Bethenny Frankel

In 1992, Frankel moved to Los Angeles with hopes of being an actress. While she landed some small acting roles, she worked as a nanny to Paris Hilton and a personal assistant to Jerry Bruckheimer and Linda Bruckheimer.[11] During this time, Frankel also worked as a production assistant on the set of Saved by the Bell.[12]

Frankel used these connections to start her first company, called "In Any Event", a party-planning business, which was short-lived.[11] Her next entrepreneurial enterprise was re-selling pashmina scarves that she bought wholesale from an Indian manufacturer.[11]

In 2003, Frankel started a baking business called "BethennyBakes", focusing on "healthy" cookies and meal delivery in New York City, which was featured on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, a reality competition series, in 2005.[11][13][14] Frankel was one of two finalists on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.[15][16] The company, BethennyBakes, later went out of business in 2006, but Frankel remained a spokesperson for Pepperidge Farms low-calorie line.[11][14]

In 2008, Frankel was selected for the reality television series The Real Housewives of New York City.[17] In June 2010, Frankel starred in the Bravo reality TV show Bethenny Getting Married?, which documented her engagement and marriage to Jason Hoppy, and the birth of their daughter. At the time of its premiere, the series was the highest rated of any series in Bravo's history.[18][19] In September 2010, Frankel announced that she would not be returning to The Real Housewives of New York City for its fourth season.[20]

Discussions of Frankel as a host for a talk show were conducted in 2011 and 2012.[21][22][23] The Bethenny show premiered on September 9, 2013,[24] and was canceled on February 14, 2014, airing repeats until the end of the television season.[25] It was announced in October 2014 that Frankel would return as a cast member for the seventh season of The Real Housewives of New York City.[26][27] In March 2019, Deadline Hollywood reported that Frankel had signed a deal with MGM Television and the company's chairman, Mark Burnett, to produce and star in future unscripted television projects.[28] In August of the same year, Frankel announced her departure from The Real Housewives of New York City.[29] The following year, it was announced that Frankel will star in an upcoming HBO Max reality competition series titled The Big Shot with Bethenny, which she will also produce alongside Burnett. The series is set to feature "aspiring business moguls compete for a job on Frankel's executive team."[30]

In March 2009, Frankel's book, Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting, was published and The SkinnyGirl Dish: Easy Recipes for Your Naturally Thin Life, was published in December. She created an exercise DVD, Body by Bethenny, in spring 2010 and an audiobook, The Skinnygirl Rules, which summarized her two prior books.[31] In 2011, Frankel published, A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life and in December 2012, published the novel Skinnydipping.[32][33]

Frankel created the Skinnygirl cocktail company in April 2011.[34] She later sold the company to Fortune Brands' Beam Global (now a part of Suntory) for an estimated $100 million.[10][35][36]

In May 2017, Bethenny celebrated the Midwest launch of Skinnygirl Market Fresh Deli. It is a line of pre-packaged lunch meat that is free from preservatives and certified[37] by the American Heart Association for containing lower levels of sodium and fat.[38] Skinnygirl Market Fresh Deli is also a supporter of Bethenny's program, B-Strong: Find Your Yes, which is a division of Dress for Success. The program provides a "multi-layered support system, resources and financial assistance for women coping with crisis situations."[38]

Frankel is the founder of BStrong, a disaster relief organization.[39] In 2017, the organization raised $300,000 in donations and supplies for the victims of Hurricane Harvey,[40] after which Frankel visited Houston, Texas to distribute these items.[41] In the same year, Frankel traveled to Mexico City and Jojutla, Mexico following the Puebla earthquake to raise awareness for the disaster's recovery efforts, for which BStrong also raised $150,000.[40][42] Also in the same year, Frankel chartered four planes to Puerto Rico and distributed medical supplies, food, water, and hygiene products in assisting with Hurricane Maria relief efforts.[43] In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, BStrong raised funds and delivered personal protective equipment such as masks, goggles, gowns, and sheets to hospitals in the U.S.[44]

Frankel posed nude for a PETA billboard in September 2009.[45]