Television personality Kris Jenner
IN PHOTO: Television personality Kris Jenner arrives at the 2014 Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar Party in West Hollywood, California March 2, 2014. Reuters

After living in the spotlight for much of the past decade, Kris Jenner is one of the most recognizable television personalities in the world. With her family's reality shows reaching a total of 156 countries, the matriarch of the Kardashian Jenner clan's life is an open book. Although her daily activities are now seen on people's living rooms every week, the woman that became this huge celebrity and business mogul was born to a simple family with a quiet life. This is the story of her life and her relationship with the man who would give her the Kardashian name.

Kristen Mary Houghton was born on November 5, 1955 in San Diego California. She was born to Robert Houghton and Mary Jo Shannon, but her parents divorced when she was seven. She and her sister Karen grew up with her mother and her new husband Harry Shannon.

In an interview with Giuliana Rancic for "Beyond Candid" on E!, Kris revealed that her mother, as well as her grandmother, were major influences on her life. Her grandmother had a candle shop and she got her first job there as a gift wrapper. She explained that as a young girl, it was a small responsibility, but she worked hard to be the best at it. Her mother also opened a candle shop in which she also helped. Eventually the two women opened a retail fashion store and she credits her time there while helping her mom and grandmother for the work ethic she picked up, in which she puts to good use in running her family's businesses and careers. She said that she used to sit at her mother's desk and look at the store and she would imagine owning a business of her own one day.

When Kris was 17, she went with a friend to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Racetrack near San Diego. It was there that she met her future husband Robert Kardashian. She said that he came up to her and asked her if she was somebody he thought he knew. She told him that he was mistaken, but he kept talking to her. He eventually asked for her number which she didn't give.

Robert was not derailed by her refusal to give him her contact information and managed to find her number with some help from a friend who worked for the phone company. He started calling her and despite her initial hesitation and annoyance at his perseverance, the two eventually developed a friendship and eventually a relationship through their frequent phone conversations.

Kris shared that Robert was twelve years older than her and was already an established lawyer when they met. She said that despite the age gap, her mother had no issues with the relationship seeing that Robert was a good man with a good family. The two continued dating and when Kris was 21, she decided to get a job as a flight attendant.

She said that she went to Dallas for training and was eventually assigned to be based in New York City for work. She said that she initially tried to bid for a Los Angeles assignment because Robert lived there, but she was given a New York Post. Several months later, she finally got what she wanted and was transferred to Los Angeles.

Last July 8, 1978, Kris married Robert Kardashian at the age of 22. She shared that her honeymoon with Robert was spent in Paris as well as some other cities in France and Italy. Her daughter Kim was married earlier this year in Florence after a week-long series of pre-wedding activities in Paris.

She expressed awe in the way things have evolved for her as her family went for a private tour of the Palace of Versailles arranged by Kim and her husband Kanye. She explained the contrast between the extravagance of the private tour and her first visit on her honeymoon where they joined a tour and were surrounded by 5,000 other tourists.

Kris conceived her first child on her honeymoon and her first child was born exactly nine months later. She would go on to have a total of four children with Robert, the now the famous Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Robert Jr.

The couple eventually divorced in 1991, but remained close. Kris told Giuliana that the divorce is one of the biggest regrets in her life and that she was too young to understand that marriages take a lot of work for them to work out. After her divorce, Kris quickly remarried Bruce Jenner whom she met only three weeks after splitting up with Robert. The three of them became good friends and were united in raising their children. She describes her children having an amazing childhood. Kris and Bruce eventually had two more children together, Kendall and Kylie.