Bethenny's Secret to Building an Empire Revealed

The Real Housewives of New York City's Bethenny Frankel is pretty savvy when it comes to business. All you need to do is look at her Skinnygirl empire for proof. What started as a liquor line has turned into a full-blown lifestyle business—in under a decade, too.

So if you've ever wondered how she managed to become the female mogul she is today, she's spilling some of her greatest secrets.

The biggest lesson she's learned? "You never assume anyone is smarter than you," she tells The Indianapolis Star. "It doesn't mean that you run around thinking everyone's an idiot, it just means you don't assume anyone is smarter. It could be your travel agent, it could be a doctor, it could be all the people in the liquor business that told me that Skinnygirl was not a good idea until I proved it was. If you feel something, than you're feeling it for a reason and you've got to explore it."

Bethenny notes that while "freedom is scary," it can also give potential moguls the chance to be creative.

"Everybody has an idea and everybody thinks that their idea is the greatest and everybody is running around worrying about everybody else stealing their ideas, and the truth of it is, it's about execution," she adds. "Right now I could be talking about a television show idea and five other people could be talking about a similar rendition of that idea, but it's about who can execute it properly. Spinning has been around for 25 years at least, then one day someone said, 'I'm going to SoulCycle or Flywheel, it's different.' I went into a class, it's not different. But someone marketed it and got people to pay $35-$75 a seat per time where going to a gym with a membership is the exact same thing. It's rebranded, it's execution."

Bethenny also reveals her secret to saving and it means you might have to put a hold on your upcoming spending spree.

"Taking out a certain amount out of your paycheck every week," she advises. "Not having to buy something the minute it comes out, not paying retail, editing what's in your closet. People are very messy and disorganized, and messy and disorganized equals losing money because you don't know where everything is, so you end up buying things you already have, from a box of pasta to a black dress."

"Women keep buying to fill this hole, and I get it because believe me, been there, done that," she continues. "But I can afford it and I buy everything on sale. Women have too much stuff and if they knew the amount of money that would be in their bank account that is in their closet and drawers and wasteful amount they spend on toys to get their kids to be quiet  it's a lot of money."