Successful entrepreneurship came at an early age for Nikki Burnett, star of the new Lifetime series “Bringing up Ballers.” She was only 23 when she opened a dollar store and 25 when she received her real estate license and started flipping properties.
Current day, Burnett is continuing to “work her skirt” as she follows her own success path with her basketball apparel clothing lines BasketballMom and HoopLegend Apparel, and continuing to build a successful career as a real estate broker. Burnett also birthed the concept for the Chicago-based reality show “Bringing Up Ballers,” in which several Chicago-area entrepreneur moms of the next NBA superstars are showcased. These moms are definitely feisty, and as the series reveals, these “momagers ” will do whatever it takes to make sure their businesses succeed and their sons are made into NBA prodigies.
Rolling out sat down with Burnett to get the inside scoop on the show. Burnett also dished on how her son Nimari handles basketball, fame and girls at an early age, as well as how her family unit makes it all work. Read the exclusive interview below to find out the rest of what Burnett had to say.
How did you get involved in the reality show “Bringing Up Ballers”?
The reality show idea came about right around 2011. My son was heavily involved what AAU basketball and then I decided that I wanted to start the clothing line. So, the clothing line, which is BasketballMom Apparel, was birthed in 2011. That was right around the time Shaunie O’Neil came out with [VH1’s] “Basketball Wives.” When I saw the show, I was like they’re getting so much publicity about just being wives, but what about us moms that are raising these basketball players? So, the idea came into mind then and then in the following year, 2012, is when I got a group of women together, which are not the current cast, and we started trying to shoot a pilot. But they weren’t TV ready; they weren’t ready for TV like I was. So, fast forward, we got with Peyton Wilburn, my co-star of the show. And we sat down on the couch around 2015, and we shot a YouTube video and put our video out there and caught the attention of wife and husband duo. They loved the idea, and came out, spent the time and the money to shoot a pilot and LifeTime picked it up.
So, it was your idea from the beginning?
Yes. The whole situation with the reality show is; it stemmed from living this life. This is my everyday life as a basketball mom.
What was it like filming the show? Was there really a lot of tension going on with all of the moms? How real was the reality in all of that?
It’s very, very real. You know, the former twin tower Johanna) and I started off as being friends, but as we started filming, she started saying a lot of things that were not seen on camera and it was totally unacceptable. And I realized that she was like a single white female. I’m just like one of those people, that when you show me who you are, you only have one time. But the friendship is dissolved. Everything that you saw was real, from her getting kicked out of the party, from her hating about the press conference, everything that was shown was indeed real. Not to mention the things that they purposely left out.
Wow, that sounds like real life. We hope everything will work out with you both. Now, let’s talk about your son Nimari. He led Morgan Park High School to a 3A State Championship. How does he handle all of the fame?
He balances well. He’s very humble. Very, very laid back. His personality is the total opposite of mine, so he does like the attention, he loves it. But as far as him balancing, he knows what he has to do, he knows and understand that basketball is his job. He’s been blessed with the talent, now he has to perform, so he gets it – and gets it early – which is good.
It’s good to hear that Nimari is humble, as one can imagine that all the little girls are all over him. How does he handle that?
The little girls are all in his DM (direct message), and I’m responding like ‘…Um, this is his mom. ‘ I’m that momma. ‘ This is his mom, and no, we’re not going to do that, and no, he can’t send you any pictures.’
Like, I’m all over it.
What’s one of the most outrageous things you’ve seen in his DM?
To be honest with you, I haven’t really seen too many outrageous things. It’s more like do you have a girlfriend, you’re cute, or the emojis, like the kissy face. Now, I did see a little girl who had the tongue and then the wet emoji. My response was, ‘Little girl, I need you to be a little girl, and understand that boys are supposed to try to talk to you. You should not be on Instagram, trying to talk to a boy that you don’t know.’ And she said, I’m so sorry ma’am. I had to be her momma, because obviously her momma is not teaching her. I’ve always known that the man should be the aggressor. But we live in a different day and age now and these girls are definitely thirsty.
Wow, that’s very interesting. It’s good to know that you’re staying on top of those things now. But for you, how do you handle and manage it all yourself? You’re an entrepreneur, a wife, and a mom who has looked out for the best interest of her famous son, and so much more.
The way I balance everything, because it is a juggling act, I have a team and my husband is that team. I don’t know if or how I would do it if I didn’t have him. I’m busy in itself, so some games I’m unable to make. So, you got to have somebody that has the same amount of interest, put in the time and the effort, and who else better to do that than dad? That’s my secret weapon to balancing it, because I’m only one person, and I do have to go out and hustle, I do have to be at certain places, I have to travel, I have to do all those things. Then, in addition to that, Nimari has to be attended to, he has to get to practice, he has to go to training, he has to do this, that, and the other. So, that’s my secret. You got to have a team, and the same in business. You got to have an assistant, you got to have a publicist, you have to have “this” with all that I’m doing, so it’s all about teamwork.
What advice would you give parents and coaches who want their kids to be nationally ranked?
I think that the number one thing that you must do is really make your kid a priority if you see that they have the talent, and you see that they have the drive and the want. It’s a second job. Literally, from the time Nimari wakes up in the morning, my husband takes him to the gym, three times out of the week, before school. So, he gets up an hour earlier – so, opposed to getting up as 6 A.M., he’s getting up at 5 A.M. Then he’s going to school, then he has AAU practice, and then he goes to a strength coach. So, you have to really add your kids’ activities to your daily life. So, in addition to you going to work, and you going out and you going to work out, you kids life has to go just as well as that in order for them to be the best. And in order to be the best, you have to compete with the best, which means that you have to put in the work, and that means a lot of training and that means a lot of training as well.
What’s next for Nikki B.?
I got a lot of things in the making. I’m one of those people, when I do it, you’ll see it. But one thing is to continue to pursue TV as well as radio. I am just a natural with being who I am and saying what I feel, so I’ll definitely continue to pursue being a TV personality in addition to radio. And then, just maintaining, and taking my brand to the next level, from Real Estate, to my clothing line in addition to hosting events. I’m not going to flip the script at this stage in the game. I’ve built my brand and now it’s time to get it on the national level.
Where can we find you on social media?
SheNikkiB on Instagram, Twitter, and SnapChat, and I’m Nikki B. on Facebook.
