My Unorthodox Life 's Julia Haart Hopes Her Story About Leaving Strict Religious World Will Inspire Others

Julia Haart is the CEO and co-owner of Elite World Group (the talent-management company representing stars like Kendall Jenner and Iman), and stars in her own Netflix series, My Unorthodox Life, which was just renewed for a second season — but the mom of four's life was very different just a few years ago.

"I've met women from all over the world, and whereas their lives may not be exactly similar to mine, there's so many women who have been told they are less than, that they have to wait their turn, that they have to be polite," she said during an appearance on Ellen Monday.

"And I thought, 'Here's a story about a crazy woman who picked herself up at 43 and changed everything about her life,'" she continued.

Netflix

After spending most of her life in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where women and girls wore modest dress and were not allowed to participate in sports or sing or dance in front of men, Haart left in 2013 to seek independence. "I was 43 and knew nothing about the world," she previously told PEOPLE.

For years prior, Haart remained devout, but as her children got older, she grew increasingly uncomfortable with the community's strict principles and practices. (Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, Jews adhere to very strict observance of traditional Jewish law — far more stringent than is expected in Modern Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism — and often seek to limit the influences of the outside world.) Haart still calls herself "a very spiritual person" and has said her "issue was never with Judaism, it was purely and solely with fundamentalism."

Courtesy Elite World Group

Now, as she prepares to share more of her life in season 2 of her Netflix reality show, Haart, 50, wants her story to help people looking to make a change in their own lives.

"I hope that it gives inspiration and courage to others to do the same," she said on Ellen.

My Unorthodox Life is streaming on Netflix.