How Instagram Led to one Tween’s Passion Project
How Instagram Led to one Tween's Passion Project My tween helped both of us to find inspiration through Instagram. It all started when Penny got an iPhone. My stepdaughter was nine at the time, which may seem young for a phone of any kind, but my husband and I had decided, back when she was eight, to start her with a BlackBerry Bold, as a way to keep in touch with her when she wasn’t with us. The BlackBerry Bold 9900 debuted in 2011; getting one in 2016 is not exactly a tween’s dream. Its only purpose is for talking. Texting is nearly impossible and forget about apps or games. So there was no real worry about her spending too much time on it. When she was at her mom’s house she could call us to say good morning and we could call her to say goodnight. She said “Thanks” with very little enthusiasm when we gave it to her for her birthday. My stepson, who is two years older, had about the same level of enthusiasm when he got a similar BlackBerry Bold when he turned eight. But she knew the drill. Don’t lose or break the retro phone, and when you’re nine you’ll get upgraded. And she did it. So a year-and-a-half later she scored my old iPhone 5S in rose gold. And with it, she had access to the world of Instagram, Snapchat and every other app out there. Within minutes she asked if she could get an Instagram account. Initially, we said no. We were already aware of our friends’ opinions about our decision to allow our kids to have phones so young, and we were conscious of the pressure it can put on other parents when their kids come home from school saying that other kids in their class have phones. Trust me, I get it. And if my stepkids lived with us full-time, we definitely wouldn’t give them phones. My son, who is four, is certainly not getting a phone when he’s seven, or eight, or nine, or even 10. But if you are divorced, and even a day goes by where you don’t see your kids, then you get it. The phone was our lifeline to Penny. But the apps? That, we weren’t sure about. And yet, neither of us wanted to ban it. I follow the theory of “everything in moderation” in both my own life and parenting and social
Kandi Burruss Always Means Business!
Kandi Burruss Always Means Business! How the reality star juggles motherhood, marriage and managing more than a few businesses Kandi Burruss’ social media profile seems to grow every single week. At the time of writing, she had gained 100,000 followers on Instagram in just one week, bringing her follower count to 5.8 million. She also has 1.8 million followers on Twitter and 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, all of which clearly point to Kandi’s incredible work ethic and determination to make her dreams a reality. It was during the ‘90s that her career kicked off, when she started a girl group called XSCAPE. Since then, she’s had albums that have gone platinum, has written the songs “No Scrubs” for TLC, and “Bills, Bills, Bills” for Destiny’s Child, and in 2009, Kandi joined The Real Housewives of Atlanta, which launched her into a new level of stardom and has made her a household name. She runs her own businesses, is a full-time reality TV star, and is raising her 22-year-old stepdaughter, Kaela Tucker, 16-year-old daughter, Riley, and her two-year-old son, Ace. At only 42 years old, Burruss has established an empire for herself, is in a loving relationship with her husband, Todd and has also done everything in her power to be as involved in her kids’ lives as much as possible. She sat down with INBETWEEN to talk about the 11th season of The Real Housewives, regulating social media for her teen, and how she keeps her newest business venture, Kandi Koated Beauty, hustling. THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA It’s not unusual for a Real Housewives series to continue for more than 10 seasons – especially when you factor in the plethora of life-changing events that are too large or drama-filled to cover within just one show. Burruss has seen great success with The Kandi Factory and Kandi’s Wedding spinoffs, with the latter bringing in huge ratings for Bravo. The 11th season is currently airing and brings with it the same flair from previous seasons, but with a little more emotion. “It’s more focused on real-life stories and situations that people are going through,” says Burruss. “We’re trying to support each other a bit more and pay attention to what’s happening in each other’s lives.” It’s no secret that Kandi has had to butt heads with other stars on the show, like NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak, but more recently, she’s also had to handle comments that have been
