It’s hard to remember a time in which Kim Kardashian’s face wasn’t on magazines, billboards, and social media posts everywhere. She is now considered to be one of the biggest celebrities in the United States, owning a beauty line, starring in a reality television show, and boasting a sizable number of social media followers. Nevertheless, this wasn’t always her reality. Many people don’t realize that Kardashian actually got her start as a professional closet organizer, with one of her clients being Serena Williams, according to Showbiz Cheat Sheet .
Of course, Kardashian was no stranger to the limelight even when she was still young. Her father, celebrated lawyer Robert Kardashian, infamously defended O.J. Simpson during one of the most well-known murder trials of all time. When she was older, she used her connections to make a name for herself. Many people believe it was her friendship with Paris Hilton that truly gave her the boost she needed to start getting her name out there.
Kardashian has spoken about this period of her life in recent interviews, admitting that she and Hilton used every opportunity they could to be seen by paparazzi.
“We’d go anywhere and everywhere just to be seen. We knew exactly where to go, where to be seen, how to have something written about you. All you had to do is go to this restaurant, or this party, talk about whatever you want to talk about, and it would be in the paper the next day.”
She started out as Hilton’s closet organizer, and made appearances on Hilton’s reality show, The Simple Life. Her strategy was simple. She’d go to her clients’ homes and organize their closet, taking out anything they no longer wanted. She would then sell these items, often designer accessories, for them on eBay. Before long, she was securing big-name clients like Cindy Crawford and even Serena Williams.
Shortly after, she was the subject of a sex tape scandal along with well-known singer Ray J. What most would expect to be a traumatizing experience for Kardashian, ended up giving her even more exposure, and before long, she was a household name.
By 2007, she and her famous family started their reality television series, which is still airing today. Keeping up with the Kardashians is now on its eleventh season and has followed the ups and downs of not only Kim, but her sisters Kourtney, Khloe, Robert, Kendal, and Kylie. The show helped bring the remaining five siblings into the limelight, and secure careers of their own.