While sister Kim may make the most headlines, and Kylie might be the family billionaire,
Kourtney has a vibe that's all her own. From pint-sized fashionista, to a business woman
with a plan, here's why Kourtney Kardashian is turning heads.
Kourtney Kardashian was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1979. The eldest sibling lived
a charmed life from the start, since her parents — Robert and Kris Kardashian — were very
well to do, thanks to her father's fame as a celebrity lawyer.
But by 1991, the once happy couple divorced, and Kris went on to marry renowned Olympic
gold medalist Bruce — later Caitlyn — Jenner. This resulted in Kourtney becoming part of
a large, blended family, with siblings from several different marriages. Naturally, this
transition was initially a difficult one.
"I think it definitely affected my relationship today."
A former nanny for the Kardashian family alleged to the New York Daily News,
"Bruce tried to engage with Kourtney and to parent her as a good stepfather would. Kourtney
wanted nothing to do with it."
Kourt — as well as all of her sisters — are at the forefront of the latest fashion and
beauty trends. And, as it turns out, that passion for aesthetics is something that Kourtney
was already cultivating as a young girl. She told Rose Incorporated,
"Kim and I would always play in my mom's bathroom, where she had a vanity and lucite makeup box
filled with makeup. I remember her Saint Laurent lipsticks that had big jeweled red hearts
at the ends."
"These are my little Dolce bananas. Mom. Oh no. I am so wearing these. La cucaracha."
Kris's vanity wasn't the only place where Kourt and her sisters developed their style
smarts. They also spent a lot of time in Jenner's designer-packed closet. Kourtney told Harper's
Bazaar,
"We had this game we played. I was Donna Karan and [Kim] was my assistant, and I was really
bossy."
After graduating from Marymount High School in L.A. in 1998, Kourtney headed to college
at Southern Methodist University in Texas, later transferring to the University of Arizona,
where she earned her bachelor's degree in 2002. But she wouldn't need that education
to find massive success. By 2007, Keeping Up with the Kardashians had exploded on E!,
rendering all of the Kardashians mega-celebs. Kourt told Paper magazine,
"I never thought it was going to become this thing, but everything just happened so quickly
from when we shot the sizzle reel or whatever."
"That is so, like, catty of you. What are you talking about? She said you have a lot
of junk in your trunk. I meant outside in your car."
Once the floodgates had opened and America's obsession with the Kardashian clan ignited,
several spin-off shows followed, making Kourtney Kardashian a household name.
Kourtney found love while on vacation in Mexico in 2006, just before Season One of Keeping
Up with the Kardashians debuted in 2007. And once the cameras started rolling, fans of
the family were also introduced to Kourt's boyfriend Scott Disick, who would go on to
regularly appear in the series — and just about every single one of its spin-offs.
"You're obviously in a really annoying mood. Is that right. At least your hair looks nice…with
your $5,000 extensions."
But it was evident from the start that the on-again, off-again couple didn't always have
the easiest time of making things work. Scott was immediately accused of cheating on Episode
1, and spats between the pair were a very regular thing. Still, the couple did have
moments of genuine tenderness, which made some viewers hopeful that the romance could
one day lead to a wedding.
Unfortunately for fans of the couple, any thoughts of a happily ever after were dashed
during the Season 1 finale of Kourtney and Kim Take New York. When the couple discussed
marriage over dinner, Kourtney put the kibosh on Scott's engagement ambitions, adding,
"Why mess it up? I just feel like right now I'm pretty happy with the way things are."
While Kourtney and Scott never made it official, they had three beautiful children together:
Mason, Penelope, and Reign. And according to Kourt, becoming a mother was one of the
best things she ever did. She revealed to Parents,
"It has changed me and made me realize there is nothing else I would rather do with my
time. Being a mom is what life is about."
"My kids' amazing art is always on display. Even though some of it is out of season."
In addition to filling her life with purpose, motherhood has also provided Kourtney the
chance to get in touch with her own inner-child. She told Harper's Bazaar,
"I actually think my favorite part is that you relive your own childhood — going to
Disneyland and watching all the movies I watched when I was a kid. It's really fun — you
almost get to be a kid again and do all those magical things."
"I just wanted to tell you that I am pregnant."
While she may not be as Instagram-famous for her backside as her sister is, Kourtney works
hard for her bod. And of course, when she was pregnant, her signature fit look was completely
transformed. She blogged,
"I gained exactly 40 pounds with all three of my pregnancies, but my body and my experience
after having each of my kids was so different."
She said that with each of her kids, she was in different physical, mental, and even emotional
states. And in order for Kourtney to return to her ideal look, she did various workouts
after each child was born. Sometimes that meant a lot of hard cardio, like boxing, and
sometimes that meant doing lighter exercises, like yoga. She said,
"The most important thing is to listen to your body and to do what you're doing for
you, not for society's standards of getting your body back, because they are unrealistic.
This was my journey."
"I don't feel self conscious about any part of my body."
Kourtney and Scott's relationship was full of ups and downs, and eventually the two decided
to call it off completely. In 2015, after nearly a decade, the couple officially split,
and soon started seeing other people. But their breakup doesn't mean they're not down
with the whole co-parenting thing. Kourt told Cosmo,
"We try to do as much with the kids together as possible. [Scott] pretty much comes here
every day."
"I feel like you think you can go out and do whatever you want, and purposely try to
hurt me, and still get invited to everything."
Despite their troubles, as fans know, Scott has basically become part of the family himself.
It's a silver lining, considering both of his parents have passed away and he was an
only child. And, fortunately, Kourtney isn't bothered by the tight-knit relationship her
ex has with her fam. She told the outlet,
"They're in the loop if I am annoyed at him. But if he needs to talk to them, I think it's
only beneficial to us keeping a good relationship."
Pretty much everything that Kourtney does is scrutinized by the public. But in cultivating
her public persona, Kourt has become somewhat of an open book about personal issues, including
her struggles with anxiety. She said in a chat with Health,
"For the past three years I've been going to therapy. Having that awareness, I find
that I can almost catch things before they become a bigger deal."
And that's not all that the eldest Kardashian does to care for herself, either. She revealed,
"My workouts are key, too. And I go to church once a week, if I can. I go with friends,
and we go to dinner afterward."
"I think we need to do some soul-searching. Speak for yourself."
That social stimulus helps the self-professed homebody venture out of the house, something
she says she has to force herself to do.
Kourtney certainly hasn't shied away from expressing just how stressful living life
as a reality star can be. While some folks might think that being a Kardashian is all
luxury vacations and red carpet events, as Kourtney tells it, the lifestyle actually
takes quite a toll on her wellbeing. This became even more apparent for the star as
she prepared to celebrate her 40th birthday. She revealed to E! News,
"There was this pressure, I think of where you think you're supposed to be at a certain
age. I think, for some reason, 40 for me really made me analyze my life."
"I do think that turning 40, like it almost makes you analyze like where you're at in
your life."
And it appears that the people around Kourtney only made the occasion more difficult, due
to their high expectations. She said of her upcoming birthday celebration,
"There was intense pressure from everyone. Like, 'You have to look the best you've ever
looked walking down the stairs to your party.'"
Given that Kourtney famously does not enjoy being the center of attention, she found herself
unsure as to whether she even wanted a party at all. But, all stress aside, Kourtney said
that she actually woke up in good spirits on her birthday, and now that she has firmly
stepped into her 40s, she's feeling, quote, "amazing."
Kourtney has always been known as the hippie sister of her famous family — after all,
she's all about eating and living as clean as possible. So it's no surprise, then, that
Kourt decided to launch her own health and wellness brand, Poosh, in 2019. She explained
to Health at the time,
"There is this image out there of the woman who cares about eating organic and feeding
her kids that way that is somehow uncool. That's not the case, and I wanted to make
something that embodied my passions and interests."
"It's non-judgemental, it's informative and it's a conversation."
Borrowing its moniker from Kourtney's pet name for her daughter, Poosh aims to be a
community that fosters healthy living for its members. Kourt shared in a chat with Paper
magazine,
"Poosh is about a way to live, not necessarily which items to buy. But I do like having that,
too."
"These are pretty genius."
In 2020, Kourtney shocked longtime viewers of Keeping Up with the Kardashians when she
made the decision to stop appearing on the reality TV juggernaut. At the time, she told
Vogue Arabia,
"I have been filming the show non-stop for 14 years. I was feeling unfulfilled, and it
became a toxic environment for me to continue to have it occupy as much of my life as it
was."
"I was anxious about filming this season. It doesn't make me happy. Like, I don't want
to miss out on, like, time with my kids."
Kourtney's primary motivation for leaving the show was to get some of her privacy back,
but she has since found that balance difficult to maintain. She added,
"People have this misconception that I don't want to work, which isn't true. I am following
my happiness and putting my energy into that which makes me happy."
When Kourtney announced that she was stepping away from the spotlight, many of her fans
wondered what she would be doing next. But, according to the star herself, chances are
that when she's not working on Poosh or prepping for a photoshoot, she'll be spending quality
time with her little ones. She explained to Vogue Arabia,
"I always try my absolute best when I'm with my kids not to be on my phone, to be present
in what we're doing, and have those moments where you're looking in each other's eyes
and connecting. It's so important."
That's why Kourt makes a point to spend a minimum of one day per week just hanging out
at home, sleeping in late, staying in PJs all day — and doing things that don't involve
scrolling through Instagram. She even built a tech-free playhouse for her kids where she
hopes they will brush up on their reading.
["So there's no iPads, phones, computers, video games, TVs, nothing is allowed inside.
That's why we have a lot of books."
Kourtney explained to Vogue,
"Khloé and I, we say when we go to our younger sisters' parties, we're the most fun out of
anybody. It's so true because I think we're more used to not living on our phones."
Kourtney has accomplished a lot in her lifetime. She's a very successful reality star, the
mother to three children, a social media magnate — with well over 100 million followers on
Instagram — and an entrepreneur with her own chic lifestyle brand. So what would the
Kourtney of today tell her younger self, long before she was an internationally famous celeb?
She revealed to Jenni Kayne,
"I've always been pretty confident, but [my advice would be] just to trust more in God's
plan and not give any energy to worrying about the future, and just trusting that it will
all come together."
Kourtney really does seem to have it all. But life may not be as rosy as it seems for
the star. According to her, there's one important element about her life, pre-fame, that is
likely gone forever, for the star. Kourt told Cosmo,
"[I miss] people not judging your every move and commenting on it. But then, we didn't
really have social media before, so would that have just been life [now] anyways?"
It appears that's part of the reason that Kourtney harbors a secret fantasy — however
unlikely it may be to ever materialize. She told Paper,
"I always say I want to move away someday and just be away from it all. [I will] sail
away. No one will ever see me again."
What exactly "sailing away" means, only Kourtney knows for sure. But, if she does one day completely
step out of the spotlight, we're sure she'll be happy wherever she lands.
"People who say the Kardashians aren't talented, you were wrong."
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