Bethenny Frankel rose to stardom as a cast member of Bravo's Real Housewives of New York. She then wrote two New York Times bestsellers and launched the Skinnygirl liquor brand, which she recently sold to Beam Global Spirits & Wine for a reported $120 million.
People have always somewhat respected me but kind of brushed off what I wanted to do. To them, I was just a "housewife." And I wasn't thrilled with that.
On the show, I was on my own, and I was broke. I wasn't buying diamonds and getting facials. The decision to go on reality television was single-handedly a business decision. It was frustrating to constantly be referred to as a "reality star." I didn't want to be in magazines about what shoes I was wearing, and I didn't want to just be in the gossip pages. I wanted to be known as an entrepreneur and a businessperson. It was a strategy from Day One.
Everyone told me not to do Real Housewives. Every agent, every lawyer.
But I took a gamble. You can't listen to anyone else. I go with my gut every time.