As with any new cast of the Real Housewives franchise, viewers get to know both the personal and professional lives of the ladies on screen. Such was the case with the premiere season of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. We got to see Mary Cosby as the “first lady” of her church, Lisa Barlow setting up venues for Sundance, Meredith Marks’ boutique and fashion line, and Heather Gay expanding her spa business.
But Jen Shah was always noticeably vague about what she did except to say that she was in marketing. We got a quick scan of her offices during an early episode, but that’s it. She brought her “boss bitch” self to the Shah Squad though, who thanklessly turned Jen into our favorite glam-zilla for the cast events.
But a recently unearthed interview gives insight into how Jen amassed her millions. In November 2020, Jen described the details of her marketing business to Access.
When asked how she financed her lavish lifestyle, Jen described racial prejudice that she perceives when asked about her money.
“Its funny because a lot of the ladies are like, ‘oh my gosh where does Jen get all her money?’” she said, “and I think part of it like here in Utah, the ladies are like, ‘oh my gosh how does the brown girl and the black guy have all this money?’”
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Jen continued, “they’re like, ‘that’s weird.’ No it’s not weird. But I own three different marketing companies and we do lead generation, data monetization, customer acquisition.”
In a following statement that hasn’t aged well, Jen compared herself to lovable con artist, the Wizard of Oz.
“The best way to describe it is, I’m the Wizard of Oz,” Jen said, “I’m the one behind the curtain that nobody knows exists but I’m the one making everything happen. So when ads are popping to you guys, when you’re like, ‘how the hell do they know I’m shopping at Neiman Marcus?’ That’s me.”
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Jen described the full reach of her companies. “And if you think about it, you know how much traffic is on the internet every second, all the people clicking. I’m making money on every click. Every time you click on anything, I’m getting some money.”
Jen then used these profits to fund other money-making ventures. She explained, “because I’ve been blessed to be successful with my marketing background and my companies and I really found a niche within the direct response marketing world, that I’ve been able to branch out and invest in our fashion company, our skincare line, our lash line.”
“People will come to me, and I’ll invest in their companies,” Jen described further dealings of her business practice, “so we’ve got a lot of different investments, all different kinds of things. But I’ve been able to do it because of what I’ve been able to carve out in the direct response marketing world.”
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Jen’s seemed on top of the world during this interview, call it delusional. What a difference when you pull back the curtain. All you’re left with is smoke and mirrors. And a potential jail sentence.
TELL US- WHAT DO YOU THINK OF JEN COMPARING HERSELF TO THE WIZARD OF OZ? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HER BUSINESS MODEL?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]