Written by Marquesa Pettway
On the successful reality show franchise Real Housewives, you will see a little bit of everything. I paid no attention to the show until about a year ago, when I came across the Real Housewives of New York City. Since I live here I was curious. I was surprised to see all types of characters, even non-housewives like Bethenny Frankel. Unless you've been living under a rock her Reinvention story is the talk of the town. I'll give you the short version. Bethenny started on the show in 2007 as a typical NYC woman, ambitious and wanting it all.
She feared she would never find the one but kept busy with her professional goals and just dated. Bethenny kept one goal in mind; build a brand, build a business and her Skinny Girl Brand was born. As an accomplished chef and newly successful author she continued to take that brand to the next level. Her love of tequila led to her idea to create a drink for tequila lovers without all the calories, a version of the margarita. She pitched her idea to spirits companies and got lots of rejection but never gave up. In a non-sales way she often referred to her drink during the episodes and really allowed the viewers to share her personal and professional ups and downs.
Needless to say, not only did the viewers fall in love with this imperfect woman wanting it all but they cared about what she was doing. As a result, she packaged and distributed the drink herself and got lots of sales and attention. Earlier this year, a major spirits company paid $100 million for her Skinny Girl drinks and like any smart business woman, she still owns the Skinny Girl Brand and continues to make deals for all types of products. In addition, while her professional profile was building, her personal life took off like a rocket. She got married, had a baby and everything was documented on her very own Bravo show that's now in its third season. She is the only housewife out of nearly 60 that's shown that you can have drama in your life but be smart about it and build a brand. This is Reinvention.
Lesson Learned: You can have anything you want, all you need is a vision mixed with moxie and anything is possible.
Stay Tuned for Reality Show Lesson 2.
Marquesa Pettway DTM
Reinvention Expert, Business Coach, Speaker
Join me this Thursday, June 30th to reinvent your business.
Comments
teisha says:
cool story! i NEVER watch reality shows after I got a gander at Flava Flav's show (OMG!); so many wanna-be stars that they'll do ANYTHING!! But you're showing me that maybe the participants have evolved and there will be a few who are using their appearance strategically...hmmmmmm.
June 30, 2011 at 8:09 AM | Permalink