'Basketball Wives' Alum Kristen Scott Talks Show, Reinforcing Positive Messaging for Children of Color With Kids Book (Exclusive)

Season 10 of Basketball Wives is currently airing on VH1 and one person who is noticeably absent is Kristen Scott. Scott appeared on the show for a few seasons and viewers followed her issues with OG and the tense family drama between her father-in-law Byron Scott and his now-wife, Cece Guiterrez. While the women joined the show together, they definitely didn't leave united as other cast members got involved and made smaller issues even bigger ones. But Scott is moving forward and showing the world that she's more than what they saw on reality TV.

The New Orleans native is currently sharing affirmative messaging for children of color through her new kid's book Brocolli Hair. Inspired by her older daughter Kenzi, Broccoli Hair is the story of a little girl wearing her crown of hair with pride which in turn affirms her self-worth. It's a charming story for parents to share with their daughters with the valuable message to love yourself as you are.

Popculture.com spoke with Scott about her time on reality television and whether it hurt or helped her career and family life. She also shared an update on life after Basketball Wives and the process of becoming a children's book author. 

PC: Most people know you from Basketball Wives. But prior to joining the cast, what were you doing? What was your life like before the show?

KS: So before joining Basketball Wives, I actually was a pharmaceutical rep for about 6 ½ years. I met my husband and because he's in the basketball industry, we move more often than, I guess the normal person, I guess you would say. So I opted out of being a pharma rep because you start to get this reputation where it's like, "Okay, we're only going to have Kristen maybe two to three years." And it takes a while to establish relationships with these doctors' offices. I also was my father-in-law's assistant in the interim before Basketball Wives as well.

What made you decide to join the cast? Were you a fan of the show prior? Or was it something organic? Because I know a lot of people who join reality television, contrary to popular belief, a lot of them don't even actually watch a lot of these shows.

My cousin Malaysia was on the show. So I definitely had seen it probably more seasons than not, I would say. But I never in my wildest dreams ever thought about being on the cast of the show. It's crazy. I really am non-confrontational. It probably doesn't seem like that after watching it, but I really do not like confrontation. So for me to do a show like that, I really was a little bit hesitant at first. But knowing that I had a family member and was going in with someone else that I knew, just put me at ease a little bit.

So no, I never thought about doing it before. But having that background with having family, kind of changed my mind. And then my interview went really well. When you interview with them, you get a little bit of a different aspect of what you think might go on. 

What was your motivation for joining the show? Some people want to use reality television as a means to expand their brand or start a business. Did you have any of those ideas when going into the show, like "I'm going to use this platform to further establish X, Y, and Z."? Or was it just something like, "Hey, it's an opportunity. Let's see where this goes?"

It definitely was about a brand expansion. I had the thought of writing children's books and had put some things down on paper, so that was going to be a great way to be able to showcase it. However, that is not one of the things that I told them in the beginning, because my book wasn't ready. They knew that it was a possibility, but it wasn't ready to be portrayed on the show. So there were a few other things that I was thinking about doing in the process. However, the drama does, I would say outweigh some of those things. So you don't always get to see it. And that is philanthropy for me. So my mom was diagnosed a few years ago with breast cancer and even just being able to show a breast cancer walk that I was doing every year in New Orleans. I wanted that to be showcased, even though it wasn't about me or my brand, but just something that was near and dear to my heart.

And I taped for it. They have us taped for it, but you don't get to see everything. I mean, how could you? It was a strategy for me. I never, in my head was one of those people that was like, "Oh, I want to be famous. I need to be known." No, not for me, not at all. It was more about how is this going to at the time, positively impact my family and help my family out in any way possible?

Did you feel that the show helped or hurt what you went into the show to accomplish?

It depends on how you look at it. My immediate family, we are fine. There have been some other things in the family that I would definitely have wished did not happen. So in that aspect, yes, it hurt the family. I feel that from some of the things you didn't get to see, it was inevitable that possibly we would be in the positions that we are in. However, for my husband and I, not that we were far apart, but it brought us closer together. It allowed us to have conversations that maybe we uncomfortable that maybe we wouldn't have had. So as far as the household that I live in, it's been a positive experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZHlXbvLWwo 

Ultimately, what contributed to your decision to leave the show? Because it wasn't really clear if you decided to leave or they decided to a recast. 

The show actually decided to go in a different direction, as you can see when they did the recasting. From what I understood, based on my phone call, I was attached to someone else on the show that was not going to be recast and that kind of wanted to be forgotten. The things that were being brought about, it was a very sensitive subject with some of the things that were going on. And I think, and this is me speaking, that Basketball Wives wanted to go into a direction that wasn't so heavy. My last season was very heavy and they did not want to be reminded of such a heavy thing. And so they did do a recast. I was never told that I would never be asked to come back. In fact, the next season, they may have a space for me to fit in there, for me. I am very appreciative and blessed to have been part of the cast. I just have gone a different direction in my life, as of now.

Would you ever do reality television again, or are you like some former stars of these shows who have reality TV PTSD?

I would do reality television again, if I had a little bit more control. That editing is something serious. I did an interview not too long ago where someone asked me the same exact question and they were talking about Real Housewives of Atlanta, since obviously that's where we live now. And I said, 'I would all day be friend of.' I don't think at this moment, I am OK with opening the doors to my bedroom again. I mean, you guys got to see a lot. And so I would be OK with being friends of. And if there's drama, I don't want to be a part of it. Then just being able to walk away and say, "Okay, I'll see you guys at lunch in two weeks," and not having to worry about anything else. So to answer your question, yes, I would do it again, but in a very different capacity.

Since leaving the show, what have you been up to? We know now that you're a mother of two. So congratulations on welcoming your second daughter. What's family and work-life like now?

So there will be no boys being made in my household. I am done having kids. Karsyn is 5-months-old and she is amazing, my little angel baby. And Kenzie is 5-years-ols and she is also amazing. She's got a lot of energy. I said [as far as Kenzi] that's the boy I'll never have because she definitely has boy energy nonstop until it is time to go to bed. But I've really been focusing on Broccoli Hair and just trying to get this book out, not even just for me for personal reasons, but I think this book is  – I used to say "important" and now the word that I try to use is "necessary". 

I received a message from someone on Instagram. And it was a private message. I asked her if I could share this because I had these interviews. Her daughter had taken her hair out. I guess she had braids before that. Her daughter had taken her hair out and the mom goes over to her and says, "What happened to your hair?" And this little girl says, "It's broccoli hair, silly." So within that, she also let me know how important this book has been in her child's life. She asked her to read it every day. It's given her this newfound confidence in what she sees in the mirror, which probably sounds crazy from these babies, but they are so impressionable. So, Broccoli Hair has really been my focus right now. As far as what I'm doing, I would love to get into some type of possible hosting space. I know television has changed, but I really am focused on this book and trying to make it the best that it can possibly be.

Reading is very important within parenting and motherhood. What types of books were you reading to your daughter prior to becoming an author of your book? And you mentioned a little bit that it was necessary, but what did you feel was missing from the market for your child, specifically?

For me, I would say when Kenzie, before we got to this 5-year-old of having such an opinion, it was more books of learning and education, not so much affirming who you are, confidence in yourself, and I'm not saying that's missing from the market. However, some of the books didn't really look like my daughter. It was refreshing to write a book that was inspired by her features, not just the hair, but the overall features. And so I think there are a lot more authors now that are making books for everyone. And so that's what Broccoli Hair was, is that you get to see my daughter on the cover of the book. However, I always think about Drake's little boy. I mean, he's got big curly hair and he's not a pure African-American child. So being able to have books or even pages in the books where our children that look like that can identify is something that I felt was missing as she was growing up.

So is your book available everywhere online? Have you come upon any opposition with bookstores? What has your process been in that area?

So I don't have to handle or worry about that part. I have a publisher who deals with all that. So if she's had some opposition, I have not heard about it. But yes, it is on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and also Books-A-Million. It's also on my website, Mrskristenscott.com as well, which will lead you to Amazon purchases. So if she's had opposition, I have no idea.

And you spoke about the DM that you received earlier from one of your consumers. What else has the reception been like on your end?

It has been nothing but positivity, which has been very opposite of my Basketball Wives life. So I have been able to go on Amazon and the few people that have given me some feedback, which I encourage positive or negative, because like I said, this is for the kids, so I just want to do the best that job that I'm possibly doing, has been nothing but positive. From personal friends, to complete strangers, to people walking on the street who've actually been able to touch Broccoli Hair or read Broccoli Hair to their children. Just the confidence that I'm being told is being given to their kids, to see somebody on the cover, like I said, that looks like them, or just the affirmations that are in the back of the book that I do with my own child night after night.

And I'll say those affirmations, they change. And that's what I love about it. Like, what is your superpower? And my daughter says she loves not just her hair today, "But mommy, I love that my eye looks like this today and it looked different yesterday." So just finding different parts of themselves that they absolutely love. It's been nothing but positive feedback.

And are you looking to do more in this world? Are you looking to do a series of books? What do you feel like your next step is going to be?

So actually, Broccoli Hair is the second book that I've written. We just decided to put this one out first. It was very fitting what was going on in the world. And so we decided to put this one out first, but not so much a direct series, but there is definitely more to come for me as a children's book author, and then possibly some things outside of kids' books. So I'm definitely enjoying this writing space.

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