‘I see myself as a lifestyle brand’: Meredith Marks on catapulting ‘Housewives’ fame into caviar, a DJ tour and more

As “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” tried to cast lines into the Provo River this season, Meredith Marks made a joke about her inexperience as an angler.

“I don’t know anything about fish, except it’s where I get my caviar,” she said to the camera in a confessional.

The one-liner sums up Marks in a nutshell: Wry, witty, and keeping an eye on the marketing.

“If I sat there and just was, like, ‘Hey, everybody, I have caviar and you should buy it,’ … it’s not going to resonate for anyone,” Marks said in a recent phone interview. “When you have natural moments — that you put something out there because it’s who you are, and it makes sense for you as a person — then that’s another story.”

Marks, now in her sixth season as one of the Bravo show’s original stars, has catapulted her “Housewives” fame into business ventures far beyond her Park City luxury boutique.

“I see myself as a lifestyle brand,” Marks said.

That brand includes her caviar, jewelry and an upcoming line of bath products, plus her current “Naughty & Ice” tour as DJ Meredith Marks.

And it includes a new party game she and Utah business partner and friend, Samantha Gellert, developed: “Rümors & Nastiness.”

The new game is on sale online, and will be available in stores — including Marks’ Park City boutique — ahead of the holidays.

“Sam and I were chatting about fun things that we could do,” Marks said. “Right now in our world, everything is so digital, and it’s kind of isolating in its own way. Having a game that you play in person with other people ... it’s a way to become closer, get to know people better, and be engaged in a healthier manner.”

The game is a variation, Marks said, of the familiar party game “two truths and a lie.” The cards are stored in a caviar tin with Marks’ “M” brand.

In each round, one player (called the “instigator”) deals cards to the other players, each a prompt for a location or situation. Those players get one minute to jot down a story, and secretly mark whether it’s a “rumor” or a “nasty truth.” Players tell their stories, and place bets on each other’s stories. Correct guesses earn a (plastic) diamond; those who guess incorrectly take a shot.

Part of Marks’ branding of the game, she said, is “making it presentable, and looking pretty and cute and pink.”

She added she’s a “huge backgammon player,” so a game made sense.

“It’s fun and it’s cool and it’s chic and it’s pretty,” she said. “It just kind of resonates with my branding at the end of the day.”

Becoming DJ Meredith Marks, she said, was more of a happy accident. She was asked to DJ during Pride celebrations in West Hollywood in June and “had a really good time.”

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s like hosting your own party, without having to have all the people in your home.”

The next month, she got another significant gig as the official DJ for the “Las Culturistas Culture Awards,” an award show parody staged by the hosts of the “Las Culturistas” podcast, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers. (Marks said she met Yang, also known for “Saturday Night Live,” at the premiere of the 2022 gay romantic comedy “Fire Island.”)

Marks said she plays “a general mix,” with a lot of pop songs. “We integrate parts of [‘Real Housewives’] into it sometimes, as well. … I’ve been opening with ‘Rumors’ by Lindsay Lohan, if that gives you any clue.”

Marks launched the 10-city tour on Oct. 2 in West Hollywood. The third show, on Oct. 23, is at Metro Music Hall in downtown Salt Lake City.

Being on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” Marks said, “is always helpful, in the way that you have a place to talk about the things that you’re doing at a very broad scale. You can really get the word out there through the show.”

However, she said, “at the end of the day, I feel like all of those things tie back to me as a person, and who I am. And I don’t do things I’m not very passionate about. So as people get to know more and more about me and my life, and who I am, everything I’m doing probably starts to make a little more sense.”

Trying to highlight a brand on a reality show is a tricky balancing act, she added.

“Sure, you can market your products on the show,” Marks said. “But unless you are showing who you are — rather than just as a marketing vehicle — it’s not going to resonate for anyone.“

“They’re invested in you as a person,” she continued, “and then secondarily your brand. What’s more important is just to be true to yourself and authentic, and then the rest of it flows from there.”

Correction • An earlier version of this article incorrectly explained the gameplay for “Rümors and Nastiness.”

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