The cast of Netflix’s massive hit, Bling Empire, is genuinely delightful. Their friendships are a breath of fresh air in the typically dark, back-stabbing world of reality TV. They also infused the world of wealth with a shock of newness. Sure, we’ve seen reality shows about the wealthy, but put six more zeros on the end of those stars’ net worth and then we’re coming close to the riches seen on Bling Empire.
The cast is comprised of the wealthiest Asian and Asian-American elites living in Los Angeles. Even Kevin Kreider, the show’s poor every man meant to provide a sense of familiarity and normalcy for the viewers, is actually rich. The interesting thing about the wealth, however, is that though a majority of the cast is born into their wealth (Jaime Xie’s father is an iconic tech billionaire), several of the stars are self-made or currently out there making millions independent from their family fortunes.
Kelly Mi Li, who originally had the idea for a reality series à la Crazy Rich Asians and enlisted Kane Lim to pitch it to Jeff Jenkins with her, is one such self-made millionaire. Born in China, Kelly and her mother and father moved to Chicago when her mother got a job at the University of Illinois. Her father was unable to find employment and had to move back to China. Kelly’s mother raised her as a single parent working hard to provide a better life for her child. Following her mother’s example, Kelly got into the job market at 18 and never stopped hustling. Starting out in life insurance in New York, Kelly quickly made the jump to real estate in Los Angeles. From there she made a name for herself in the food and beverage space by opening a speakeasy in Jim Morrison’s old apartment. With plenty of cash to play with, Kelly turned to investing in tech startups, and turns out the girl’s got great instincts. Several of her investments made it big – Change.org, Me Undies, and Nature Box, just to name a few. As if all that wasn’t enough, Kelly co-founded OMG (Organic Media Group) in 2018 and began producing TV and film. Through this production company, Kelly produced the heist thriller Echo Boomers, starring Patrick Schwarzenegger that was released in November 2020.
The film, like Kelly’s career, is incredibly timely. It focuses on a group of young millennials struggling to make it in the world of vast unemployment by breaking into the homes of Chicago’s wealthy elites. The film co-starred the incredibly talented, critics-darling Michael Shannon, and the handsome Brit, Alex Pettyfer. Though the critics weren’t a huge fan of the film, audiences seemed to disagree. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film just 35 percent approval from critics, but 96 percent from audiences.
Kelly’s career is a perfect example of how to keep growing and developing. She’s able to pivot when necessary and never stops moving forward, almost like a shark. But she’s not all about making money money money. She is devoted to giving back as well. In 2013, Kelly was named the first international ambassador for Prince Harry’s charity WellChild. She also works with other education-centric philanthropies supporting underserved children, Pencils of Promise, and UNICEF’s Chinese Children’s Initiative. And, of course, as the mother of two rescue pups, Sophia and Kilo, the Bling Empire star can’t advocate enough for dog adoption.
Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, SCMP
