When it comes to running her company, Kristin Cavallari means business.
The Uncommon James founder was up to her earrings in work drama during Sunday's new Very Cavallari, mostly due to rising tensions at the store. To recap: Last week, she learned there were serious issues afoot in the company's shipping department. Packages were arriving at customers' homes with merchandise they hadn't ordered—or sometimes, totally empty. Obviously, the news raised some major concerns for Kristin.
"Uncommon James is approaching the busiest season of the year, so there's really no room for error in the shipping department," she said during this week's episode, adding that she's "nervous" her shipping team isn't "where it needs to be."
With Head of Operations Brittainy Taylor already juggling more management responsibilities than her job description called for, Kristin sent in a third-party adviser to evaluate the office shenanigans instead. It was her husband Jay Cutler, who—much to the employees' surprise—showed up to the Uncommon James office one afternoon wearing a full suit and carrying a notepad.
"Jay walks in, and 'F—k' is my first thought," Brittainy told the confessional camera. And she probably wasn't the only one.
"Jay makes me feel like I'm gonna pee my pants," said shipping co-manager Kelsey, who broke down in tears within minutes of his arrival.
Kristin's hubby stuck around for a while. But after quietly observing the staff fumble through a very detailed presentation on packaging how-to's (per a dense manual that Brittainy had drawn up earlier, visuals and everything) Jay had seen more than enough.
"You can't do your job and their job and their job," he said, referencing all the additional work Brittainy had put in to make up for the shipping crises that came to light during last week's episode. Continuing, Jay told her point-blank, "If they're not doing their job, then Kristin's gonna have to use somebody else."
When Jay relayed his findings to the boss later on, it was clear his wife had hired the right man for the job.
"I'm pleasantly surprised by Jay," she said after coming home to a bulletin board-style flowchart that her husband had put together beforehand. As far as Jay's recommendations for improvement? "Here's the deal: You've got to get Brittainy off of all shipping ‘cause they're getting this ridiculous presentation on how to fold a box," he began, referencing the chart in front of them. "Either Kelsey or Matt have to take over all shipping."
In the end, Kristin decided to shift Kelsey's focus to design and promote Matt to sole manager of shipping. But with the holiday business rush right around the corner, she still felt like her staff could use a little extra support.
So, hoping to recruit her back to Uncommon James, Kristin called Kaylee, her former store manager who "ran a really tight ship" during her initial tenure at the store.
Kristin explained that Kaylee was let go pretty suddenly by the company's HR department while she was out of town. And even though she recognized that Kaylee might have rubbed some employees the wrong way, Kristin also missed her contributions to the company.
"A lot of the girls didn't necessarily like her, but at the end of the day, I don't necessarily care about that. I just want people who are gonna really do their job and go above and beyond," she explained before meeting up with Kaylee for drinks. And, after hearing more about the specifics of Kaylee's firing from the former manager herself, Kristin felt like she deserved a second chance.
"Kaylee has a ton of experience as a retail manager and she doesn't put up with any sh-t, which I love," she said, explaining that Kaylee would be helping out with management and supervision around the office. "She's overqualified to take over shipping, but Brittainy clearly needs some help managing the staff even though she doesn't want to admit it."
Kristin was pretty optimistic about Kaylee's upcoming return, though the same definitely could not be said for most of her employees. See the staff's reaction when Kaylee stops by UJ cocktail party later that week—and triggers another round of tears—in the full recap video above!