Kandi Burruss Is Reeling In a New Chapter — and Betting on Herself Again
Kandi Burruss Is Reeling In a New Chapter — and Betting on Herself Again
The Grammy-winning songwriter, entrepreneur and entertainer talks exclusively with The Culture News about reinvention, business lessons, collaboration and what’s next ahead of the Teach to Fish Business Summit.
By Jessica Garrett Modkins
Kandi Burruss knows what it means to build.
She has spent more than three decades building a career that stretches across music, television, theater and entrepreneurship. She has written hit records, built businesses, developed brands and repeatedly found new ways to turn creativity into opportunity.
But at this stage of her life and career, Burruss is discovering that building something new sometimes requires being willing to let something else go.
Ahead of her featured appearance at the 5th annual Teach to Fish North Miami Business Summit, Burruss sat down with The Culture News for an exclusive conversation about business, reinvention, risk and entering a new chapter on her own terms.
This year’s Teach to Fish theme is “Reel It In.”
So, what is Kandi Burruss trying to reel in?
A fresh start.
“I’m embracing stepping into this new world on my own, without a life partner,” Burruss said. “For so long, I felt like things would be so much better if I had a partner in life to do these things with.”
Following her decision to divorce, Burruss said she also made the decision to leave behind some of the businesses she shared with her former partner.
The transition was not easy.
“I was sad about it, but at the same time, I felt like it was the best thing for me,” she said.
Today, however, she describes herself as experiencing a “reawakening.”
“It’s a new beginning,” Burruss said. “I’m starting fresh, and I have a newfound excitement about a lot of the things I’m planning and doing. So that’s what I’m reeling in: the excitement I have for these new things I’m planning to do.”
Knowing when it’s time to walk away
For entrepreneurs, letting go can be especially difficult when the business is still working.
Burruss has learned that lesson firsthand.
Several years ago, she made the decision to step away from Tags, the clothing boutique she operated with a business partner. The company had been in business for more than 15 years and still had an established customer base.
It was not a failure.
It simply no longer fit where Burruss wanted to invest her time.
“I had a lot on my plate,” she said. “I was being pulled in a lot of different directions, and I wanted to narrow my focus.”
Burruss realized she was leaving more of the business decisions to her partner and eventually concluded that allowing her partner to continue the company independently was the better decision.
“We had a long run,” Burruss said. “It was great, but it was just time.”
It is a lesson that challenges a common belief among entrepreneurs that success always means adding something else.
Sometimes, growth means determining what no longer deserves your energy.
Building something bigger than your name
For many entrepreneurs, one of the most difficult transitions is moving from creating a job for themselves to creating a company that can function without them.
Burruss is still working through that challenge.
“When a brand has your name on it, you obviously have to be a major part of that business,” she said.
But she has also learned the importance of surrounding herself with people capable of helping the company operate and grow.
At Bedroom Kandi, Burruss said strong business partners, consultants and a board made up of some of the company’s top salespeople help guide decisions.
“We lean on them for their opinions and their know-how so we can make better decisions as a company,” she said.
The goal is longevity.
“When you leave, you want the business to keep going,” Burruss said. “That’s something I’m still working to perfect, because it’s important to me.”
Bedroom Kandi has been in business for roughly 15 years, and Burruss said maintaining a company that long requires constant attention to reinvention.
“Over time, you have to keep figuring out how to reinvent a brand to keep new energy flowing and get new eyes on it,” she said.
Her biggest lesson about building?
Stop trying to do everything yourself.
“If you want to build, you can’t do it all by yourself,” Burruss said. “It’s just not going to work.”
Betting on Kandi
Burruss has never been afraid to invest in herself.
But one of the biggest financial risks of her music career also became one of her biggest business lessons.
She recalled investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into a tour after being told she would receive tour support and believing she would recover much of the money she invested.
She did not.
“That was a major lesson,” Burruss said.
The experience taught her to become more deliberate about understanding the potential return before making a major investment.
“I would never again put money out without a clear understanding of what I expect to get back,” she said.
Interestingly, losing on that investment did not make Burruss afraid of taking risks.
It did the opposite.
When the tour did not generate the return she expected, she found other ways to make the money back, including appearances and other business opportunities.
“Sometimes you take a gamble and don’t win, but it can still benefit your business,” Burruss said.
She believes entrepreneurs sometimes have to make significant investments in marketing, visibility and growth before they can see the return.
She pointed to another decision: hiring two publicists instead of one.
It was expensive.
It also worked.
“I saw the difference it made in my career,” Burruss said. “You’ve got to gamble on yourself. You do.”
One business decision she would change
Success has given Burruss plenty of examples of what works.
Failure has given her lessons she remembers just as clearly.
When asked about a business decision she got wrong, Burruss immediately pointed to the restaurant industry.
She and her former partner already had two Old Lady Gang restaurants when they decided to create another concept, Blaze Steak & Seafood.
Looking back, Burruss believes they should have concentrated on strengthening Old Lady Gang.
“We had built a name and an established brand, and at the time we only had two locations,” she said. “Instead of jumping from thing to thing in the restaurant industry, we should have focused on that one, because there was still so much we needed to fix and perfect.”
Timing also became an issue.
Blaze opened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In my opinion, it just wasn’t smart to do it then,” Burruss said.
More importantly, she said she had doubts about the decision before moving forward.
The experience reinforced another lesson she now carries into business decisions.
“I should have stuck with what my first mind told me,” she said.
You don’t need celebrity to start
Burruss will take the stage at Teach to Fish before an audience that includes entrepreneurs at very different stages of business.
Most will not have celebrity.
Many will not have major investors or powerful industry connections.
Burruss does not believe that should stop them.
Technology has made it possible for entrepreneurs to establish a presence and begin marketing a company long before they have significant capital.
“Today, with ChatGPT, AI and social media, there’s absolutely no reason you shouldn’t have a way to promote yourself or your business online,” Burruss said.
She believes entrepreneurs should have a quality website and use the digital tools available to market their products and services, create content and connect with potential customers.
“There are so many things you can do that don’t cost much money to get your name out there and start building your brand,” she said.
In other words, entrepreneurs do not have to wait until they have everything to begin behaving like a serious business.
Collaboration is key
There is another business strategy Burruss believes entrepreneurs often underestimate.
Collaboration.
“Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration,” she said.
Burruss encourages business owners to identify people and companies serving similar audiences and find opportunities to work together.
“When you connect with other people whose businesses have a similar following or a similar niche, you can build your brand more easily,” she said.
That could mean producing events together, developing joint marketing efforts or creating other opportunities that expose both brands to new customers.
But Burruss stresses that collaboration should be strategic.
She looks for people who are driven, have strong ideas and are genuinely working to grow their businesses.
“It definitely helps,” she said.
Staying connected to the brand
From fashion and restaurants to entertainment and Bedroom Kandi, Burruss has entered businesses that may appear very different from one another.
For her, however, there is a common denominator.
She actually likes the things she sells and creates.
“The things I choose to work on are all things I personally like,” Burruss said.
That connection has helped her move across industries without completely disconnecting from the audience that initially knew her through music.
Entertainment remains at the center.
“Entertainment and music are things I just love, and I’d do them even if I wasn’t getting paid,” she said. “Sometimes you do things for the love, and sometimes you do things for the money.”
For Burruss, the strongest opportunities do both while remaining aligned with who she is and the audience that supports her.
What’s next for Kandi?
Ask Burruss what is next and the answer is simple.
“Too much!”
She is moving deeper into the creative side of her career, with upcoming projects in theater and television.
She is already involved with multiple television projects, although she said she cannot announce the details yet.
Music is also very much part of the plan.
Burruss said she is working with an artist she is excited about and that Xscape has new things in the works.
Then there is another chapter — literally.
Burruss is preparing to enter the literary world with a book.
And for anyone expecting a celebrity memoir filled with personal revelations, she quickly offers a clarification.
It is fiction.
Not a tell-all.
“I’m just excited to really go harder in my creative work,” Burruss said.
Her ability to move among multiple industries has long prompted the same question from observers: How does she do it all?
Burruss does not necessarily have an answer.
“I know it sounds crazy, because people ask, ‘How are you doing all of that?’” she said. “I ask myself that question too, but I’m going to keep it going.”
After more than three decades of creating, building and reinventing, perhaps that is what “Reel It In” looks like for Kandi Burruss now.
Not chasing everything.
Not holding onto everything.
But understanding what deserves her energy, learning from what did not work, surrounding herself with the right people and having enough confidence to begin again.
And once again, betting on Kandi.
This version draws directly from Burruss’ interview responses about risk and investing in herself, including the tour investment and her decision to spend more on publicity. Her comments about technology, collaboration and what entrepreneurs can do before they have significant resources are also taken directly from the interview.
