What Riley Burruss has learned from being on 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' for over a decade

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Riley Burruss has had a front-row seat to conquering the entertainment business for more than a decade now, having been able to watch her mother’s success grow over the years.

The public first met Riley back in 2009, when her mother, singer-songwriter Kandi Burruss, joined The Real Housewives of Atlanta in Season 2. Since then, Kandi has expanded her empire beyond music and recently became the longest-running Real Housewife on any franchise in Bravo history. Riley stopped by In The Know’s original series Growing Up Reality to reflect with host Brooks Marks on what it was like growing up in front of the cameras with Kandi as a mother.

“Currently I’m in my third year at NYU and I’m currently interning, trying to get more into the music industry,” Riley said. “I’m interning at a label right now, and I feel like I’m in my rebranding era, to be honest. I’m trying to find my thing. I want to work in the music industry on the business side, so of course she played a huge role in that. She didn’t go to college, and I’m going to college, so I feel like we’re able to learn from each other. She’s also able to tell me her life experiences, because she learned things as she [did them] as opposed to me learning in the classroom. I feel like her [experience] is way more valuable.”

“I’ve seen her do so many different kinds of business, not even just music. I’d say that as a whole has inspired me,” she continued. “Seeing her do everything by herself and just killing it is what inspired me. It also helps me that she’s already made so many connections, especially other women in the industry. It’s been good to also meet them and get advice from them and build a foundation.”

Riley was just a little kid when she first appeared on RHOA, and she told Brooks that she doesn’t really remember much of life before her family was on TV, noting that “it has its pros and cons, especially over time having people see you grow up from a literal child to now being a full-grown adult.” Her experience differs greatly from that of Brooks, whose reality television journey started with the premiere of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City when he was 19. Which does she think would be more challenging?

“My sister Kaela started [appearing on the show] when she was like 18, and I feel like it probably affected her way more than it affected me, because she was an adult and was thrown into it overnight,” she mused. “I definitely would say that probably if you get into it later, it’s worse.”

That being said, being on television for the majority of her life so far and dealing with everything that comes with the territory has taught her some valuable life lessons that she wouldn’t trade for anything.

“Personally, what I’ve learned is just to not even look at comments or anything, because a lot of people just like to be negative for no reason. I just feel like I like to tune it out,” Riley said, before sharing some advice for Brooks. “As much hate and negativity we receive as kids growing up on a show, I’d say take advantage of literally anything you can. We didn’t go through it for nothing! If y’all are going to hate on me, then I’m going to take these opportunities, get something good out of it and just look at the positives.”

So does she see her family’s life in the spotlight ever coming to a close? Given that her mother is on no fewer than three shows on Bravo right now, that’s a difficult thing for Riley to envision.

“I’m honestly not sure [what life would be like after TV],” she said on Growing Up Reality. “I haven’t really thought about it because it’s all I’ve ever known. I can’t imagine my family not being on TV, so I’m honestly not sure. I don’t really see that happening anytime soon.”

Watch Riley Burruss’s full episode of Growing Up Reality With Brooks Marks below:

If you enjoyed this episode, check out longtime “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Gia Giudice’s recent interview on “Growing Up Reality With Brooks Marks” here!

The post What Riley Burruss has learned from watching her mom, ‘RHOA’ star Kandi Burruss, navigate fame appeared first on In The Know.