Words by Terry Shropshire
Images by Dave Ellis for Steed Media Service

viewer advisory: Strap yourselves in, for you are about to be taken on an emotional roller-coaster ride of a television viewing experience. Bravo TV has concocted an irresistible social cocktail to be served straight up called “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

Sip slowly though, it has some ingredients that are packed with potency. Get your servings beginning Oct. 7. The wildly popular “Real Housewives” franchise has rolled into the Deep South after audiences gravitated to the first two installments of the series, “Real Housewives of Orange County,” set in suburban Los Angeles, and “Real Housewives of New York City.” The show will keep you riveted to the television because the divas with the diverse dispositions traverse the spectrum of human emotions. Sparks fly as strong minds and even stronger ambitions intersect in the upscale sections of metro Atlanta. They can convene for a titillating girls’ party one night, then volley verbal missiles at one another the next. They are unabashedly confident, unapologetically wealthy, and they have no problem enunciating their individual greatness on-screen. Yet these women are humanized through a set of personal challenges and vulnerabilities that simmer just beneath the surface of their elegant exteriors.

Sheree Whitfield
Sheree Whitfield sashays through the upper crust of society with the physical grace and gait of a panther. There is an unmistakable self-assurance and elegance packed within her svelte frame and regal countenance. Star power shoots off her like sparks.

She is banking that the sparks created from the TV series will ignite interest in her upcoming clothing line, She by Sheree. “I couldn’t ask for a better platform. The style will definitely be Sheree. It will be a reflection of who I am. I like to be sexy and still classy,” says the Sandy Springs, Ga., resident and mother of three. “Confident women can wear it and don’t mind wearing something different or being a little edgy at times. I’m working very hard right now and I’m very excited.”

Her children and her clothing line provided a comfortable cocoon where she could dress  the emotional wounds from her recent divorce. “Now I’m at a point where I feel good and I’m at peace and I can move on and do bigger things and better things. I’m ready to show everyone how fabulous I am,” she says, giving her answer deliberately as if she enjoyed the taste of each word. “You just have to pray about it and focus on [yourself] and just really know your worth, and just work to know better and do better every day.”

Kim Zolciak
“Insanity, and because I forgot to take my medication,” Zolciak blurts out in jest when asked why she agreed to reveal parts of her life on television. Her spontaneity, her thirst for fun, and her unpredictability will keep you off center — and in stitches. You never know what’s going to dart off the tongue of this saucy Southern socialite. Zolciak keeps the atmosphere fun and light even as she hilariously violates the air space with her raunchy vocabulary.

The mother of two girls doesn’t lack self-confidence. When asked how she keeps a relationship spicy to prevent it from getting as stale as two-day old grits, she says: “It doesn’t get old, look at me. I don’t have to spice up s---.”

The Duluth, Ga., businesswoman opines on why women fail repeatedly at relationships. “The way to a man’s heart is not through his stomach,” she says as the set explodes in laughter. “Men love attention and a challenge. A lot of women think ‘Oh, if I give them more love and give him sex or I cook him his food and give him everything he wants … and that’ll keep him.’ That’s the wrong answer. You should do the opposite. Don’t cook him s---, don’t do s---, and he’ll stick around.”

Instead, Zolciak is channeling her energy into her children and country music career. Zolciak was in the studio with legendary producer Dallas Austin putting together her debut CD. “It’s my life, besides my children. One day I drove home just crying, saying, ‘I am living a dream.’ You think it, you hope it, but I am living it,” she says from behind a curtain of golden locks that frame her visage. “And I’m working with some of the top people in the industry. So it’s pretty overwhelming for me. Sometimes I have to slap myself, like, ‘You have everything you want.’ ”

Lisa Wu Hartwell:
Hanging with Hartwell is a little like holding onto the end of a live wire. She rolls in and out of scenes with funnel-cloud ferocity, altering whatever environment she leaves in her wake. She’s married to NFL player Ed Hartwell, has three children (13-year-old Jordan, 10-year-old Justin and 1-year-old EJ), owns her own real estate firm, Hartwell & Associates, started a jewelry line called Wu Girls, owns a baby clothing line, is an actress, model and screenwriter, and is active in the Atlanta social scene. Rumor has it she once paused to take a deep breath, but it hadn’t been confirmed by press time. She drives in the fast lane of life and doesn’t appear to have time for those who are waiting idly on the curb. See ya.

What’s the secret to women having success? “Having confidence and loving the Lord,” she says, unfurling words at a machine-gun pace. “I think that your light will shine from within when you are a good person and you are at peace and when you are good to your family and friends.”
Wu says the secret to keep a relationship healthy isn’t really a secret at all. “If you are true to yourself and true to your spouse, that’s all that matters. I treat him like a king so that he treats me like a queen. I just believe that if you give your all, then it will be reciprocated. My husband is my best friend,” she says.

Ne Ne Leakes
Ne Ne is so sweet and fun-loving, she could befriend a rattlesnake. But when she’s been crossed, the smoke alarm goes off. She’s wears her heart on her sleeve and dares anyone to knock it off. The way she speaks her mind is refreshing for those that tire of people who feign humbleness. “Actually, I am the most fabulous of the ‘Real Housewives’ because I have a great personality. You have to have a great personality to be on the ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta.’ To be a real diva and to be fabulous, people need to like you. If you are not likeable, then you are only going to go so far. I’m fun — and I’m very funny,” she says.

Leakes says finding the man of her dreams was simply the case of game recognizing game — and not the act of someone swooping in from the sky to rescue her from a life of mediocrity.

“As long as there is a plan, you can be successful. And you don’t have to have a man to be successful. I don’t want anyone to be confused that [we are successful] because we are married to successful men. That is not the case. See, I would not have been with a successful man had I not been a success, or a smart woman with a brain,” she says of her 11-year marriage to real estate mogul Greg Leakes. “Some men like stay-at-home moms. I was a stay-at-home mom when I had my baby. But now I’m out and about and I’m doing my thing.”

DeShawn Snow
You will need a widescreen TV to fully capture the colossal cathedral of a house that DeShawn Snow and her husband, NBA star Eric Snow, moved into with their three boys in Alpharetta, Ga. The fact that she personally designed the house and has meticulously run its operations, all while Eric continues his duties as captain of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is indicative of the modern-day housewife, DeShawn says.

“Back in the day a housewife would be someone who would be at home, taking care of the kids. But today’s real housewife has a strong sense of herself,” she says. “She’s balancing family time. She’s making sure her husband is taken care of — and taking care of the kids — and making sure that the house is [run] right. And she’s also doing for herself.”

Through her faith, Snow rose from the personal tumult of her younger years and now has achieved personal tranquility. Her DeShawn Snow Foundation helps improve self-esteem in teenage girls.

“It’s by the grace of God that I’m here today. My life could have been totally different, and I understand that. Last year at this time I was really going through this unnecessary stress. My husband is working hard to provide this great life for me and I [was] stressed out over stuff that [didn’t] even matter,” she says. “So it came to a breaking point. God will keep knocking you to your knees until you stay down there and dry up the resources to get you to move on. So once you become in divine alignment, everything is smooth sailing. You will have your tests and tribulations, but … it makes it easier to face everything.”


Glam Squad
•DeShawn, Kim, Lisa and Ne Ne’s hairstylist, Elijah Cohen
•DeShawn's makeup by Nyssa Green/thegreenroomagency.com
•Shereé’s hairstylist, Lawrence Washington
•Makeup by Toni Acey/makenitup.com
•Kim’s makeup by Sheena/Atlanta-makeup.com
•The gowns for Lisa and Ne Ne were provided by Von Bergen Couture/Duluth, Ga.
•Location: Rhodes Hall/Midtown Atlanta

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