Quick answer: My Unorthodox Life is a Netflix reality series (2021–2022) following Julia Haart—a Russian-born woman who left her ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Monsey, New York, to become CEO of Elite World Group. The show ran for two seasons, spanning family drama, corporate battles, and deeply personal stories about identity, religion, and reinvention.
If you’ve ever fallen into a rabbit hole of reality TV you didn’t expect to love, My Unorthodox Life might be your next obsession. Part family drama, part fashion-world fantasy, part raw exploration of faith and freedom—this Netflix series is a lot of things at once. And that’s exactly what makes it so hard to stop watching.
The show premiered on July 14, 2021, and immediately hooked audiences with its larger-than-life central character, a cast of fascinating family members, and storylines that felt stranger than fiction. By Season 2, it had escalated into boardroom battles, back-to-back divorces, and enough courtroom drama to fill a legal thriller.
This guide covers everything you need to know: who’s who, what happened across both seasons, the controversies that followed the show, and where the Haart family is today. Whether you’re about to start watching or you’ve already binged the whole thing, there’s plenty here to dig into.
What Is My Unorthodox Life?
My Unorthodox Life is an American reality television series produced by Jeff Jenkins Productions in association with 3BMG for Netflix. Executive producers include Jeff Jenkins, Ross Weintraub, Reinout Oerlemans, and Julia Haart herself.
The show centers on Julia Haart—a businesswoman, fashion mogul, and former member of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community—and her four children as they navigate secular life in Manhattan. It’s a portrait of a family caught between two radically different worlds: one rooted in strict religious tradition, the other in the glittering excess of the global fashion industry.
Season 1 dropped on July 14, 2021. Season 2 followed on December 2, 2022, consisting of nine hour-long episodes. Netflix has not renewed the series for a third season.
Julia Haart’s Story – From Ultra-Orthodox to Fashion Icon
To understand My Unorthodox Life, you have to understand Julia Haart. Her backstory is genuinely extraordinary—and it forms the emotional backbone of everything the show explores.
Life Inside the Ultra-Orthodox Community
Julia Haart was born Talia (Yulia) Lebov in communist Russia. After immigrating to the United States with her family, she grew up in Monsey, New York—a tight-knit haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) community with strict religious rules governing every aspect of daily life: what you wear, who you marry, how you spend your time, and what roles you’re permitted to fill.
She married her first husband, Yosef Hendler, within the community and had four children. For years, she lived within those boundaries—teaching at a Jewish day school in Atlanta in the 1990s. But the restrictions, particularly those placed on women, were deeply stifling. She later described the experience in her memoir, Brazen: My Journey From Long Sleeves to Lingerie, as feeling like she had no agency over her own life.
Motivating her eventual exit? Her daughter Miriam. Seeing her child grow up under the same constraints pushed Julia to act.
Breaking Free and Building an Empire
Julia left the ultra-Orthodox community—and her first husband—taking three of her four children with her. What followed is the stuff of a Hollywood script. She landed a role as creative director at La Perla, the luxury Italian lingerie brand, where she met Italian businessman Silvio Scaglia, who was serving as CEO.
The two married in 2019. That same year, Julia was named CEO and co-owner of Elite World Group (EWG), one of the world’s most prominent modeling agencies, which Scaglia had purchased in 2011. Under her leadership, the company’s valuation reportedly climbed from $90 million to $500 million. It was an astonishing trajectory for someone who had spent decades in a sheltered, insular community.
My Unorthodox Life Cast – Meet the Family
The Haart family is a genuinely compelling ensemble. Each member brings something distinct to the show.
- Julia Haart – The matriarch, CEO, and driving force of the series. Charismatic, determined, and always impeccably dressed. She is the center of gravity around which every storyline orbits.
- Silvio Scaglia Haart – Julia’s second husband, an Italian entrepreneur and the owner of Freedom Holding (which controls Elite World Group). His relationship with Julia becomes the defining conflict of Season 2.
- Batsheva Haart – Julia’s eldest daughter, who married Ben Weinstein within the Orthodox community and has been slowly stepping into secular life since leaving Monsey. Her personal evolution is one of Season 1’s most engaging threads.
- Miriam Haart – Julia’s youngest daughter and arguably the show’s breakout star. A Stanford-educated computer scientist who is openly gay and fiercely independent.
- Shlomo Haart (Hendler) – Julia’s eldest son. Funny, endearing, and still figuring out how to navigate the secular dating world.
- Aron Hendler – Julia’s youngest son, who chose to remain in Monsey with his father and continue living an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle. His story provides the show’s most poignant contrast.
- Robert Brotherton – COO of Elite World Group and Julia’s loyal right-hand man at work. He adds levity and warmth throughout both seasons.
Season 1 Overview – What Happened?
Season 1 of My Unorthodox Life wastes no time pulling viewers in. The very first scene drops you into Julia’s Tribeca apartment, where she’s casually giving her daughter Batsheva and son-in-law Ben Weinstein advice about their sex life. That’s your introduction to this family—no gentle warm-up required.
The season follows Julia as she runs Elite World Group while managing the chaos of her unconventional family life. Viewers get a taste of Paris Fashion Week, glamorous Hamptons weekends, and high-stakes business meetings. But the emotional core comes from the family dynamics.
Batsheva and Ben’s marriage is a recurring source of tension. Ben, raised Orthodox, struggles with Batsheva’s growing embrace of secular life—something as simple as wearing pants becomes a meaningful point of conflict. Miriam is openly exploring her sexuality, and her confidence and wit make her immediately likable. Shlomo is attempting to navigate modern dating with very little frame of reference, which produces some genuinely funny moments. And Aron, still living in Monsey with his father, represents the road Julia and her other children chose not to take.
Julia herself is a study in contradictions. She’s warm and emotionally intelligent in one-on-one moments, then relentlessly driven in the boardroom. Season 1 establishes that push-and-pull beautifully.
Season 2 Overview – Drama, Divorces & New Beginnings
If Season 1 was the introduction, Season 2 was the detonation. Nearly every storyline escalated significantly—and the real-world events happening off-screen were even more dramatic than what the cameras caught.
Julia Haart and Batsheva’s Divorces
By the time Season 2 premiered on December 2, 2022, Julia was in the middle of a brutal divorce from Silvio Scaglia. She had filed in February 2022, and Scaglia had responded by attempting to fire her from Elite World Group and accusing her in court documents of illegally withdrawing $850,000 from a company account—a claim her legal team firmly denied. Season 2 captures Julia fighting to hold onto everything she built, while simultaneously managing a deeply personal split.
Batsheva’s divorce from Ben Weinstein runs parallel. The couple had been together for nine years, married young, and grown in very different directions. Their November 2021 joint statement described it as two people who’d outgrown each other, not a dramatic falling-out—though the show brings considerable nuance to what that actually looked like in practice.
Watching two women in the same family navigate divorce simultaneously gives Season 2 a raw, emotionally layered texture that elevates it beyond typical reality TV fare.
What Miriam, Shlomo, and Aron Brought to Season 2
Miriam’s storyline in Season 2 centers on her girlfriend, Nathalie, and the very real question of whether they should marry to allow Nathalie to remain in the country. It’s a storyline that hits differently than typical reality TV romantic arcs—the stakes are genuinely high.
Shlomo reaches a personal milestone that’s treated with surprising sensitivity on the show. And Aron, still committed to his religious life in Monsey, continues to be the quiet counterweight to everything happening in Manhattan—his choices respected even as his mother hopes for more time with him.
Season 2 also takes the family on a trip back to Julia’s roots—visiting Austin, Texas (where she lived after immigrating from Russia) and Monsey itself—adding historical context to a story that’s easy to take at surface level.
My Unorthodox Life Reviews & Controversy
My Unorthodox Life generated strong reactions from both critics and viewers. W Magazine described it as “a mystery I can’t stop watching”—the kind of show that ends every episode with more questions than answers, and keeps you coming back because of it.
Viewer responses ranged widely. Many were genuinely moved by Julia’s story of breaking free from a restrictive community. Others found the show hard to watch for different reasons—not because it was poorly made, but because it raised uncomfortable questions. How much of it is scripted? Is the show fair to the Orthodox community it depicts? Is Julia pushing her values onto her children as forcefully as her community once pushed its values onto her?
That last point—particularly regarding Aron—sparked real debate. Julia’s visible discomfort with Aron’s choice to stay religious felt, to some viewers, like an echo of the pressure she herself had faced. “I feel like she is doing to her son, Aron, what was done to her in reverse,” noted one viewer quoted in the Atlanta Jewish Times. It’s a critique the show never quite resolves, and that ambiguity is part of what makes it so compelling—and so controversial.
The Orthodox Jewish community also pushed back on the show’s framing. Julia has addressed this publicly, insisting the family’s intent was to shed light on issues affecting women within strict religious communities, not to disparage the faith itself.
Pros and Cons of Watching My Unorthodox Life
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Genuinely compelling central character | Questions about scripting and authenticity |
| Rare window into ultra-Orthodox Jewish life | Can feel exploitative of Aron’s story |
| Fashion world aesthetics are visually stunning | Some storylines feel rushed or under-explored |
| Miriam Haart is a remarkable standout | Tone swings between glamour and heavy drama |
| Season 2 raises real, high-stakes legal drama | No Season 3 — storylines left unresolved |
| Strong themes around female empowerment | Criticism of portraying Orthodox community unfairly |
| Each family member has a distinct, engaging arc | Julia’s character can feel guarded on screen |
Season Comparison: Season 1 vs Season 2
| Feature | Season 1 (2021) | Season 2 (2022) |
|---|---|---|
| Premiere Date | July 14, 2021 | December 2, 2022 |
| Episodes | Multiple | 9 hour-long episodes |
| Central Conflict | Julia’s new secular life vs. her past | Julia’s divorce from Silvio Scaglia |
| Batsheva’s Arc | Adjusting to secular lifestyle | Going through her own divorce |
| Miriam’s Arc | Exploring sexuality | Relationship with girlfriend Nathalie |
| Shlomo’s Arc | Dating in the secular world | Personal milestones |
| Aron’s Arc | Living in Monsey, staying religious | Further embracing his faith |
| Overall Tone | Introductory, glamorous, exploratory | Intense, dramatic, emotionally raw |
| Setting Focus | Manhattan, Paris, Hamptons | Manhattan + return to Monsey and Austin |
Key Themes Explored in the Show
My Unorthodox Life isn’t just reality TV. At its best, it raises questions worth sitting with:
- Religious freedom and identity – What happens when leaving a faith community means rebuilding your entire identity from scratch?
- Female empowerment – Julia’s rise from sheltered housewife to CEO is genuinely inspiring, whatever you think of the drama surrounding it.
- Family across a religious divide – The Haart family’s story illustrates how one generation’s choices ripple through an entire family tree.
- LGBTQ+ identity within religious contexts – Miriam’s journey is handled with more depth than many reality shows afford such stories.
- The cost of reinvention – Julia’s transformation came at enormous personal and professional cost. The show doesn’t shy away from that.
Where Are Julia Haart & Her Family Now?
The most dramatic update came in January 2025. After nearly three years of bitter legal proceedings, Julia Haart won her divorce case against Silvio Scaglia in a sweeping court victory. Judge Jeffrey Pearlman awarded her a 50% interest in Freedom Holding—plus power of attorney over Scaglia’s 50% share, meaning she can run the company independently. She also kept the 16-room Tribeca triplex penthouse (valued at approximately $65 million), received $7.4 million in unpaid management fees from 2019 through 2021, and a share of proceeds from the sale of a painting owned by the company. Julia told Page Six simply: “Justice was served.”
As for the rest of the family:
- Batsheva Haart has built a significant social media presence and influencer career since her divorce, leaning into her identity as a modern woman navigating life post-Monsey and post-marriage.
- Miriam Haart graduated from Stanford University with a degree in computer science and now works as an app engineer and NFT developer in the Bay Area. She also hosts a podcast called Faking It, focused on issues affecting women.
- Shlomo Haart continues to build his secular life.
- Aron Hendler remains in Monsey, living according to Orthodox tradition—a choice his family has learned to respect even when it’s painful.
Julia also published her memoir, Brazen: My Journey From Long Sleeves to Lingerie, which expands on the story the show only partially tells.
The Haart Family’s Story Is Far From Over
My Unorthodox Life may have ended after two seasons, but the family it documented is still very much in motion. Julia Haart’s January 2025 court victory feels like the final chapter of a years-long battle that played out partly on screen, partly in courtrooms, and partly in the tabloids. Miriam is building a tech career and using her platform to advocate for women. Batsheva has found her footing as a creator. Aron has held firm to a path that sets him apart from the rest of his family—and perhaps that’s its own kind of bravery.
What the show captured, at its core, is a family trying to figure out who they are when the old rules no longer apply. That’s a story worth watching. Both seasons of My Unorthodox Life are streaming now on Netflix.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is My Unorthodox Life about?
My Unorthodox Life is a Netflix reality series that follows Julia Haart, a former member of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Monsey, New York, who left to build a career in fashion and ultimately became CEO of Elite World Group. The show documents her life in Manhattan alongside her four children as they each navigate the transition from a deeply religious upbringing to secular life.
How many seasons of My Unorthodox Life are there?
There are two seasons of My Unorthodox Life. Season 1 premiered on July 14, 2021, and Season 2 followed on December 2, 2022, consisting of nine episodes. Netflix has not renewed the show for a third season.
Is My Unorthodox Life scripted or staged?
My Unorthodox Life is an unscripted reality series, though some viewers and critics have questioned how naturally certain scenes unfold. As with most reality TV productions, events may be shaped in part by producer decisions about framing and editing.
Why did Julia Haart leave Elite World Group?
Julia Haart was fired from her position as CEO of Elite World Group in February 2022 by her then-husband Silvio Scaglia, who also accused her of illegally withdrawing $850,000 from a company account. Her legal team denied the allegations. After a lengthy legal battle, Julia won her divorce case in January 2025 and was awarded control of Freedom Holding (which owns Elite World Group), the couple’s Tribeca apartment, and nearly $10 million in various financial awards.
Is Miriam Haart really a lesbian?
Yes. Miriam Haart came out publicly as a lesbian and has spoken openly about her journey in both the show and at public events. She graduated from Stanford University with a degree in computer science and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. In Season 2, her storyline involves her girlfriend, Nathalie, and the question of marriage for immigration purposes.
Did Batsheva Haart really get divorced?
Yes. Batsheva Haart and Ben Weinstein announced their separation in November 2021 after nine years of marriage. Their divorce is a significant plotline in Season 2 of My Unorthodox Life. Since then, Batsheva has become an active social media influencer and content creator.
Where can I watch My Unorthodox Life?
Both seasons of My Unorthodox Life are available to stream on Netflix. The series is rated TV-MA.
Did Julia Haart win her divorce from Silvio Scaglia?
Yes. In January 2025, a New York judge granted Julia Haart a sweeping default judgment in her divorce from Silvio Scaglia. She was awarded a 50% interest in Freedom Holding (plus power of attorney over Scaglia’s 50%), the couple’s $65 million Tribeca triplex penthouse, $7.4 million in unpaid management fees, and a share of proceeds from the sale of company-owned artwork.
Emma Clarke is a content writer at Gaukurinn.is, specializing in celebrity news, pop culture, movies, and music. With a strong focus on accuracy and trending topics, she creates engaging and well-researched articles that keep readers informed and entertained.
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