13 Things You Didn’t Know About The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Jen Shah

On The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Jen Shah portrays the image of wealth and glamour — turns out it was all a sham. Shah and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested for leading a nation-wide telemarketing scheme over the past 10 years. As part of the alleged scheme, her company would target people over 55,  offering them services like tax preparation or website design. Some would be instructed to send money to offshore bank accounts and it's alleged that they sold their vulnerable victim's information to other companies to scam them even further. As of now, Shah and Stuart are still in court for the allegations.

In her introduction to viewers, Jen revealed that she’s Tongan, Hawaiian, and “a little bit” Chinese. Having a different background than many of the other Salt Lake City women in her circles has had a large influence on her life. According to her, growing up in Utah, “If you’re not white you’re Black.” That’s obviously not correct, and now Jen is here to represent.

On the premiere Jen revealed that although she was raised Mormon, she began converting to Islam after she realized her church’s stance on race, and that it wasn’t always accepting of the Black community. Once she realized that she decided she could no longer subscribe to the church’s values, and she hasn’t looked back since.

Jen and her husband Sharrieff Shah met at Salt Lake City’s University of Utah back in the 1990s, and they’ve been together ever since. So far on the series he’s been painted as the doting husband who makes healthy brunch for his family, and the pair also seem to back each other up in front of the kids. And while Jen may throw the occasional lavish party without actually telling Sharrieff about it, that may be to protect his mental health given how extravagant those things can get.

The couple share two children together, Sharrieff Jr, who is 26 and in pre-med school, and Omar, who is 16. Jen has opened up on the series about being a protective mama bear and even raised eyebrows when she tried to convince Omar that he could get AIDS from kissing a girl. However you feel about that comment, it’s clear from the way Jen speaks about her brood that she’s head over (sky-high) heels for them.

Before RHOSLC even premiered, RHOD’s Brandi Redmond was spilling tea on Jen’s actual status. And as it turns out that impressive chalet that she lives in? Well that’s actually a rental. No wonder Jen wanted to cover all of the walls with white for Meredith’s birthday. After Brandi made the reveal Jen went off on her online, admitting they rent the chalet but so what? She also owns four other homes and has an apartment in New York City, thank you very much.

It makes sense that Jen has more than one home—she’s a pretty busy and in-demand business woman who needs to travel for work. She’s the CEO and founder of three companies, JXA Fashion, Shah Beauty, and The Real Shah Lashes, but marketing is her forte. In interviews she’s opened up about how most of that marketing in now online and she’s learned to pivot, but back in the day she was all over infomercials, mailing and print.

In March 2021, Shah was arrested on fraud charges in relation to her "marketing" companies.

Also featured on the series so far are some of Jen’s many assistants. She has been more than open about needing them to help keep her organized and fabulous, and according to some publications Jen has even added more personnel to help her out during the current coronavirus pandemic. No wonder she always seems to be at the top of her game.

Sharrieff is a football coach at the University of Utah and, according to Decider, makes close to $500,000 annually in the gig. It also means he’s away a lot. On the show Jen has revealed that she and her hubs sometimes have what they call a “FaceTime marriage.” But, according to her, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Whether she rents or owns “Shah Chalet,” it was pretty obvious from the series’ opening moments that Jen has some serious coin to her name. In fact, the business owner/marketing exec and her husband are estimated to have a net worth of about $3 million, which is definitely not too shabby as far as Housewives go.

Jen may describe some of the other ladies’ drama on the show as Young and the Restless, but she knows that she can be one of the most dramatic personalities of all. As if viewers couldn’t discern that one for themselves, what with her early interactions with Mary and Meredith. “I think people would probably say I bring the most drama, but I’m just reacting how I normally would,” she told Page Six. “Yeah, I’m going to get pissed and throw glass. Like, that’s normally how I would react.” Sounds like we all have a lot to look forward to.