Marlo Hampton

Some Lesser Known Facts About Marlo Hampton

• During an interview, she revealed that she ran away from her home when she was 10 years old after her mother beat her severely. She further claimed that she had a strained relationship with her brother for several years and said,
  

  I went in the bathroom and I bathed my little brother and I told him ‘I’ll be back.’ And he was even mad with me for years because he felt I never came back for him, but I was 10. I knew I was just tired of being beat.”

  

• When she was 11 years old, she entered the foster care system, leaving her home due to her mother’s drug addiction. She lived with five foster care families till she turned 18.

• Her first foster care family was from Jamaica. During an interview, she revealed that she called a social worker and was put in a temporary shelter as the foster father was abusive.

• She claimed that she was kicked out of one of her foster families in St. Petersburg, Florida, after the foster mother found out that Marlo was talking about the strictness at her home.

• She revealed that she was removed from one of the foster homes after the foster mother, who was a school teacher, noticed her biological daughter felt she wasn’t getting enough attention.

• Her first job was working at a McDonald’s restaurant when she was 16 years old.

• She worked at a Contempo Casuals store when she was a teenager.

• She founded the Red Carpet Boutique at Perimeter Mall in Atlanta in 2008.

  

• Three years later, she shut down her boutique after joining the reality TV show, ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ in 2011.

  

• In 2011, she started ‘Simply Giving,’ an initiative through which she provides meals during Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas to families in need.

  

• She is the owner of Simply Marlo LLC.

• She founded ‘Glam It UP, Inc.,’ a 501(c)(3) in 2011, a non-profit organisation in Atlanta to help girls living under the foster care system by mentoring them.

  

• In an interview, she talked about getting inspired to start her seminar series, ‘The Art of Style’ in 2015, where she teaches the basics of fashion, after the American model Cynthia Bailey invited her to speak at her fashion school, The Bailey Agency, and said,
  

  And when I went and I saw the turnout…, I’m like, ‘Wow! If I can do this at the Bailey Agency and people will fly in from everywhere, I can do this for Marlo.’ I always have to give thanks to The Bailey Agency.”

  

• In 2015, she launched her series, ‘Marlo’s Closet’ on YouTube.

  

• In 2015, she became a brand ambassador for a charitable diamond jewellery brand, ‘Diamonds Unleashed.’

• In 2016, she was selected as the Style Ambassador for the Atlanta International Fashion Week.

  

• In 2018, she started her fashion and lifestyle brand, ‘Arie and Emma,’ named after her mother Emma Willis and her foster grandmother, Arrie Mae. She uses the line to sell clothes and accessories designed by her.

• In 2019, she launched her hair and wig line, ‘Her’ (Haute Elegant Rebel⁣).

  

• In 2019, she became the legal guardian of her nephews, Michael and William, while their biological mother and Marlo’s sister was in prison and suffering from mental health issues.

  

• Her nephews call her ‘Munty,’ a combination of the words mom and aunty.

• She served as a keynote speaker at the ‘Atlanta Ultimate Women’s Expo’ in 2019.

  

• She has appeared in various films and TV shows, including ‘How High 2’ (2019), ‘Games People Play,’ and ‘Caught in the Act: Unfaithful’ (2022), and ‘Boss Moves with Rasheeda’ (2023).

  

• In September 2020, she launched ‘Lé Archive,’ a fashion showroom with over 5000 runway and archive luxury designer pieces available as rentals for wardrobe stylists, fashion directors, costume designers, tastemakers, and creative directors.

  

• In 2020, she produced a PSA that featured members of the reality TV show, ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ and various other African American female celebrities in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

  

• She has held charity shopping events with MCM (Michael Cromer Munich), a luxury fashion brand.

• In 2022, she started the initiative, ‘Foster Care Friday’s’ with former Georgia State Representative, Erica Thomas, to spread awareness about the foster care system, allowing people to share their experiences about living in foster care.

  

• Her home was broken into by four armed men in 2022 and robbed. She rushed to a panic room with her nephews and immediately called the police.

• On 31 October 2024, she launched her podcast, ‘The Real Close Friends,’ along with her ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ castmate, Sanya Richards-Ross, on Audioboom.

  

• She drinks alcohol occasionally.