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The Business of Being Bethenny

The ultimate cocktail: mix frothy Bravo star with hot margarita line. Result? $120 million. How Bethenny Frankel has bucked the reality system -- and changed dealmaking strategies.

I want a sauvignon blanc. do you want a sauvignon Blanc? I'm having a Sauvignon Blanc." It's March 25, lunchtime, and Bethenny Frankel is every bit as energetic -- some might even say spastic -- as she appears on her Bravo series, Bethenny Ever After. Her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, Frankel, 40, draws a long sip from her wineglass. "It's Friday," she says. "I'm done with work. My weekend can begin." Sitting in a tucked-away corner of the BLVD restaurant at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire, the wound-up reality star and executive producer of her own series visibly begins to relax. Frankel removes the oversized shawl she calls her "moosh" and tugs at her gray sweater underneath. "It's Club Monaco," she notes without prompting. "I love their tops. I don't have a lot of tops, but everything I buy is on sale. I never pay full price." She buzzes on for a few minutes about her controlled spending and how her husband of one year, Jason Hoppy, recently encouraged her to purchase an $800 Chanel handbag she was eyeing. "I couldn't do it," she says. "I didn't need it."