Hate them or love them, there's no denying that reality TV stars Kim Kardashian and Bethenny Frankel are savvy businesswomen.
Both have managed to turn their recurring reality show stints into sprawling business empires.
Notably, they attribute their success to a single trait: persistence.
Kardashian gained notoriety through her show, "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," which just wrapped up its 13th season in June, making it one of the longest-running reality television series in the U.S. Frankel shot to stardom after appearing on "The Real Housewives of New York City," which is now in it's ninth season.
Kim Kardashian
Kardashian told CNBC that she has made a fortune off her brand because of her persistence and ability to focus on achieving her professional goals (video below).
"You have to have the work ethic," she says in a recent video. "If you don't have that and don't want to work 24/7, it's not going to work for you."
In a 2015 Variety interview, Kardashian says she works hard for her money and attributes her success to "not being lazy."
"The reality is people don't want to get up and work," she says. "It sounds crazy, but I see it all the time."
Though she's become famous for appearing in reality television, Kardashian has since dabbled in other profitable ventures. The 36-year-old recently launched her beauty line called Kim Kardashian West Beauty. Her first round of products, contour and highlight kits, sold out in just under three hours.
The reality star created a hugely successful mobile gaming app in 2014, called "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood," which she publicly boasted earned her $80 million dollars in 2016.
In 2015, the businesswoman launched the highly in-demand Kimoji app and recently created a kids clothing line with her husband Kanye West. Kardashian also brings in money from her celebrity endorsements. In fact, she tells CNBC that she is a heavy social media user because it allows her to promote her brands.
Brands reportedly pay up to $500,000 for a social media shoutout to Kardashian's 101 million Instagram followers, according to Us Weekly.
The California native managed to rake in about $45 million dollars in 2017, despite a robbery and ensuing social media blackout, says Forbes.
Bethenny Frankel
Bethenny Frankel has managed to leverage a few years of reality TV into her thriving Skinnygirl empire, which just launched a deli meat brand in May of this year.
The reality star says the road to success wasn't easy and required a lot of grit and persistence despite various career obstacles. "I hit a lot of roadblocks, but I was a dog on a bone," Frankel tells CNBC.
Frankel was inspired to create the newest addition to her brand because she wasn't happy with the unnatural sodium filled meats found in grocery stores, says People.
Frankel founded Skinnygirl, a low-calorie liquor and food brand, in 2009. The brand's initial products were Skinnygirl Cocktails, which Frankel sold to Fortune Brands' Beam Global for an undisclosed sum just three years later. Forbes estimates that the deal was worth an eye-popping $100 million.
Though Frankel sold her Skinnygirl line of cocktails, the 46-year-old kept her position as CEO and still retains the right to use the Skinnygirl name for products other than alcohol. The entrepreneur has created female-focused low-calories foods such as Skinnygirl dressing, Skinnygirl chocolate and Skinnygirl popcorn.
The former housewife used her popularity with Bravo viewers to dabble in other media ventures, including a series titled Bethenny Ever After and a syndicated talk show.
With earnings of around $55 million, Frankel is one of the highest-earning reality stars of all time, according to a 2016 Forbes report. In fact, Frankel pulled in an estimated $8.5 million between 2015 and 2016, and she doesn't see herself slowing down anytime soon.
"I can't rest on my laurels, and I need to now really drill down and work on marketing and distribution of the Skinnygirl brand," she says.
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See also:
Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein both attributed their extraordinary success to this personality trait
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This story has been updated.