When Bethenny Frankel sold her low-calorie cocktail brand, Skinnygirl, in 2011, it marked her evolution from reality television personality with a successful side business to one of the most recognizable entrepreneurs in consumer products. The deal also signaled the beginning of a second act, one centered not on launching brands from scratch, but on investing in, advising, and scaling companies she believes have untapped potential.

That strategy has culminated in her to her latest venture: acquiring a majority stake in haircare brand dpHUE, where she will serve as Chief Brand Officer, overseeing everything from marketing and social strategy to messaging and product development. For Frankel, the deal represents more than another beauty investment; instead, it reflects what she calls her "Bethenny Effect" model. "A brand is already teed up," she explains. "I come in, smooth out the edges, clarify the message, and hopefully make it land."

Unlike many celebrity-backed beauty brands, Frankel wasn’t interested in launching another line under her own name. In fact, she says she spent years turning down opportunities. “I’ve been approached by countless beauty partners, from creating my own line to partnering with existing ones," she says, “but I’ve never been moved because there's so much BS and I couldn't find real differentiation.”

Haircare, however, proved different. After openly documenting her own hair health journey--including supplements, scalp treatments, serums, oils, and changing hair texture in her 50s--Frankel found herself paying closer attention to products that delivered measurable results. "I never knew being intentional could make such a tangible difference," she recalls. "Then I tried dpHUE's at-home color. The results, user-friendly packaging, and quality were shockingly good. I felt empowered."

She was equally impressed by the brand’s apple cider vinegar collection, which she credits with changing her perspective on scalp health. "What people don’t realize is that a clean scalp is directly related to healthy hair growth," she says. "I was always taught not to wash my hair often. The reality is you just have to use quality products and be intentional about maintenance."

While at-home hair color may lack the viral appeal of color cosmetics or skincare, Frankel saw an opportunity in a category solving a real, and recurring, consumer problem. "I know this is a harder category than slapping on lip gloss or tasting a chip," she admits. "But it's also a daunting, expensive problem to solve."

That philosophy extends well beyond dpHUE. Frankel believes beauty has entered a new phase where clear value propositions matter more than buzzy marketing. "The days of flashy virality as a business model are over," she says. "The audience is relentless. They’re smart and savvy. They want value, results, and no confusion. They just want to know exactly what to do and how to do it."

It’s also why she’s taking such an active role in the business. Frankel says she insisted on "completely scrubbing" the brand’s social channels before rebuilding its messaging from the ground up. "I’m assisting in the marketing, messaging, and social strategy, and I’m weighing in on products," she explains. "I'm a quality-over-quantity person."

For Frankel, products alone are never enough. A brand also needs founders who are willing to prioritize the business over their own profiles. "The founders have to put the business—not fame or attention—first," the investor says. "Many founders want their flowers. I tell them most people don't care. They care about the brand's story, DNA and identity."

She also believes founders often struggle to relinquish control after bringing in outside partners, a dynamic she’s encountered firsthand. "If you bring someone in for a reason, let them fly," Frankel notes. "Too many partners put a leash on me, and that isn't a viable model. No matter how good your product is, if no one understands it, it's the tree that falls in the forest and no one hears."

Her investment criteria today extend far beyond the product, or even the founder, themselves. "It’s literally all of it," she says, pointing to the founder, category, business fundamentals, and financial viability. "If carrying a business is going to be on my back, I may as well start it myself."

That thinking has also shaped how she structures deals. Some investments are purely financial; others come with larger equity positions tied to her influence. The handful she considers true partnerships, though, receive something much closer to founder-level attention. "I take significant ownership and treat the investment like my child," she explains.

Frankel says authenticity remains the through line behind every investment decision, and the reason she has resisted opportunities that didn’t feel right. "I create infinitely more buzz in pajamas with imperfect, poorly lit, sloppily edited content than I ever do with a polished ad," she says. "Partners need to let me be me because trust and authenticity are the only things money can't buy."

It’s a philosophy she says has only become more valuable since the Skinnygirl sale. "I was actually walking away from media and business," she recalls. "Then this accidental era of helping build brands happened."

Fifteen years on, Frankel has no plans to slow down. "When the blackjack table goes cold, I'll walk away," she says. "But the tables are scalding hot right now. I'm doubling and tripling down."