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Lisa Wu Hartwell is a career woman and entrepreneur who owns her own real estate firm Hartwell and Associates.  She is an artist and designer.  Her baby clothing line is Hart 2 Hart, her jewelry line is Wu Girls and she just started a new clothing line, Closet Freak.  She and husband Ed Hartwell, a player with the NFL and their three children, 13-year-old Jordan, 10-year-old Justin and 1-year-old E.J. live in a luxurious country club community in Duluth, GA.

(Interview with Flaimahmy, July 27, 2009)

FM:  What made you want to be in business?  You run several of them.

LH:  I’ve always been independent.  I’ve worked since I was 14-years-old.  That’s really all I know.  I have a lot of energy and I’m very creative.  I like movies; I create jewelry.  I’ve always wanted to be productive and put my energy into places that I know will supply jobs for more family members and others.

FM:  What do you believe is your most important role?

LH:  My most important role is being wife and mother.  Business comes second nature for me and I have a great team.  I’m very blessed to have a great husband and family.  My whole team is very essential to my success.

FM:  You’ve previously spoken about domestic abuse.  Do you believe that domestic abuse is more prevalent in the entertainment industry than other parts of society?

LH:  No, I wouldn’t say that.  I think it happens daily.  The statistics are there.  Women are being abused daily every second of the day.  Women are being killed.  And, not only just women there are men who are being physically beaten by their spouses.  I think domestic violence is wrong whether the woman is hitting the man or the man is hitting the woman.  Sometimes I think the people get confused and they say we are just passionate people.  No, it’s abuse.  I do think about it.  I was in a situation for a long time and I got out of it.  I’d like to encourage other women and let them know that it is not normal.  I don’t think it is just the entertainment industry.  I think everyday women go through the same thing.

FM:  Being on The Housewives has cast you and your family into the public eye.  How do you balance that with your home life and children?

LH:  I’ve been in and around the entertainment industry for such a long time.  It’s not anything that was new to me.  I’ve helped in entertainment shows, I’ve shot a movie and I’m working on another movie as well.  I think you have to just maintain your integrity and remain true to who you are, true to your family and your loved ones and everything else will be ok.

FM:  In hindsight do you think it was better that your older sons were not featured on the last season of  The Housewives?

LH:  I don’t think so.  I don’t think that any of the children on the Show were portrayed derogatively, in a negative light at all.  I think everytime the children were shown it was in a family environment, doing family things.  So, absolutely not.  I would love to have my children on it.  Hopefully, next season, there’ll be a third season, if they choose to be on it, if they want to be on it at that time, hopefully we can show them.

FM:  We know that there is a lot of drama among several of the cast members on the Show.  What do you teach your children about handling conflict with others?

LH:  I believe that being honest and standing for what you believe in, even if you have to stand alone, is very important.  I don’t go with the majority and I don’t go with popularity.  I stand for what I believe in even if I’m standing by myself.  I teach my children to just have integrity and be a puppet for no one.  There are people who are told to do certain things and they do them.  I’m a puppet for no one.

FM:  After you became a mom what style tip did you pick up to help you maintain your flyness?

LH:  Fly glasses!  And when you have to take them off mascara and lip gloss will carry you a long way.  Long lashes make you look wonderful.  If you don’t have makeup on the fly glasses will carry you through the day.

FM:  What’s your favorite style trend this coming fall season?

LH:  I’m an artist.  I’m very creative so it changes with me.  There’s not just one thing that I’m into.  I love boots of course.  I cannot say one item.  I’m an artsy type of person and I wear what I like.  It doesn’t have to be a brand name but I will rock it.  Some people may not agree with it but being an artist I wear what I feel comfortable in.  Who knows.  You may see me wearing all kinds of stuff.

FM:  We consider you to be a Flymommy.  In your own words what makes you a Flymommy?

LH:  Spending one-on-one time with my children.  A lot of people have their children every single day in their houses and they’re on these gaming systems for seven or eight hours.  I consider myself a Flymommy because I get down and dirty with my kids.  I play paint-ball with my kids.  I ride all the roller coasters, whatever they like to do I do too.  We’re very hands-on.  We play kick-ball.  We play baseball.  I think that’s what makes me pretty fly, being physical with my children.  I think that it’s necessary because with all these gaming systems, parents are using them like babysitters so they don’t have to deal with their children.  I’m pretty hands-on with all my children.

FM:  Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

LM:  Tune into season 2.  This season is definitely better than last season.  You’ll see a sensitive side of me.  Last season I think a lot of people thought I was a robot.  They saw me working everyday and they were like, “Oh my God, she’s doing this, she’s doing that.”  You’ll definitely see a softer side.  They’ll see that I’m human, you know?  I do have feelings and emotions.  So, we’ll definitely keep you entertained.  Also, I’m coming out with a book “When the Cake is Already Made,”  It discusses some of my personal experiences with domestic violence and survival.  It has some funny moments as well.  I have a clothing line called Closet Freak. I know the name is a little risque but it means the total opposite.  The line gives confidence to women so that they don’t dress provocatively, so they always present themselves as elegant, classy and sophisticated.

You can find out more about Lisa Wu Hartwell and her businesses at  www.lisawuhartwell.com.

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Kandi Burruss is the newest member of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.  She started her career in the music business as lead singer in the platinum selling group Xscape and is now a successful Grammy winning songwriter. She has written for many artists including Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys and Destiny’s Child.  She is currently working on her own solo album.  Kandi has a six-year-old daughter, Riley.

(Interview with Flaimahmy, July 24, 2009)

FM:  We heard that you were planning your dream wedding.  Give us a few ideas of what that dream entails?

KB:  We’ve slowed our plans a bit and have not gotten that far with the planning process.  However, we were looking at the Atlanta Aquarium.  It’s a really nice place.

FM:  We know your fiance has six children.  How do you two plan on bringing both families together into an harmonius unit? That seems like a lot!

KB:  You’re right, it is a lot.  Actually, two of the girls, the twins, are living with me now and everything is really good.  They and my daughter have their good days and their bad days.  For the most part everything is good.  I was a child of divorce.  I’ve dealt with a lot of different step-moms actually because my dad was married multiple times.  I experienced as a kid having the good step-moms and the bad step-moms.  I always thought that if I was ever in that situation, if that ever happened to me, I would always want to have a good relationship with the kids.  So now that I am in the situation I just feel that you should treat them as your own, show them the same love, do the same things as you would for your own child.   You don’t want anybody to feel that you are showing favoritism.  I’ve always loved kids.  I like to do fun stuff like going to the movies.  With the girls, we all get our nails done; we get our hair done together.  We do stuff.  With the guys, I play video games too.  So when the boys are over we play video games.  We just kick it.  I’m more like their friend but I am stern when I need to be.

FM:  That’s great.  So, have you been welcomed by the current cast members of “The Real Housewives’?

KB:  Some of the girls were welcoming and some were not as welcoming.  I’d say mixed, I guess mixed.

FM:  Were you a fan of the Show before you joined the cast?

KB:  I definitely was a fan.  I watched it all last season.  I never missed an episode.  I thought it was so funny.

FM:  I know you’ve been in the limelight before because you were with Xscape, but are you ready to be cast into the limelight again, expecially now that you are a family person?  Are you ready for that?

KB:  I’m not ready.  I’m really not ready.  I don’t really think I thought it through, like what I was getting myself into.  For example, being a writer, people know your music, people know you for your creative side.  They don’t really know you.  But, when you’re on reality tv people get to see your personal life.  They get to see how you are with your family.  They get to see how you talk, how you act.  There’s different stuff that they can actually criticize.  They see who you are as a person for real, you know?  Also, I don’t know how the Show is going to be edited.  I only get to see it a few days before each episode, within a week before each episode.  I’m kind of scared about what people are going to say, what they are going to think, how they are going to feel about it.  I don’t know.

FM:  You are a great songwriter.  What do you think your greatest achievement in life has been so far?

KB:  My greatest achievement career-wise or personal?

FM:  Either one.

KB:  Career-wise, probably being the first woman to win the ASCAP “Rhythm and Soul Songwriter of the Year” Award.  That was big because no other woman had ever done it before.  I always like to open doors and make moves for women.  I was excited about that.  Personally, it is my relationship with my daughter…being a single mom…having a strong bond…being a strong parent.  It is making my daughter happy everyday, keeping a smile on her face.  It is staying close to my family.  I feel a lot of families are not close so I feel that staying close is an accomplishment especially if you have a lot of stuff going on.  I love my relationship with my family.  That’s very important to me.

FM:  After you became a mother what style tip did you pick up to maintain your “flyness?”

KB:  My mom is constantly on me about my weight.  My mother was a single mom as well.  After she had my brother, he’s older, she made sure that she got her body back in shape.  She knew that she would be dating again.  She told me that I’d better not let myself go.  She stressed the importance of going to the gym or just hitting the floor doing situps.  That was really important.

FM:  What is your favorite style trend for the fall?

KB:  My favorite style trend?  I haven’t even started looking at fall fashions to be honest.  I love boots so I’ll be looking at whatever new boots come out.  I’m not really trendy like that.  I just go with whatever looks good on me.

FM:  We know that you are a Flymommy.  Tell us in your own words what makes you a Flymommy?

KB:  Well, I don’t know.  I’ve never really thought about it.  I’m a woman who handles her business; I’ve always handled my business.  I carry myself well.  I’m not trying to be overly sexy.  That’s not my thing anymore.  Being a Flymommy means making sure I have time for my kids.  Really, handling your business is the fly part; people will notice and say she handles her business; she has it going on.

FM:  Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

KB:  Yes, I’m working on a new album.  So far it’s going crazy.  I have a couple of other Fly-Mommies on the album, Tiny and Rasheeda both did records with me.  I also have a couple of fellas on the album, Rick Ross and Gucci Man. I’m almost finished, it’s coming out soon and I’m excited about it.

FM:  Great, we look forward to hearing it.