Reality TV to real leadership

Television personality turned entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel transformed setbacks into stepping stones, using branding, resilience, and market foresight to build a multimillion-dollar empire.

Bethenny Frankel may have become a household name thanks to her tenure on the hit reality television series "The Real Housewives of New York," (RHONY), but her business savvy, bold decision-making, and branding expertise have kept her in the limelight.

"Frankel is an entrepreneur first and foremost. She takes calculated risks, seizes opportunities, and thrives in fast-moving environments," says Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Chris Neck. An expert in leadership, self-leadership, employee and executive fitness, self-managing teams, and group decision–making processes, Neck cites Frankel's resilience, perseverance, vision, and ability to disrupt markets as traits that make her an exceptional leader.

Frankel is the founder of several lifestyle brands, including Skinnygirl, which began as a low-calorie cocktail brand before expanding to include other beverage and food products, and Bethenny, a personal brand, podcast, and blog that brings Frankel's thoughts and favorite recipes, skincare, and lifestyle products to fans. Bethenny's philanthropic branch, BStrong, is dedicated to providing emergency assistance to people in crisis across the globe and includes campaigns supporting those impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires, the Turkey-Syria earthquake, and the crisis in Ukraine.

The explosion of reality TV and social media in the early 2000s opened the door for reality stars to turn fame into fortune — but few did it as successfully as Frankel. However, working in the public eye presents unique challenges, including the public's assumption that reality entertainers are vapid and lack substance, which hinders reality actors' professional credibility.

"Frankel had to fight against the stereotype that reality TV stars aren't serious entrepreneurs," says Neck. "Her business success helped her earn respect beyond the entertainment industry."

Turning setbacks into success

Before appearing on RHONY in 2008 as an original cast member, Frankel struggled financially and experienced several failed business attempts, including a party-planning venture and a pashmina scarf business. BethennyBakes, Frankel's health-conscious baked goods and meal delivery service based in New York City, gained attention when Frankel pitched the venture on "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," but financial struggles caused it to fail in its third year.

Frankel used each failure as a lesson in business planning, market awareness, and the importance of product focus and successfully launched Skinnygirl in 2009. Instead of relying on traditional ads, she marketed the brand by turning her reality TV viewers into customers.

"Frankel built Skinnygirl with minimal resources, leveraging her platform on RHONY to promote it," says Neck. "Unlike many entrepreneurs who seek venture capital, she used organic marketing and personal branding to scale the business before selling it for approximately $100 million."

Skinnygirl's incredible success can also be attributed to Frankel's talent for identifying gaps in the market. In the early 2000s, low-calorie cocktails were not a mainstream product, but competitors rushed to create similar offerings after Skinnygirl's success.

"She saw a gap in the market for low-calorie alcohol and healthy lifestyle branding. Many entrepreneurs follow trends; Frankel created a new category," says Neck.

Frankel has exhibited transformational, entrepreneurial, autocratic, and charismatic leadership styles during her career. By demonstrating her ability to see beyond current trends and redefine the beverage industry with Skinnygirl Cocktails, she exhibited transformational leadership by inspiring industry change. Skinnygirl also exemplified Frankel's entrepreneurial leadership style when she turned an idea into a multimillion-dollar business.

Frankel’s sharp decision-making, quick wit, and no-nonsense approach have built both a powerhouse brand and a fiercely loyal customer base." These autocratic and charismatic leadership skills allow her to control messaging tightly and maintain consistency in her branding while standing out as a compelling personality that audiences and customers connect with.

While Frankel has proved herself to be a savvy businesswoman, she struggles with collaboration and reactivity. Maintaining full control over decision-making has caused conflict with former business partners and limited her scalability, and Frankel is known for speaking her mind, which has resulted in public conflict.

"Her feuds with fellow RHONY cast members has, at times, overshadowed her business success and made her appear combative rather than strategic," says Neck.

Challenges of leading in the limelight

Since Frankel is the face of her brand, it is more difficult for her to delegate leadership responsibilities and scale her companies compared to CEOs whose images are not closely tied to their businesses. Living a highly publicized life has forced Frankel to be more deliberate, strategic, and brand-conscious since her decisions are more likely to be scrutinized by the public, and because her brand is built around her personality, Frankel must work harder to maintain public trust and constant authenticity.

"Unlike private CEOs, Frankel doesn't have the luxury of making mistakes quietly," says Neck.

Lessons in leadership: What entrepreneurs can learn

Throughout her career, Frankel has demonstrated self-leadership qualities through setting and sticking to clear goals, using positive self-talk to stay motivated, growing from failure, and being adaptable while staying true to her vision. She has also discussed her approach to self-leadership through her book, "A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life."

If Frankel were starting her career over today, Neck says her leadership styles would hold up — but with a few adaptations.

"Frankel would need to master social media as a primary business-building tool and might face different market challenges as consumers today demand more social responsibility and ethical business practices," says Neck.

When using Frankel as an example of leadership styles in class, Neck hopes students recognize how Frankel's resilience, adaptability, and innovative branding are keys to long-term success in business.

"Entrepreneurial success is about spotting opportunities and executing quickly," says Neck.

Frankel's reputation as an industry disruptor and entrepreneur reminds us that the most innovative business leaders can be found in unexpected places — including our television screens.