrogacy:
  • Kandi had multiple fibroid surgeries in her 30s; underwent IVF for both Ace and Blaze. (07:22–08:29)
  • “It’s not guaranteed you’re going to have a child just because you go through IVF.” — Kandi (07:39)
  • High-risk pregnancy with Ace, chose surrogacy for Blaze. (08:29–09:06)
  • Found her surrogate through Dr. Jackie, highlighting the importance of experienced support. (09:34–10:23)
  • On the surrogacy process:
    • Surrogate didn’t live in their home but had ongoing contact and support. (11:27–12:09)
    • Each state has its own laws; stresses importance of thorough legal help. (12:09–15:11)
    • “Try not to be… cheap and skip around and not get the right people.” — Kandi (13:24)
    • Out-of-pocket costs for surrogacy can range from $25K to over $100K, depending on arrangements. (14:01)
  • Shares the emotional side: explaining surrogacy to her daughter Blaze, connecting with other moms she’s helped. (16:03–17:23)
  • On IVF injections: “It wasn’t easy giving yourself those injections… That last shot, I was like…” — Kandi (17:38–18:59)

3. Motherhood, Mom Guilt, and Family on TV

• Navigating a public family life:
  • Shared experiences with mom guilt, especially as a working mother. (25:26–26:11)
  • Her kids appeared on RHOA, with her daughter Riley now on “Next Gen.” (26:11–26:39)
  • Advice to Riley about reality TV: “Be yourself. Whatever you say, stand on it.” (27:17)
  • Kandi’s approach: honesty and authenticity over “brand” — “What comes up comes out.” (33:21–34:04)
• Therapeutic aspects of reality TV:
  • Show served as a diary for her family’s life, created lasting memories. (30:47–31:26)
  • No major regrets about being open—prides herself on her authenticity. (32:06–33:03)

4. Candid Talk on Sex Positivity, Faith, and Parenting

• Sex, faith, and authenticity:
  • Kandi is known for her sex-positive attitude; candid discussion about abstinence, faith, and judgements about sexuality. (34:33–39:23)
  • “Sometimes people put too much on the sex part… like that’s the biggest sin in the world and they skip over all these other sins.” — Kandi (36:44)
• Parenting realness:
  • Emphasizes need for honest, realistic conversations with kids about sex and relationships from middle school. (40:19–43:23)
  • Advice to young girls: “Don’t be doing anything with anybody at your school…You’re gonna feel pressured.” (42:55–43:55)
  • Candid about having to discuss her public persona and rumors (like the “dungeon” storyline) with her children. (44:09–45:43)
• Mother/daughter connection:
  • When Riley first opened up about sex, Kandi cried privately: “In my mind, you know, Riley is not… That’s so hurt to hear she was even thinking about anything.” (49:06–49:37)
  • Reminds young people that their first partner is unlikely to be their last. (50:22)

5. Business, Money, and Financial Wisdom

• Financial literacy lessons & pitfalls:
  • “Good credit is better than money.” — Kandi, echoing her mother’s advice. (51:47)
  • Read “The Millionaire Next Door” at 17, determined to not be a broke teen star. (52:08–52:38)
  • Warns against blind trust in accountants from experience with embezzlement in her first group. (52:47–53:44)
  • Personally signs every check; learns from stars like Oprah and Tyler Perry. (53:44–54:00)
  • Practical tip: Separate bill money and spending money into different banks/accounts—no ATM card for main account. (54:10–55:00)
• Homeownership advice:
  • Bought her first house at 19 on LL Cool J’s advice—own your car and your home. (55:33–55:43)
  • Extra mortgage payments toward principal: “You knocked that thing all the way down.” (56:39–57:06)
  • Entertainment careers are cyclical; plan for longevity. (57:07–57:55)
• On life insurance and wealth-building:
  • Advocates for investment-based life insurance as both security and an investment tool. (58:12–60:46)
  • “Diversify… the money you put in [the policy]—it’s protected.” (61:10)
  • Used her policy to buy a foreclosure outright. (62:08–62:33)
  • Encourages listeners: diversify, invest, even consider crypto (though she admits it’s a risk). (63:05–63:18)

6. Branching Out: Behind the Scenes and Broadway

• Natural evolution from performer to producer:
  • Kandi’s consistent curiosity about the “behind the scenes” of every industry; was Mama Morton in Broadway’s Chicago before producing. (63:38–64:18)
  • Produced “Thoughts of a Colored Man” and “Othello” (64:30–65:41)
  • “Now I feel like I’m official in this lane right now.” — Kandi (65:19)
  • Performing arts had always been a dream, music took off first. (65:44–66:24)
• Facing Risk & Investment Losses:
  • Shares stories of failed investments—money lost fronting her own music tours, recent frustrations investing in girl groups. (66:53–70:02)
  • “When you gambling on other people’s [success], that’s a real gamble.” (69:23–69:37)
  • The pain of believing in others more than they believe in themselves (69:40)

7. Self-Care, Boundaries, and Legacy

• Work-life balance & self-care struggles:
  • Admits to rarely giving herself time to rest and reset, often pours from an “empty cup.” (71:09–72:08)
  • “I don’t really take a lot of time for myself… I’m always just jumping into the next thing.” (71:21–71:42)
  • Crystal encourages her: “We can’t be our best selves…if we’re always exhausted.” (72:49)
• Thoughts on Impact and Legacy:
  • Wishes to be remembered as someone who opened doors & helped others, “did it with no complaints.” (73:29–74:22)
  • Shares a touching personal story about how Kandi’s kindness at Fashion Week made Crystal feel “seen.” (74:38–75:25)
  • “Anything I can do to help shine a light, I’m gonna do that.” (75:45–75:49)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On gratitude for longevity and visibility:

  “Just because you’ve done something before, it doesn’t mean people are going to keep caring. So I’m just kind of, like, thankful for it.” — Kandi (03:55)

• Surrogacy journey:

  “My belly wasn’t working right. That’s what I be trying to tell her [Blaze]. But it’s like I’m trying to figure out how to explain…to her, the process.” — Kandi (16:03)

• On authenticity in reality tv:

  “Everybody go into everything, it’s like, my brand. Oh, I gotta worry about my brand…And sometimes to me, it makes them fake. You know what I mean? And I don’t like that.” — Kandi (33:23)

• Sex-positive attitude:

  “When I have sex, I’m having sex for me. I’m not having sex just because I’m trying to lock you down…there’s so many things about me that should make you stay.” — Kandi (37:47–38:19)

• Financial discipline:

  “Nobody has permission to go and sign nothing for me.” — Kandi (54:00)

• On running her own checks like Oprah:

  “I think I had heard Oprah say that…She taught Tyler that. Tyler taught me.” — Kandi/Crystal (53:45–53:51)

• Helping others as a legacy:

  “I want people to say…I was a woman who opened doors for a lot of people and I helped a lot of people along the way.” — Kandi (73:45)

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Highlight Timestamps

• Introductions & Atlanta upbringing: 02:02 – 06:29
• Fertility & surrogacy journey: 06:49 – 17:23
• Motherhood, IVF realities: 17:23 – 22:20
• Mom guilt, kids & reality TV: 25:26 – 30:03
• Sex positivity & faith: 34:33 – 39:23
• Financial wisdom & business lessons: 51:47 – 63:18
• Broadway & behind the scenes: 63:38 – 66:24
• Failures, risk & investments: 66:53 – 70:02
• Self-care & legacy: 71:05 – 74:22

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a masterclass in resilience, transparency, and multifaceted success. Kandi Burruss is refreshingly open about her personal battles and business strategies, offering hope and tactical tips to listeners—whether facing fertility issues, wrestling with work-life balance, seeking to own their power, or wanting to build sustainable wealth.

Listeners leave inspired to “keep it real,” uplift others, stay financially literate, and prioritize both community impact and self-care.

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Find Kandi:

• Social: @Kandi (all platforms)
• YouTube/Patreon: KandiOnline
• Text: 404-458-9464

Host:

• Crystal Renee Hayslett (@crystalreneehayslett)

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“Keep it honest, keep it healing, and always… Keep It Positive, Sweetie.”

Transcript

[Kandi Burruss]

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[Chris Renee Hazel]

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[Kandi Burruss]

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[Kandi Burruss]

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[Chris Renee Hazel]

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[Kandi Burruss]

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[Chris Renee Hazel]

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[Chris Renee Hazel]

Calling all my sweeties to the forefront, I'm your host, Chris Renee Hazel, and this is the Keep it Positive Sweetie Show.

[Kandi Burruss]

Hey, sweeties.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Welcome back. I know it's been a few weeks since we've seen each other, but have no fear, because keep it positive, Sweetie is here. Today's guest needs no introduction, but you.

[Kandi Burruss]

Know I'm gonna give you one anyway.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

She is Atlanta through and through. She is a wife, mom, singer, actress, producer, and a Grammy award winning songwriter. You met her through her group escape and you got to know her really well on the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Sweeties, please give a very warm welcome to Kandi Burruss. Kandi, what's going on, girl?

[Kandi Burruss]

You're here.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Finally. Girl, we have been trying to get you on this podcast for. Since when did we go? We were in Fashion Week. Was that February? I feel like we started talking about it.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah, we've been talking about it for a minute.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

For a while. So we're finally here. So excited to have you.

[Kandi Burruss]

Thanks, Fab.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

How you feeling? You're welcome.

[Kandi Burruss]

I feel good.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Good, good.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So a lot of people we know, your accolades. Everyone's been a fan of yours since Escape. Tell us a little bit more about you, Kandi Burris, and your upbringing that we may not know.

[Kandi Burruss]

Ooh, I don't know. It's like, I feel like at this point, people know so much about me, but.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

How does to feel like everybody knows so much sometimes?

[Kandi Burruss]

It's weird.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

I mean, it's cool, you know, I mean, I'm just thankful to be able to, you know, be in a space where, you know, people do know me.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean? Because I think a lot of people take that for granted. I feel like at one point in my younger years, we used, you know, even, you know, in my group or whatever, at one point we probably took it for granted and, you know, I had to learn, like, that's not just a giving.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's.

[Kandi Burruss]

Just because you've done something before, it doesn't mean that people are going to keep caring. So I'm just kind of, like, thankful for it, I guess. But I mean, as far as my background, I am from Atlanta.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Are you from a real Atlanta? Because, you know, they were saying that's not Atlanta. Which Atlanta are you from?

[Kandi Burruss]

It's like, are you talking about where I was born or where I was raised? I was born at Crawford Long. Okay. And that's on. That was on Peace Street. They changed the name.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

But yes, I was born here in Atlanta. I was raised off Washington Road in East Point. So I guess that's what they said. People from downtown Atlanta, they love to be talking about what's not real Atlanta. I got 100 cousins. I was staying in Atlanta every day.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, I'm. I'm from Atlanta. Stop playing with me.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right, right. I know that's.

[Kandi Burruss]

But yeah, my mom is the youngest of 14 kids.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Wow.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yes. And so I have like over 80 something first cousins, not to mention second and third cousins. And we, A lot of us are, like, close.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love that.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Like sisters and brothers. So. And then my dad's family, you know, he's. He was the youngest of three kids, but I don't have many cousins on my dad's side. I just have four.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

Oh, that's.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's a big difference.

[Kandi Burruss]

And yeah, and my. My granddad was a bishop here in Atlanta, so.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Bethlehem Church of God Holiness. Martin Luther King. So, you know, both sides of the family, very different.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, so I guess I had a very, you know, wide range of influence.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yes, I can imagine. That's crazy. I didn't know mama Joyce was one of 14. Do you have any siblings?

[Kandi Burruss]

My brother passed away when I was young. When I was 15, my brother Patrick, and his name was Patrick Riley. And that's why Riley's name is Riley.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay. I love that.

[Kandi Burruss]

And then I do have a sister, you know, through my dad. Got it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay. Got it. Okay. Yeah, I have all my siblings. We have different mothers. So, like, we were all raised kind of similar. Everybody was raised in different homes, but it's also. It's all. As we grow up, we grow closer.

[Kandi Burruss]

How many you have?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Four. So four of us total.

[Kandi Burruss]

Oh, okay, cool. Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I'm one of four, the second oldest, but, yeah, I love that. So you've. Oh, my goodness. You've done so many things from singing to now you're producing. You're a mother. All the things you had Riley and Ace and then Blaze, Tucker, Blaze daughter Kayla.

[Kandi Burruss]

Shout out to Kayla, my bonus daughter, Kayla.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Oh, yes. And Kayla. Yes. You had Blaze through surrogacy, and that was a disagreement that you made after struggling with fibroids.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Can you walk me through that journey? Because I opened up to you. I was recently on your podcast and I talked about me finally going to the fertility doctor and the options that I have. And that's one of the options. So what is it like? And what was it like coming to that moment where this may be my reality that I'm not gonna be able to carry like I have?

[Kandi Burruss]

Okay. Well, for a sandblades, I had to do ivf.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

So I had a lot of fibroid issues. Multiple fibroid surger throughout my 30s.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Wow.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, and so even to get pregnant with Ace, I had to do ivf.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

And with that. I know a lot of people's journey is different with ivf. You know, I don't know if a lot of y' all who haven't experienced that, it's not guaranteed that you're going to have a child just because you go through ivf, you know?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

They say the best method to do is you put the egg in the sperm together to make an embryo.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

Okay. And not. That's just basic 101. Some people just freeze their eggs.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

Other people have, you know, go through the process of getting embryos. So we had. With what we were possibly able to have, we went from what was 12 drop down to six embryos. And then after testing them to make sure that they were good, we only have four, so we put two in with ace. Only one made it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Wow.

[Kandi Burruss]

But then I had a high risk pregnancy, and that's just basically because of, I guess, the multiple surgeries.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, I had bleeding during the pregnancy or whatever.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's got to be scary.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah, it was scary. Good. But luckily, you know, we got ac, was healthy, and so we still had two that were frozen.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right. Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

And the best option, you know, after a while, you know, we were trying to figure out, okay, are we going to use our embryos or not? You know what I mean? And we didn't want to not, you know, use.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah. So we had to figure out the best way to make sure that she was going to make it here. So we had to. And that's when I talked to Dr. Jackie and she helped me find a surrogate.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Wow.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And when it comes to that, I know it's got to be a difficult process, choosing a person that's going to carry your seed.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Like, what was that like?

[Kandi Burruss]

It was. They say it could be very, very difficult. Difficult for a lot of people. What I will say I'm thankful for Dr. Jackie because she knew shout out to Shadina, my surrogate, I guess, when she was caring for another family before me. And Dr. Jackie was the doctor.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Oh, perfect.

[Kandi Burruss]

So originally I was just meeting with her to talk about it, to see, you know, so she can give me the how it works and all of that stuff. But then as we were having the conversation, obviously I was like, well, would she do it? Yeah, you know, because I was kind of told that is, you know, it's best to, you know, have a surrogate who has done it already one time.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Got it.

[Kandi Burruss]

And I don't know how true that is for others, but for me, it worked out amazing because she had. She was like, Shadina was so knowledgeable. She had so much knowledgeable on the. She was on the. On the process. She encouraged us to have a group text with her so she would always be updating us. And, you know, it just made it a lot easier for me because she had already been there, done that, and kind of could help us in a way to where things may have felt awkward. For some people, it didn't feel as awkward.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Got it.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean? So she made us feel very comfortable in the situation, and I was very appreciative of that. But, yeah, I had the perfect situation because my doctor had Already been her doctor before, so she already knew that she's gonna, you know, make sure the baby's healthy, you know, eat the right things, do the right things, go to the appointments, do all of those things.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right. You know, Then did she come and live with you? Because I know some surrogates, like, the parents weren't like, I want you in my house.

[Kandi Burruss]

Nah, nah, nah, nah. I'm not. I'm not that person. I'm not that person. So for she. She. She has kids of her own.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, so she had, you know, lived in her own house. I did go visit her home.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay, good. Yeah. To see living conditions and all the things.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yes. You know, so. And it's so crazy. So even the attorney that we use. So in Georgia, every. Every place has its own laws.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Oh, wow. Oh, yeah. Every state.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

For sure.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I've heard California is a little different.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yes. But the lawyer that I use, she had. She's also an agency.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

So the firm, you know, her firm.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So she know. Knew inside and out the things that we need to do, the questions we need to ask. You know, you have to go through counseling together and separately with mother. Yeah. The surrogate. Oh, my goodness.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

This is good.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah. We did all of that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love this. Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

And then when they. When she gave us this questionnaire, it was questions I wouldn't even have thought to ask.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So it was a very interesting experience, but I'm grateful for it and grateful that I had the right people to come into my life to help the process go smoother.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

And then just even, like, the paperwork that you have to do prior to, first of all, getting started and for when the baby gets here. Because obviously you want your name on the birth certificate with your child.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

And all of those things.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So.

[Kandi Burruss]

I would suggest, if you're going to do it, you know, try not to be, you know, trying to be cheap and skip around and not get the right people to help you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Speaking of being cheap, like, how much does it cost to do something like this for people who may be thinking about it?

[Kandi Burruss]

Well, the cost of surrogacy is different or, you know, different people.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

Depending on the surrogate, depending on if you go through an agency, you know, for the. The surrogate themselves.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, so their fee may vary.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

I mean, I know people that's like anywhere from 40 to 100 depending on. And I've heard some people go as low as 25. I know some people that went to another country to do it. And they didn't have to pay much at all. But that's when you kind of run into other issues, like, you know, trying to make sure that your name is on the. If you are not, you. You have to please get an attorney to do your paperwork.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Because what if the surrogate, like, tries to keep your child? Like, well, can that happen?

[Kandi Burruss]

Have that experience? And I. I don't know anybody that has that experience, but I do know somebody who, you know, didn't get the right forms that they need, so now it's making it harder for them to get other documents that they need here. So they got to go back to get all that stuff.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So it's just kind of like, I would at least make sure that I have an attorney that's going through it and be like, make sure you have this. Make sure you have that. You know, make sure this form is signed. You know, all of these things. Because, you know, it's a whole checklist.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Of stuff I can imagine. I'm seeing.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

And, you know, this is your baby. And especially in this world where, you know, the government is acting up with making sure citizenship is right.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

Make sure all that stuff is right.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean? But.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, I. I do tell people, the attorney.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

Because, you know, they can. Well, especially you and Georgia, if you want to, I will give you the information.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay, Whatever. Thank you.

[Kandi Burruss]

Because she's just. She was just so thorough in giving you, like, even if you just go for that initial consultation meeting to see if you want to use them for the whole process.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

Because it's too much. You know what I mean?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

And then even now, like, I'm like, even with Blaze sometimes, she was like, is that how it was when I was in your belly? And I keep trying to explain to her I had to borrow somebody's belly blaze because my belly wasn't working. Right. That's what I be trying to tell her. But it's like I'm trying to figure out how to explain.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, wow. To her, the process. But the other day, it was so cool. I had ran into a friend of a friend, and she was like, candy, I don't know if you remember having this conversation with me. She was like, but some years ago, she was like, I was considering doing IVF because I was having some issues. And she was like. And you were like, no, you should do it. And she was like, and you gave me so much encouragement and, you know, told me what to do. And she was like, but that is my son right there. And her son was playing with my son.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Wow.

[Kandi Burruss]

And I was like, that is so crazy. They don't even know they're connected. You know what I mean? And wow. To see both of them healthy, playing, running around and, you know, and knowing that, you know, my circumstance was at once her circumstance and my circumstance helped her.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right. To make that choice.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah. So cool.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

To me, that's the. I love that. I love that. Now I hear so many different stories about the injections and the toll that it takes on your body. Was. Did you have any side effects or was it just easy breezy for you?

[Kandi Burruss]

It wasn't easy giving yourself those injections. Yeah, I'm. I'm one of those per. I have a high tolerance for pain.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

But I will say that last shot, you gotta give the trigger shot or whatever they call it when it's time to the appointment that they have to actually take the.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

The eggs out.

[Kandi Burruss]

The eggs. That one, it was painful.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Like a burn or just.

[Kandi Burruss]

I can't remember how to describe it really. I just remember, you know, the other shots was just kind of like, you know, you can, you know, do it in your belly or whatever.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, at a certain time of day, you want to do it every day and follow the rules and.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

That was cool. But that last shot, I was like. And then for me, I don't. Every doctor is different of what they tell you to do, but my IVF facility, they still wanted me to. Once they implanted the embryos. Still do. The shots were like another. How much longer? I did it another couple months.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

What?

[Kandi Burruss]

Yes, because they said that was it estrogen? I don't know. Whatever it was that they were giving me, they said, you know, because some people, once it's implanted, they still lose, unfortunately.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

They said for them, it gave them a higher success rate of the embryo implanting.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

And you know, and attaching how it's supposed.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay. Wow.

[Kandi Burruss]

I can't remember what it was exactly that I was still having to take.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

My job ACE is nine and a half now, so this was a long time ago.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Times have changed. Isn't it crazy how like, you can go have a surgery or a procedure done and then years later they come out with a much easier way where like, you gotta take one shot and you're like, I had to take 50.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah. Nah, I was taking em for a couple more months just to make sure that the embryos stayed and was locked in.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So, yeah, it was not the easiest, but so worth it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Good. Cause a lot of people don't talk about that part of it, because people are like, oh, yeah, go do it. And then like, wait, you didn't tell me about this part. And that's probably been my hesitancy, honestly, is like, what the. The toll that it takes on your body and do I have the time with our schedules, like, to really take the time to do that.

[Kandi Burruss]

Right.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Were you able to continue to work and, like, travel and do everything, or did you have to take some time off?

[Kandi Burruss]

Well, I was still able to work. I was still filming that season that I was pregnant with Ace. I remember I was filming.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

But, yeah, I was able to work.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

It's just, you know, you just make sure you're doing it at a certain time every day.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

Doing what you're supposed to do.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

And with Blaze, with surrogate, obviously.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah, you were able to do.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah, I was all over the place.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean? And I felt guilty in a way, because you, like, you know, it's like, I'm sorry.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Like, you know, what am I did.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You got it.

[Kandi Burruss]

You got it, right? I don't know. It's like, it almost is so crazy. I hate to even say this out loud, but having a surrogate, I felt like, is this what it's like to be the daddy?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, that's a.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Did you know? Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, but that's a really good comparison.

[Kandi Burruss]

With moms, you know, we had the. Our bodies changing, dealing with all these emotions and hormones. You know, we trying to eat right. We trying to make sure we do everything we can perfectly. To make sure we incubate. Right.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

And make sure the baby comes out the way it needs to be. I mean, heartburn like that heart. I didn't even know what heartburn was until I was pregnant with Ace. Like, now, mind y', all, Riley got a lot of hair. A lot of hair.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

But when she was born, she did not have a lot of hair.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

So. But Ace did. And that rumor that they say about babies, when they got a lot of hair, they come out with a lot of hair. That you got heartburn during pregnancy. That must be true.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Cause you had it. Wow. What?

[Kandi Burruss]

Oh, my gosh. I was like, I can't even lay down, like, what is happening to me.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

But with Blaze, you know, having a surrogate, she was telling me all about her heartburn, and I was like, oh, so sorry.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

At least you can relate. You're like, I know what you're going through, girl.

[Kandi Burruss]

I know what she was going through, but, you know, I still was able to go do with everything I needed to do. And it was almost a little bit of guilt there because, you know, you feel like, you know, there's a reason that I had to get a surrogate, but it's almost like, wow, this is. This is the move, right? Like, it wasn't intentional, right?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah, no, for sure, for sure.

[Juju Green]

From Paul Thomas Anderson comes one battle after another.

[Kandi Burruss]

What's going on, everybody?

[Juju Green]

It's your boy, Juju Green, AKA Straw hat Goofy. You're a movie guy. And I'm sitting here with the lovely and, quite frankly, badass women of one battle after another. We got Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infinity. When you first read your character on that script, what did your character remind you of?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

As you can see, you know, we don't always agree with a lot of things that perfidia do, but for the most part, we see a survivor. We see a woman that's in survival mode. You know, we also see a woman that's unapologetically herself, but then she is also, like, mysterious and, like, you know, she got, like, a little sex appeal that's like, you know, how she pulling them in like that. You feel me? You know, she's mysterious and she's also like a master manipulator, and she's like a octopus. She can, like, get her way out of anything.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I love that.

[Juju Green]

One battle after another. Now playing only in theaters. Experience it in IMAX and other premium formats. Get tickets now. Rated R. Under 17. Not admitted without parent.

[Kandi Burruss]

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[Juju Green]

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[Cynthia Littleton]

There's a lot going on in Hollywood. How are you supposed to stay on top of it all? Variety has the solution. Take 20 minutes out of your day and listen to the new daily Variety podcast for breaking entertainment news and expert perspectives.

[Juju Green]

Where do you see the business actually heading?

[Cynthia Littleton]

Featuring the iconic journalists of Variety and hosted by co editor in chief Cynthia Littleton.

[Kandi Burruss]

The only constant in Hollywood is change.

[Cynthia Littleton]

Open your free iHeartradio app, search daily Variety and listen now.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

When you speak on Mom Guild, you are. You're a mogul, you're traveling all over the world. You're handling so many different business ventures. Do you deal with mom guilt now? Like having to travel all the time? And how do you handle that?

[Kandi Burruss]

Of course. I feel like every mother that I know that has a career.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Feels guilt. Every last one of them. And you know, sometimes we overcompensate in the way that gifts we buy them, the things that we do because, you know, we want them to realize this is a reason, this is why I had to be here, because I had to make money so you could do this or do that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

But it's all. I don't think that ever goes away.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, no, for sure.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Now just be honest. I don't watch Real Housewives of Atlanta. Did you like bring your children onto the show? Like, were they like, do you open up everything to the show or did you keep your children off?

[Kandi Burruss]

Oh, my children was on.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

They were on there. Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

And now Riley on her own.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yes, I saw that. They got next generation or something.

[Kandi Burruss]

Next gen. Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's crazy. How is that going for her?

[Kandi Burruss]

I mean, it's going good. You know, I, I think it was different for her. Like she didn't know all the work that it goes into. Shoot.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right. Cuz she, for you, she would just show up like.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah, she just show up a couple times and you know, but she didn't realize, like, you know, they want you to be there every day and they give you last minute schedules. It's a lot, you know, and so, and then, you know, all the emotional roller coasters she was going on, going back and forth with the different people on the show and calling me mommy like you said, you know, and it's like, oh my gosh, what advice did.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You give her to help navigate those?

[Kandi Burruss]

Just right off, Rip, I just told my daughter, look, be yourself. Don't, you know, whatever you say stand on it.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Don't take it back. You know, you can apologize if you look, you know, think later on and maybe you didn't do the right thing, but don't be on there acting like you said something, didn't say something that you said, you know, we, you know, we are known for being truthful people, and you ain't finna change that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I know that's right.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I'm saying? So always be a person of your word. So even if people don't like what you do, they know that, you know, you be like, hey, I meant what I said when I said it, and I'm standing on it. You know what I mean? I said, and if you do anything that's wrong, I, you know, it's okay. You live to see another day. And your mama always got your back.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I know that's right. I love that. When it came to you saying yes to Real Housewives of Atlanta 100 years ago. Right. You were like, the longest one.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You were the longest housewife, longest running. That's amazing. 14 seasons straight. That is incredible. But you mentioned that, like, after the first season, you realized, math ain't mathing, and I gotta do some other things. What was that thing that clicked where you were like, wait a minute. And what did you think you were gonna make like when you first started?

[Kandi Burruss]

What did I think?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

What, like monetarily thinking? Like, you're going on this show, you're open so much. Really?

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

What made you say yes?

[Kandi Burruss]

One of my friend. Was it Rashida? I know one of my friends was like, girl, just go ahead and do it. You never know what's gonna come from it. Cause I was like, this ain't no money.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right. I've seen money.

[Kandi Burruss]

You're like, this ain't no money what I'm gonna do with this. And then, honestly, I didn't really think that it was gonna change my life like that because, you know, I had been in a group escape.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You're candy.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

We had done stuff before, so I was just like, yeah, whatever, you know, whatever. I had watched the first season. I thought it was funny, but I didn't really see myself being with those ladies. You know what I mean? Nothing against them. I just didn't see how we would be hanging out. Right. Right.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I feel. Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So I was like, eh, I don't know about this. You know, I was like, ah, okay, well, I'll do it for a year. It might be all right. You know, because they didn't. Wasn't like. They really wasn't talking about no money.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

It wasn't no money. But then, man, I just thought it would be something cool to do.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know? And next thing I know, first day of taping, I remember it got real for me. Day one, what happened? They did a Scene with me and my mama.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

She said, me and my mama.

[Kandi Burruss]

And she had me crying the first day.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You had me crying.

[Kandi Burruss]

I knew. Ugly. Oh, yeah. I didn't mean to do that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, I know.

[Kandi Burruss]

But I was not expecting that. I was like, golly, they let you break. Break you in first, like, right. But yeah. And the rest was history.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Wow. Speaking of that moment with your mom, was there any moments that were therapeutic for you guys in the show or anything that kind of came up that you hadn't resolved?

[Kandi Burruss]

We've had so many moments over those 14 seasons and then we have multiple, you know, specials and spin offs or whatever.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Now, I did watch your show at the restaurant and that was funny.

[Kandi Burruss]

Oh, yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Candy in the game.

[Kandi Burruss]

So funny. Yeah, it was hilarious. It was fun to do too.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

But I mean, I definitely would say, yeah, I guess it would be therapeutic. And then, you know, it was a lot of wonderful moments, you know, with my kids that I can look back and it's like our own little diary. We go back and see parts of our lives. My kids can see themselves grow up. You know what I mean?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

The only thing I find, I'm like, wow, now that I left, like, Blaze is not going to have the same experience as Riley.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

But because, you know, her life is not going to be just all in front of the camera like that.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

It's interesting.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

But it's cool though. You know, I felt like my family had their time to, you know, to be, you know, that I was able to share them with the world.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Aunts, you know, my cousins on there.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, I met Todd on there. You know, you saw the process of me trying to get pregnant, having my kids. So many things.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Was there ever any moments where you were like, I regret opening up about that. Where you look back or any. Where you kind of were at home, like, dang, why did I let them into this part of my life?

[Kandi Burruss]

I'm kind of an open book. So it's not. I don't really have a lot of regrets now. I'm always saying something that I probably shouldn't say and later on and it'd be my mom to be like, did you have to tell everybody that you. Blah, blah, blah. Well, I mean, it is what it is.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

But so I don't really look at anything as a regret, you know?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah, I love that.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, and then like some things, you know, are put on you, you know, you didn't know. You don't have to it wasn't anything you did to put it out there. When you're on reality tv, especially, you know, with ensemble cast, people be coming at you left and right with all kinds of crazy stuff.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I can imagine.

[Kandi Burruss]

So it's not like you always have a choice in the matter.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right? Right.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You don't know what somebody gonna hit you with. You be like, wait a minute now, hold on.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right now. You say you've always been an open book. So when you got on the show, did you go into it with the mindset of I'm just gonna be real? Cause you're really authentic in your true self. Was that something, or did you kind of start letting your wall down as the seasons progress?

[Kandi Burruss]

I didn't overthink it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

I think that's what I don't like about reality TV now, is that everybody go into everything. It's like, my brand. Oh, I gotta worry about my brand this, my brand that. And sometimes to me, it makes them fake. You know what I mean? And I don't like that.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, I'm just like half the time when, like, I tell people all the time, these girls be having rehearsed.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Reads and stuff like that for reality tv.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

And it'd be so obvious. But to me, it'd be obvious.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I guess you're a real actor as well. You're like, we ain't got to do that for this.

[Kandi Burruss]

I know when you know, I know when you practice. Right. Yeah. But for me, it's like I'm a what comes up, comes out type of person.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So it's just like, you hit me with something, you gonna catch whatever I was thinking at that moment.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

Right.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Unfiltered.

[Kandi Burruss]

And I don't. And I. And I feel like it's better for me to roll in there, you know what I mean? To where it's not like, overthinking just stresses me out.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Y.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That I can imagine that. Speaking of, like, opening up to things, you've been very open about being sex positive and just very open about your sexuality.

[Kandi Burruss]

That is so sweet. Sex positive.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Now, when I was on your podcast, I opened up about me abstaining from sex, and you were like, flabbergast you like, what? How long, sis?

[Kandi Burruss]

Cause what I mean, I was flabbergasted by the part of you saying that you started having sex with the man, and then just out the blue, you just told him. Yeah, I just thought about it. I'm just not having sex.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It wasn't a thought about it.

[Kandi Burruss]

God talked to me And I'm not having sex anymore. Now. That was the part I was like.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And it's hard, like. But it's not like anybody else who's been having sex their whole life. And then just God reveals them, I don't want you doing this. And then they like, I gotta change.

[Kandi Burruss]

But what was the reveal?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

The reveal was, you're living out of the will of God, and I need you to focus on me. Because right now you're, like, going down a road of destruction. And I was like, all right. I need to just really focus. Because if I want a certain type of love, I've got to carry myself in a certain type of way. Like, I can't wanna be loved. Like, God wants us to be loved and then not be living like he wants me to live. So I was like, in order to get something different. Cause I've gone candy when I say heartbreak after heartbreak, and it's just like, clearly, I'm doing something wrong. And it was just like one of those throwing the towel moments, honestly. Because sex clouds everything, you know, for me, like, when you do it out of the will. For me, it was like. Cause you think about. I don't know if this is true for you, but for me, like, as soon as you have sex with somebody, you first hear. It's like, oh, my God, it's loving that everything is unveiled. It's like, I don't know if I even like you like that. Like, the scales fall off in your eyes and you're like, oh, this is who you really are. It takes away from that.

[Kandi Burruss]

I get it. And, you know, I hate having these conversations with. And you know, I love the Lord. I told you my.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You did tell me that. Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

But I hate having these conversations sometimes with people who are on their walk of faith. Right.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

But these are good conversations.

[Kandi Burruss]

I don't ever want to say anything that's discouraging you from doing something that's in the walk of faith.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean? Because, listen, I believe in God, too. You know what I mean? And I definitely know that, you know, we all fall short of, you know, every day. Every day.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Right. But I just feel like sometimes people put too much on the sex part. You know, there's so many other things. Sexuality, people's choices of, you know, their sexuality, choosing to have sex. All of the things. I think people act like that's the biggest sin in the world, and they skip over all these other sins, and that's the only sin they focus. Focus on.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Exactly.

[Kandi Burruss]

And so that's why when people talk.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

About.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, for me. For you in this conversation, when you say, what am I doing wrong in the relationship? So was sex the only thing you were doing wrong to make your relationships not go right for you? No, because for me, when I have sex, and even when I'm talking about if I. I'm me, and mind you, I've been married a long time.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

14. 2000.

[Kandi Burruss]

Since 2000. 2014.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It's been a long time.

[Kandi Burruss]

And I have not had sex with another man since Todd and I even dated.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Wow.

[Kandi Burruss]

Okay. Since we started having sex.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So it's been a long time since I've been in the pool of meeting men and whatever. But I remember what it's like.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It's. Was it muddy then? Cuz it's. I remember now.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yes, it was muddy then. It was muddy. But what I say in my thought process, when I have sex, I'm having sex for me. I'm not having sex just because I'm trying to lock you down. Because some women, they have sex with the mentality, oh, yeah, I'm gonna put this thing on him. They do. And make him do what he do. I don't care about putting that thing on you to make you stay, because there's so many things about me that should make you stay.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Come on.

[Kandi Burruss]

Okay.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

When I'm having sex, I'm having sex for me.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Like, about, like soul ties out of, like, in the baggage.

[Kandi Burruss]

People say that thing about soul ties. And I hear what you're saying, but there's people in my past that I'm not tied to them. I would like to forget that we ever had a tie. You know what I mean? It's untied. It's untied. Is it? Sometimes it's untied. Believe me, it's untied. I don't move forward. Like, I mean, let's. I mean, you ain't a virgin. You know, you ain't a virgin.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No. So the thing about it is, and I felt like I was very open with you. Like, I love sex because God wants us to love it, okay? He created it for us to love.

[Kandi Burruss]

Everybody that you had sex with in the past.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

There is something that weighs on you that you take from every person that you have sex with. And you may not realize it if you're like, the certain stresses that you carry, the bonds that you carry, you may not realize it, but sometimes you look and you're like, why am I feeling like this? What is this?

[Kandi Burruss]

And you feel like it's directly tied.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

To everybody that's been inside you.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yes. See, I don't agree. My stress for the day could be dealing with deals that I got going on. My stress for the day deal, because I ain't. I wasn't able to lock in this business opportunity that I was trying to get. Or, you know, for me right now, my husband got on my nerves. You know what I mean? Or, you know, the kids stressing me out. Not tied to nobody that I had hooked up with in 2000.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, that's not the only thing that I'm saying. But that's just like. Yeah, I do. Yeah, I totally get what you're saying. And. And I love having these conversations. Like, it's like, girl talk, great debate. You know, like, just even, like, we were at your house and my house. I'm like, katie, so, like, I. You're curious. Like, and even for me, I'm like, okay, like, when did sex first come up? Like, did you grow up? Like, your mom was open about. Because, you know, in black homes, it's taboo to talk about.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I'm saying?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You don't really mention it. Even if you have a parent that says, when you're ready to have sex, come talk to me. Even when you do that, it's never a comfortable conversation.

[Kandi Burruss]

Well, here's the thing. And I always tell people, you need to have. Have those conversations with your kids way younger than you expect.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So what age do you think?

[Kandi Burruss]

By middle school, you should have already had that conversation.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

True. Because that's when we're kind of learning.

[Kandi Burruss]

Some people think that that's crazy. I'm telling you right now, these kids in middle school having sex, okay, they having sex. Or either they friends having sex, they talking about sex. Especially now, the Internet. They over here showing each other stuff on the Internet in elementary school. Yes. They're showing each other stuff they finding online. Wow. Now. Now, when I was little, you know, I'm a little older, but, you know, everybody be trying to sneak to watch the dirty channel. Channel that be fuzzy. And you put something in the box and you try to straighten the channel up so you can see it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Oh, yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah. So, yeah, my mom was not having conversations with me that early.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

I was finding out things through my friend.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean? Or. And you don't want their friend to be the one that tells them about sex.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right? No.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That is.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

No.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

My mom used to always say the worst thing getting pregnant is not the worst thing that could happen. She was like, you can get a STD that you can't get rid of. She would always put that fear in me. And she was like, but I want you to come and talk to me about it. And then when you go talk, it's like, you ain't ready to have sex. I'm like, but these are things I'm feeling, you know? So it kind of. In that home, like, you feel like.

[Kandi Burruss]

What advice you gonna give to a kid one day when they say that to you?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

For me, I mean, honestly, I don't have children right now, but you have to be realistic, you know what I'm saying? With the. Honestly, the influences of the world where they are now, how you said, like, kids at elementary school are showing each other videos. Like, do you see this? So at a young age, just talking to them, letting them know. And honestly, I'll be raising my children in the church under the foundation of Christ so they can know right from wrong at a very young age. But, like, also just teaching and being realistic, like, hey, I know these urges are going to come up. Your hormones are going to start changing. And I do want my children to be able to come talk to me and we can have open dialogue about. So they can, one, be healthy, but also protect them and given the other consequences that come along with it, you know, and try to protect them as much. As much as I can.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah. What advice would you give your children? Like, what? I know Riley's older, but, like, your younger daughter.

[Kandi Burruss]

Like, well, I always. I am that auntie, that cousin that everybody come to, really. Something they need to talk about it or something went wrong. I always try to catch them before it goes. Yeah, now I remember. I definitely had cousins that were talking about sex in middle school.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

We all did, for sure.

[Kandi Burruss]

But I was having that conversation about HPV viruses, all of that. Showing them the website to where it. Show them how these things are passed, how at their age, it's running rampant. I was talking to them about, obviously, birth control. I was talking about all the things. And yes, you can tell them it's best not to do what I always would tell most of the girls. I be like, first of all, don't be up there doing nothing with nobody to go to school with you. Because if y' all break up, he gonna tell all his friends definitely that y' all did it. And then after that, your next boyfriend is gonna say, well, you did it with him. And it's gonna be. You're gonna feel pressured.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So don't do that. I'll Have a real, real conversation with, you know, family, friends.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah, yeah, no, that's good. With the Internet and you being, you being very open with it, has it ever been a moment where your daughter is coming, like, mom, like, this is what the kids are talking about at school or has it?

[Kandi Burruss]

I was talking to her before she had to come to me. Talking to, seeing stuff.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay. Yeah, well, I'm saying, like, you're like, how you're very. Doing videos like with candy coated nights and stuff like that. Has any of that.

[Kandi Burruss]

Oh, you mean my personal sex?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Like, has kids ever, like, have kids? Your kids have come and said something?

[Kandi Burruss]

No, I go to them. Okay. I mean, I haven't had those conversations with Ace and Blaze yet.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

But definitely in middle school. Well, how. I think Riley was probably in middle school or just getting into high school. Probably high school. I can't remember when that whole dungeon accusation came about. So, yes, I had a conversation with my, my child about like, okay, this is what happened and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay, so was it awkward for you to have or are you just like, this is what it is? Like everything else, this is what it.

[Kandi Burruss]

Is Now, I know it sounds crazy. It sounds crazy that I'm able to talk to my kids about, you know, stuff like that. But the crazy part that y' all don't realize their friends are already talking about stuff like that. Absolutely.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, for sure.

[Kandi Burruss]

So for them, you know, when you explain like, this is what happened, this is what they said, this part is not true.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

Do not believe. I would never. You know what I mean?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Then it's like, this is just like, oh, okay, and move on.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It's like this.

[Kandi Burruss]

Moving right along.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay, that's good.

[Juju Green]

From Paul Thomas Anderson comes one battle after another. What's going on, everybody? It's your boy, Juju Green, AKA Straw Hat Goofy. You're a movie guy and I'm sitting here with the lovely and quite frankly badass women of one battle after another. We got Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and Chase Infinity. When you first read your character on that script, what did your character remind you of?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

As you can see, you know, we don't always agree with a lot of things that perfidia do, but for the most part, we see a survivor, we see a woman that's in survival mode. You know, we also see a woman that's unapologetically herself, but then she is also, like mysterious and like, you know, she got like a little sex appeal that's like, you know, how she pulling them in like that. You feel me? You know, she's mysterious and she's also like a master manipulator. And she's like a octopus. She can like, get her way out of anything.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I love that.

[Juju Green]

One battle after another. Now playing only in theaters. Experience it in IMAX and other premium formats. Get tickets now rated R under 17, not admitted without parent. You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com stop settling for weak sound. It's time to level up your game and bring the boom. Hit the town with The Ultra Durable LG XBoom Portable speaker and enjoy vibrant sound wherever you go. Elevate your listening experience to new heights because let's be real, your music deserves it. The future of sound is now with LG XBoom and for a limited time, save [e-mail] with code fall25. Bring the boom XBoom.

[Cynthia Littleton]

There's a lot going on in Hollywood. How are you supposed to stay on top of it? Variety has the solution. Take 20 minutes out of your day and listen to the new daily Variety podcast for breaking entertainment news and expert perspectives.

[Juju Green]

Where do you see the business actually heading?

[Cynthia Littleton]

Featuring the iconic journalists of Variety and hosted by co editor in chief Cynthia Littleton.

[Kandi Burruss]

The only constant in Hollywood is change.

[Cynthia Littleton]

Open your free iHeartradio app, search daily Variety and listen now, when it comes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

To Riley, your older daughter, how do you talk to her and say, hey, like she's a mom. Like, I'm ready to have sex. Like, what is it that you tell her? You know what I'm saying? As your daughter and like, are you pushing her to be as sex positive as you are or do you just make your own decision? That's on you.

[Kandi Burruss]

Riley's grown now.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Grown, grown. How is Riley now?

[Kandi Burruss]

She just turned 23.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Oh, yeah, she's grown, grown.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah, she's grown, grown. I like I said, I had always had conversations with her.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So the first time she had any experience not I'm not telling her business because I don't want to tell her business the how old or any of that. Yes. But the first time she said something, even with all of that, I cried. I didn't even.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Were you not.

[Kandi Burruss]

I didn't tell her That I was crying. She called me. I was out of town, and she said something and I was just like. Like, oh, okay. As tears are just streaming down my face. Because in my mind, you know, I'm.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

A little.

[Kandi Burruss]

Out there, but, you know, Riley is not. That's so hurt to hear that she was even thinking about anything.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

I was like, you know, But I didn't want to let her know, so I didn't let her hear it in my voice.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yes, but. But.

[Kandi Burruss]

And I appreciated that she wanted to discuss it with me.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And trusted you enough.

[Kandi Burruss]

And trusted me enough to say it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

She could be going to the cousin or aunt that most people come to talk to you.

[Kandi Burruss]

Exactly. But I ain't gonna lie. I was a little, like, thrown off because I didn't. I don't know why I never thought about that day actually coming. Even though I know realistically it's gonna come. Yeah, it's gonna come.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

What do you think? Emoted the tears was like, you.

[Kandi Burruss]

This is my baby. So innocent. Like, what?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay. That's what I'm talking about. Kand. Like what? Like, if they brought you to tears, what was it about sex that made you cry?

[Kandi Burruss]

That.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That your daughter's having it now?

[Kandi Burruss]

Because in my mind. And this is another thing I try to say to young ladies, even though I don't want to wish bad on y' all little boyfriends, but chances are you are not going to end up with that person.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Oh, my God. My mom used always tell me that that is not going to be the one ever.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah. And you got to kind of go into the situation in your young years knowing that you might. You probably going to look back a decade later and be like, I hate this man can tell people he ever was with me.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Same.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I'm with you.

[Kandi Burruss]

I be like, you know, And I'm just like, I, you know, of course you know that it's going to happen, but, you know, I didn't want your baby.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes, yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

But you are not. Not ever going to be with that person.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Right? Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

No, so true. Something that I admire you about and that I've been very vocal about is just your business sense. And I'm really big on financial literacy. You said that. You mentioned that your mom taught you not to put all your eggs in one basket. What are some of the lessons that you've learned over the years because you have such longevity. Just about financial literacy. Oof.

[Kandi Burruss]

So much.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

This is where I need you.

[Kandi Burruss]

Okay. The first thing she used to always say was, good credit was better than money. Come on and simply because, you know, I don't care if you got a hundred thousand dollars cash sitting right there. If you ain't got good credit, that's all you can afford something that's $100,000, but if you got good credit, you can get something that's 500,000 and 900,000 whatever, you know.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

So that was the first money lesson she would always teach me. But for me reading the Millionaire Next Door when I was like 17.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

It.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Was always, you were ahead of your time because no kids are reading that unless their parents.

[Kandi Burruss]

Our group got our record deal when I was 16. So my whole goal in life was to never be that teen star that be broke later in life.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love that.

[Kandi Burruss]

So that was like. I was always.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Most teens don't have that mindset. Mindset.

[Kandi Burruss]

Well, I was.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love it.

[Kandi Burruss]

I was always on a mission to figure it out.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So I started reading, you know, financial books and different things in my teens. But the other thing, multiple lessons. One I didn't trust accountants. First accountant that our group had, they stole like a hundred thousand dollars from us.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

What?

[Kandi Burruss]

Yes. Putting it all under miscellaneous. You know, you're on tour. And they had him like a hundred thousand dollars worth of miscellaneous. And we teenagers, we don't know. You know what I mean? Like. And the dude ran off so we couldn't rest charges or nothing.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Wow.

[Kandi Burruss]

So, yeah, that was a bad experience for me now. And I've had account one or two after that that paid bills for us. But when I got like mid-20s, early-20s somewhere in there. Yeah. I write all my checks. I write all of them. You, Nobody is signing nothing for me.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Same.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, I think I had heard Oprah say that. Yep.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

She taught Tyler that. Tyler taught me. I sit there and watch him and you know, it's a lot of checks.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

He sit there and click every single one. And what is this?

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Question. And so I'm like.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah, nobody has permission to go and sign nothing for me.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Good for you.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, I mean, so that's important. Cuz even if you spending a lot, you need to see. See it go out. Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And see something coming in too.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah, yeah. Because like sometimes you be spending and you don't realize. Yes. The other thing, simple things. Like I always tell people, put your bill money in one bank, your spending money in a different bank.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Come on. So.

[Kandi Burruss]

Your cash app and f. Off money, you know, money you just mess up.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Put that in the other bank. Don't put it in your bill account because they will Go back. If you overdraft, they gonna overdraft out your bill money if it's in the same bank.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

And so you need to have them in separate banks, and then that allows you to like, okay, I'm gonna be able to budget my money. Right. My bill's gonna be on time. You know, everything gonna be right. I'm not gonna have anything coming out of this account. And don't even keep an ATM card for the that account. Yep. I don't even have an ATM card.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

I don't need for my main bank.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So, yeah, if somebody takes something out my wife, you think you got my ATM card? You ain't getting that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

You ain't getting nothing. It might be 200 in there that you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

Have at it, cuz you are not getting to the real money.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean? So, yeah, you got to be be vigilant with things like that because you could be your own worst enemy when it comes to budgeting and spending.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

And yeah, that's real.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You were 19 years old when you bought your first home and LL Cool J gave you advice saying, make sure you have a car that you own and a house that you own, so you always have a car to get around and a place to lay your head.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

First of all, a lot of people cannot say they bought a house at the age of 19, so hats off to you for that. But what did that lesson teach you at a very young age about just managing and homeownership? Because that's a big, big responsibility.

[Kandi Burruss]

Well, the other thing that he said was every time you get a check, throw a little bit extra towards the principal, because, you know, they allow you to, you know, take years off your loan. Yes. So as soon as he told me that, because I used to, when I was younger, I was better with money than I am now. Let me just say that I used to budget my checkbook down to the penny. Okay. So I had went home, I looked at a little statement, and you know how when you see it tells you the principal, the tax, and then, you know, the insurance and all that.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So when I added up my principal, I was like, it's really not that much going a year towards the principal.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

All of that's going to the interesting stuff. And then I realized what he was saying was right. And so I was like, okay, if I just put like, you know, so even if I got 500, I'm putting an extra $50 to the principal or I'm gonna put an extra you know, if I get a big check, extra thousand extra this, and then next thing you know, in over a couple of years, you can. You knocked that thing all the way down.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know, and it's important, especially when you are your own boss. Entertainment especially because you know our stuff is up and down. You know, one minute you popping, you making all the checks in the world, next minute you not. And you know, your run might last you a good five, 10 years. And some people think that never ends.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And it does.

[Kandi Burruss]

But if you got a 30 year loan, know that at the 10 year mark, your checks is not going to be the same as when you first started it or Your journey at 15, your 15 year mark is not going to be the same. Your job situation may change. Anything could change. So stop thinking you got so much time and money to be able to just blow right now.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

That's good Candy, you know what I mean?

[Kandi Burruss]

Because if you go ahead and start knocking that loan down.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

By the time you get 15 years into it and you can just stop and then you don't have a mortgage.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Come on out that part.

[Kandi Burruss]

What? You know, things like that people don't even think about. And it's little things that you can do.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You talked about the life insurance policy and.

[Kandi Burruss]

And that is still going viral. That interview was so long.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Are you serious?

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah, it just popped back up. I was like, oh wow, it keeps popping up.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I've been seeing it and I, I have a life insurance policy. And that was a part of the reason, like once you're the investment life insurance where you can pull from it. And I was like, oh wow. Like once you hit a certain age. How old were you when you learned about that?

[Kandi Burruss]

And So I was 12, 26. That was the year I had Riley.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

And my intentions were to, you know, make sure that Lord forbid something happened to me because you know, I'm single, mama.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

I'm like, lord forbid somebody don't make it out of here. At least she got something right. So I had got a pretty big policy at the time, but shout out to my people over at the bank, shout out to Kira. She had introduced me to at the first, I think it was. First one I did was with Hartford Life.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Okay.

[Kandi Burruss]

And they had did this whole analysis and they broke down how much I was going to. Cuz they say, okay, how much money do you think you need to retire? And back then I thought I was going to retire at 40, y'. All. I don't know what was I thinking? But they were like, okay, so. So this is how much you got to put into it in order to be able to retire at 40 and get $250,000 a year. Now, mind you, that was a lot of money I had to put into it.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Each year. But honestly, I ended up only having to put it in for eight years. I thought I was gonna have to put it into 40, but it was only to 40. If I wanted to start pulling out at 40.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

But to just lock it to where I never had to put no more money into it. It was, you know, like eight years. Yeah. So at that point I didn't put no more in. And it has grown to the point now. Well, to last year, I've upped it tremendously. So it was so much in it last year, my bank is like, you know, if you want, you can just do this exchange thing and it will triple the amount that. Yeah. That you were insured for previously.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Wow.

[Kandi Burruss]

And. But now I won't be able to pull out, pull any out for another few years.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

But during that time, let me just say, because so many people were like, you know, it's difference of opinions. So some people, investors say, well, the money that you put into that life insurance policy, you could have put it in this, they're always going to have another, you know, thing, and it would have grown this much and you could have had that much and blah, blah, blah, blah. But what I, knowing what I know now, so what I say, I always tell people to diversify. Don't just put in insurance. Obviously you want to have the insurance, because one insurance, hey, even if you ain't put that much in it and you kick the bucket tomorrow, your family got exactly what their insurance was worth.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

Okay. But the other part of it is the money that you put in there, it's, it's kind of protected because people, I mean, they could try, but they can't really sue your life insurance.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right, right, right.

[Kandi Burruss]

So that's another thing. The other thing is you can. The way that the investment policy works, you're able to borrow the money from your policy. So that's money you taking out tax free that you really ain't got to pay back. So as it's growing. So say for instance, when I bought my house and I bought a foreclosure, originally, it was a foreclosure. So at foreclosures, a lot of times you have to pay cash for.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

I was able to just go in, pull the money out, and then buy the house.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

You Know what I mean?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

And.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

And I'm good. You know what I'm saying? So it's. So it was so many benefits. And when the market went crazy, you know, like, remember that year when real estate, everything went to hell. I can't remember.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

It was crazy.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

My insurance was still there. Yeah, it was still there. You know, it didn't disappear.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

So I just rode out the market. You know what I mean? Whereas some people, you know, was panicking, so they was pulling their money out the side stocks. Yep. There was plenty of money out of this. And not realizing that eventually that stuff is gonna come. Go back up and higher.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So even the stocks that I had, I didn't. I didn't panic. I just left it there. And it grew back. It came back.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So I do tell people you should have it diversified and get you a little crypto, too.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yes. Okay. I haven't gotten there. I gotta get into that. Yes. I don't know. It's something about not being able to see it where I'm like, how does this really work? I don't know.

[Kandi Burruss]

You gotta take a little chance every now and then.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I'm gonna look into it for sure. You are now actually producing. You're on Broadway. You're doing so many different things outside of music. What pushed you to, like, I wanna start producing Broadway plays?

[Kandi Burruss]

Well, I feel like everything that I've done, I've always liked to know. I like to know the behind the scenes as well as in front. Don't matter if it was music. Obviously. I started going behind the scenes, writing and producing for other people. Tv, film. I was on camera. Then I started producing, you know, with film and television and same thing with Broadway. I was on Broadway with Chicago. On Broadway. Yes. And then I knew I wanted to. That was Mama back. I was Mama Morgan. Yes. And I knew I wanted to go back at some point and I didn't know in which way.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Opportunity came, came up to be a producer. And that's when I met my producing partner. Shout out to you, Brian Moreland. He was doing Thoughts of a Colored man at the time.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I went to say it twice.

[Kandi Burruss]

Oh, thank you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So good. Yes, you're welcome. It was so good.

[Kandi Burruss]

Thank you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

When I tell you cried both times. Phenomenal. Like, are they gonna bring that back?

[Kandi Burruss]

Because we need a come back.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

We should bring it back.

[Kandi Burruss]

It was a great learning experience and. But anyway, we. It was during COVID and it was so much going on at that time.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

I was very emotional. We had to shut it down early because of the rules on Broadway at that time.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

But we decided we was gonna go for another one, and we did. And each time it has gotten better and better and better, and I feel like I learned more and more, and now I feel like I'm official in this lane right now.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah, you just did Othello.

[Kandi Burruss]

Like, huge.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And I actually kind of went to that twice because Ashanna and I were supposed to go, and I bought the tickets on the wrong day. Got that. And they're like, eh. I'm like, try it again. Cause I know I bought these tickets. He's like, eh. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. Looked at the date. I was a week late.

[Kandi Burruss]

Oh, my goodness.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So went back. So, yeah, I went to see Othello twice, too, and I actually went to see it the second time, and it was. You're welcome.

[Kandi Burruss]

I appreciate it. Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So proud of you on that.

[Kandi Burruss]

That was huge. Thank you. It was like a blessing. Like, I was a. I was a theater kid when I was younger. I went to Tri Cities High School of Visual and Performing Arts. Shout out to try high everybody that went there. And I also was in the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta. Shout out to Freddie Hendricks. So that was something I did in my teen years that I always wanted to do, but music took off first for me. And after a while, being in music, I'm like, why haven't I ever tried to go after my initial dream?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Exactly.

[Kandi Burruss]

Like, why? So I just. I had changed my agent, and I told him what I wanted to do. I wanted to be on Broadway. And that's when I got the audition to do the Chicago and Broadway. And from there, I just was like, I just wanted to expand.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love that. When it comes to investments, what has been, like, the biggest thing that you were like, I regret doing that. That maybe when an investment fail for you because you've had a lot of successes.

[Kandi Burruss]

I take a lot of gambles. Oh. I've had a lot of things that have happened. So many things. Let me just. I can run a list. I mean, I can start with. Music is always a gamble. Okay. We love music being music. It's a gamble. I know at the one time I was doing my own album, and, you know, when you are, like, an opening and act, sometimes you have to get tour support from your label and stuff like that.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

And I remember my manager at the time told me I was supposed to be getting some money from the label that I was with at the time. He was like, oh, yeah, they're gonna pay this and that. And. And I was going to be on tour, so I started fronting the. The setup.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

For my. Myself, you know, because, you know, you got to get the hotels. It's a lot that talks about. About going on tours, a lot of things. So I started fronting all the money for myself. But we about to actually leave to go out. Ain't no money came yet from. I'm like, well, where the money at?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

What?

[Kandi Burruss]

And like two weeks into the tour, after I'm like a hundred and some thousand dollars in, he tells me that they said that they weren't paying it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Oh, no, he got to pay that because what.

[Kandi Burruss]

No, no, I had it. Money gone. Oh, my gosh. And I'm one of those people, like, I don't mind gambling.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

But I like to prepare. Right? Like, I'll be like, okay, I'm gonna gamble this on that. And. But when you don't know that you gambling when you spend it.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right.

[Kandi Burruss]

And you don't know that it's counting.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

For that to come back.

[Kandi Burruss]

Exactly.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So I had to go. I had to grind that money right back. I was like, oh, my God. Get back. Get to the streets. What are we doing? So, yeah, now I've been gambling on a girl group.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You know, how do you pronounce them?

[Kandi Burruss]

Siren.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Siren. Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah. And I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. People don't know how much it takes to like, get a girl group off and get started.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

So expensive.

[Kandi Burruss]

So expensive. And one of the girls quit.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

What?

[Kandi Burruss]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Does she know how much you. You've been investing in her? In them, Candy and those.

[Kandi Burruss]

Anyway, how do you, like, what is.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Are you like, infuriated? Are you like, what is happening?

[Kandi Burruss]

I am so infuriated. So infuriated. Because it's one thing when you're gambling on someone, on yourself, but when you gambling on other people's, that's a real gamble. And you want to see other people.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Win saying more than they want to see it.

[Kandi Burruss]

You, you, you have to understand that when you see it for somebody else so bad that you willing to put your money on the line for them.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

And then only for it to fall apart. Only for you to know that people gonna be like, well, they should have did this or why Candy didn't do this. And I be thinking about all this money I didn't spend.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Right. Child.

[Kandi Burruss]

I'm like, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. Yeah. That's the behind the stuff. Behind the scenes stuff people don't see.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

And then you meet, I meet a million people. That's like, candy, will you do this for me or will you invest that in me? And when you. They don't understand where the apprehension comes from because it's not the first time that I've tried to help another artist or whatever. And you know, now I'm like trying to figure out like, okay, what do we do in this situation? I still got two more young ladies that are extremely talented that I still want them to win. It's like, you know, where do we go from here? You know what I'm saying?

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

So it is. Yeah.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I want to ask you something. Just came to me as you were saying that everybody's all, candy, candy, candy, candy, candy. When you go home at night after heavy days, like, what is your reset? Like, how do you cope with everything?

[Kandi Burruss]

Oof.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Because it seems like it's a lot.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah, it is a lot. My last week was heavy. I decided to go to a hotel and treat myself to a spa.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Good for you. Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

At home. What is it? Staycation. Yep. But honestly, I don't really take a lot of time for myself. I don't really take a lot of time to. Wooa.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

I'm always just jumping to the next thing and trying to keep things going.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Business wise or to keep my focus in a good place because, you know, I'm you creative. I'm a creative. So, you know, sometimes that creative energy just picks you up.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

It does.

[Kandi Burruss]

You know what I mean?

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Puts another. It puts a battery in your back.

[Kandi Burruss]

And you're like, yeah, it definitely puts a battery in your back. So that and hanging out with my kids, you know, that's the fun stuff.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Do you ever feel like you're pouring from an empty cup?

[Kandi Burruss]

All the time.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Depleted. So I want to challenge you to take time for yourself. That's important. That's crazy that you're like, I don't do that. You have to. I think in, in those moments you'll probably. Which is a big part of the fasting right now is because I'm like you. I'm like, go, go, go. What's next? How can we build? How can we scale? It's like, like, okay, I need to be still for a minute, you know, and really like figure out what do I truly want. Am I in a, like on a, in a rat race right now? Am I just going on a hamster wheel in circles to really figure out what it is that you want and like find those moments of just candy's happiness? Because it sounds like, you feed into a lot of people and everybody's like, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Someone. I want to challenge you to do that because you need that, sis.

[Kandi Burruss]

I'll try.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yes, please, dude, don't try. We got to do it. I'm telling you, like I tell my people all the time, like, listen, if you need a moment, like, go like I please. Because we can't be our best selves and show up as our best sales if we're always exhausted and always, like, constantly having to, like, think of the next thing.

[Kandi Burruss]

That is true. Yeah, that's true.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

You can do it.

[Kandi Burruss]

I got a real busy end of year.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah, you probably need a little moment right before that just so you can push through that. Even if it's just a little staycation on the weekend, you can do it.

[Kandi Burruss]

Something, something.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

When it comes to this season where it's all about impact now, when your story is told years from now, what do you want Candy Burris legacy to be when they talk about you?

[Kandi Burruss]

Ooh. You know, it's always kind of weird when people ask me that question because I be like, oh, what are they going to say about me when I'm going.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I always think about that. I was like, what are they going to say?

[Kandi Burruss]

I want people to say that had. I was a woman who opened doors for a lot of people and I helped a lot of people along the way.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Like, I wanted to be so many people that stand up and say, Candy looked out for me, you know what I mean? And. Or, you know, whatever the experience was, helped them in some way. Like, you know, obviously I want to set my kids up for greatness, and I want them to be. Be set up to enjoy life and be happy.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

And. But I want, you know, to feel like I helped my community, I helped my friends, I helped my family, and I did it with no complaints.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love that. I love that when you saying that, that people, that you looked out for people. I remember it was very small, but it meant so much to me. We were at fashion week and it was my first fashion week. And I'm standing in the room, the basement of Sergio Hudson's show, and like, everybody's like, candy, Candy. Everybody take pictures. And they're like, nobody's like, crystal, let's take your picture. And you're like, crystal, come on. And it was just that moment of being seen in a room where you. God, here it comes again. I'm not gonna cry today. You're not gonna do this to me.

[Kandi Burruss]

I was like, I can't believe I made it without crying today.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

But it's a moment of, like, being seen in a room where you feel invisible. And in that moment, you saw me, and I think that was just a small glimpse of me being able to see your heart and who you are. I was like, now thanked you. Then I was like, thank you so much because you didn't have to do that. And you're like, no, you're welcome. But it was so sweet. I was like, it may have been small to you, but it was really big to me.

[Kandi Burruss]

Thank you. I mean, overall, like I told you, I love what you're doing, your growth, you know, I remember, you know, before you start being on tv.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Just hanging around. Gauche and being around.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Kandi Burruss]

Just being in same circles. I just always. I admired your, you know, your journey that you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Thank you.

[Kandi Burruss]

And I'm like, anything that I can do to help shine a light, I'm gonna do that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I appreciate that.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yeah, I feel that.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And I know my community is rooting for you. We're gonna support everything you have going on.

[Kandi Burruss]

Thank you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

And is there if there's anything like upcoming that we can jump on when this episode airs, please let us know. Yeah, let us know how we can support. And we'll make sure that we put that in the caption and say, hey, make sure y' all support Candy or put in our stories. Whatever we can do.

[Kandi Burruss]

Thank you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

We got you, sis. Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much.

[Kandi Burruss]

Well, thanks for having me.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Yes.

[Kandi Burruss]

I had a good time. Yes.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

If you could tell our audience where they can find you.

[Kandi Burruss]

Okay. Hey, everybody, you can find me at Candy K A n D I on pretty much all social media platforms. Candy online, on YouTube, on Patreon. It's Candy too. K A n D I And oh, I always tell people to text me. Oh, yeah. You know, I got my little text family. Always shout out to y'.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

All.

[Unidentified Female Guest or Co-host]

Love it.

[Kandi Burruss]

Text me. The number is 4044-5894-6440-4458, 9464. Text me. Tell me what you thought about this interview.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I love it. Make sure you guys tap in with Kandy. Thank you guys so much. And Kandy, thank you for your time.

[Kandi Burruss]

Thank you.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

Yes. All right, so today's fit. I am wearing a chocolate brown Ronnie Cobo dress. Absolutely love this dress. Earrings, Bible take advantage of. My bracelet is by Tom Ford and Cartier. Wearing my signature jewelry. And my shoes are a gold metallic pump by Dolce and Gabbana Sweeties Today's conversation was everything. It really was. It was fun, it was unfiltered and full of gems that only Candy could give. You know, I love that she's always showing that you can build an empire and still be your authentic self every.

[Kandi Burruss]

Step of the way.

[Chris Renee Hazel]

I really enjoyed having this conversation and I hope you enjoyed it just as much as I did. In the meantime, in between time, keep it positive, Sweeties. And if you know someone that could use a little positivity, share this podcast with them. See you guys next time.

[Juju Green]

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[Juju Green]

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[Kandi Burruss]

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[Juju Green]

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[Chris Renee Hazel]

Back to school is an exciting time, but it can also be overwhelming and.

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[Chris Renee Hazel]

That human traffickers can exploit. Human trafficking doesn't always look like what you expect. Everyday moments can become opportunities for someone with bad intentions.

[Juju Green]

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[Chris Renee Hazel]

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[Kandi Burruss]

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