Everyone wants to say the Kardashians are talentless until they find out how many successful multimillion dollar businesses they run.

What are some of the hottest things in teen culture right now? Social media, TV, and cosmetics. The Kardashians dominate all three.

Since matriarch Kris Jenner pitched the idea for their reality show in 2007, their areas of expertise have grown exponentially, and so have their paychecks. In the words of pop culture savvy teacher Michael Verdi, “They work smart, they make a lot of money doing something they love, and they don’t hurt anyone in the process… they just sit back and make their money.”

Have you ever heard the saying that the devil works hard, but Kris Jenner works harder? The show “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” is where the family has grown to be the most known, but we have to remember that none of it ever would have happened without Kris Jenner sticking her neck out when she pitched the show to Ryan Seacrest before even telling her family about it- when they found out, they already had contracts to sign.

In an article about some of the most influential people in modern business, Christopher Rim of Forbes Magazine said his favorite Kris Jenner quote was “if someone is saying no, you’re talking to the wrong person.”

This same determination allowed sisters Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner to not only break through the surface of the cosmetic world, but absolutely annihilate it. With the birth of Kylie Cosmetics and KKW Beauty, the two of them can sell a single lipstick for almost $18, an eyeshadow palette for over $100, and people buy every last one of them- in fact, people wait hours and hours for the products to launch.

Products like these make KKW Beauty and Kylie Cosmetics two of the “most successful brands the business world has ever seen,” according to Morgan Evans of Fox News.

But the Kardashians don’t deserve any success they’ve received because they’re famous, or because they post risque pictures on the Internet, right? Wrong. “They definitely run a business,” said Verdi. “You can’t say that they aren’t.”

What people don’t realize is everything that the Kardashians do by posting pictures, tweeting, doing interviews, and filming their everyday lives is an example of something called branding, which in business, is a tactic that allows the seller to set their business and products apart from others. Next time you think Kylie Jenner is stupid for spending an hour swatching all of her makeup products on her Instagram, remember that she made millions of dollars off each video by showing just how special Kylie Cosmetics is, and proving that each tube of lipstick is worth the $18 that it is. Also remember that she’s America’s youngest self-made billionaire ever.

Kylie isn’t the only one who knows what she’s doing, either, Khloe Kardashian’s jean line Good American just recently broke the sizing barriers of the modern fashion industry. Business Insider’s Rachel E. Greenspan wrote, “the company said it received 50% more returns on clothing in sizes 14 and 16 than in any other size — so it created a new size 15 to address the customer demand.”

In business, sometimes the smartest decisions can be the simplest- how was a size 15 so difficult to comprehend between thousands of other companies and clothing manufacturers? More importantly, no one had the guts to say anything about it before, and Khloe Kardashian risked backlash by making a clothing line that catered to women with bigger bodies, but she knew it was something the fashion world needed.

Senior Jenna Hays, who has been watching the Kardashians since they’ve aired said, “You have to be willing to do anything [for success].”

It’s often difficult in today’s society for a woman to be successful in the upper levels of any industry- so difficult that the expression of breaking the glass ceiling is widely known. To undermine successful women because of their fame, wealth, or appearance is ridiculous. “They haven’t done anything wrong,” said Hays. “People are just jealous.”