Bethenny Frankel: From Real Housewife to Mogul

“Once in a while, you see a person who used to treat you like a dog, because you were nobody. You get a little giggle.” —Bethenny Frankel

No one is sitting Bethenny Frankel in the corner anymore. The selfmade Skinnygirl Cocktail creator, reality television star, author, and power mover is a force to be reckoned with. No longer settling for being just a ‘Real Housewife’, Bethenny is now worth hundreds of millions and is poised to be one the the biggest female moguls in the industry. Some may think this is by accident, but if you’ve seen Bethenny in action on television shows such as The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, then you know that she is the truth—uncut and unfiltered but brilliant as hell, she took her expertise and ran with it.

There’s a lesson to be learned from Bethenny—seize an opportunity, grow your brand, and then watch it soar. That is exactly what she did.

Her breakthrough came in the form of being one of seven women spotlighted on the Bravo reality hit TV series, Real Housewives of New York. For 3 seasons, she made us laugh and cry as we followed her adventures in the Big Apple with her fabulous counterparts. When Bethenny met her soon to be husband and got pregnant unexpectedly, she capitalized on her popularity and was given her own spin off series, Bethenny Getting Married? and Bethenny Ever After. Add to her successful chef business, she created a low calorie, dainty, and fabulous drink and marketed it the public called Skinnygirl Cocktails. Women took notice and supported the drink that was indeed a brand they could get behind because it represented them. Book deals and personal appearances followed, and Bethenny left the other housewives in the dust (and rightfully so) and created her own empire.

Real moguls know when (and how) to make moves based off of their talents. I admire Bethenny because she could’ve easily faded away to obscurity like so many other reality television stars who try to use their fame to make millions. Instead, she used her talents as a chef and as a personality to propel her future to higher places and that took initiative and work. Bravo built the Housewives franchise but Bethenny built Bethenny Inc.

When it comes to a person who builds her empire with savviness, I have to give it up to Bethenny. “Yes. yes, yes. I worked hard, I did it on my own, and busted my ass the while way. It’s been a long time coming,” Bethenny told Inc. magazine.

Bethenny’s Skinnygirl liquor brand was sold earlier this year for $120 million to Beam Global Spirits & Wine.

This is how you do it.

Photo credit: Momlogic