*By Max Godnick*
Bethenny Frankel is using the same skills she used to succeed in the business world to help change lives in Puerto Rico and Guatemala.
The author, philanthropist, and entrepreneur is the founder of B Strong, a crisis intervention initiative that focused its efforts on disaster relief during the historic Atlantic hurricane season of 2017. The organization helped charter over fifty planes to deliver aid to Puerto Rico and raised over $1 million, which was distributed via cash cards.
"It felt like business," Frankel said of the non-profit endeavor in an interview with Cheddar on Tuesday.
The "Real Housewives of New York" star said she approached her role like a CEO and viewed her supporters as investors.
"They were investing their money to help people or investing their time to donate," she said.
Frankel's business mindset is one she knows well as the founder of Skinnygirl, the lifestyle brand she sold to Beam Suntory in 2011. The company is now expanding beyond its cocktail roots into food and clothing, with a denim line expected to be in stores this fall. She also started production company B Real-ity and is a guest judge on ABC's hit deal-making show, "Shark Tank."
Frankel thinks these experiences helped her prepare for her most important job yet.
"I knew that skill set," she said of the tools required to conduct such a large-scale relief endeavor, directly tracing them back to her stint as an event planner. "I know how to start a company, I know how to run a company, I know how to manage people and execute."
Frankel said the experience kept her from sleeping for three months as she organized her team and helped mobilize online chat rooms into meaningful support. She framed her direct and personal approach to a privately-run humanitarian mission as more effective and trustworthy than larger organizations.
"Right now the world of Big Charity is very not trusted," Frankel said, adding, "The people in Puerto Rico don't know where that money is."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/bethenny-frankel-runs-disaster-relief-efforts-like-a-ceo)
NFT art platform TRLab recently raised $4.2 million in funding. TRLab launched just last year but says its platform focused on NFT curation and distribution is growing quickly. The company hopes to bridge traditional and digital art worlds and help artists explore NFTs as an emerging medium. TRLab co-founder and chairwoman Xin Li-Cohen and co-founder and CEO Audrey Ou joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Chris Vecchio, senior analyst at DailyFX, joins Cheddar News to discuss what investors should watch as the three major indexes see wild swings all week.
Diageo, one of the largest distillers in the world, recently reported its global sales have surpassed pre-COVID levels. Debra Crew, the company's North American president, joined Cheddar to discuss the surging sales, supply chain disruptions, and its efforts in non-alcoholic beer and spirits. "We had growth across all five regions," Crew said. "A year ago that wasn't true. This was really more of a North America recovery story. This year you really see this across the globe, people returning back in. On premise reopening really helped us." The producers of Don Julio tequila and Ketel One vodka also opened a new carbon neutral distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky.
Although the auto industry is faced with chip shortages and supply chain woes, Tesla was still expected to report record earnings, and Elon Musk did not disappoint. Jon Rettinger, President of JFL Network, joins Cheddar News to discuss the company, the electric vehicle competition, and growth for the auto industry.
A year after the r/WallStreetBets community on Reddit drove GameStop and other meme stocks to unprecedented heights, the subreddit seems to be losing its luster among retail investors. Caitlin McCabe, markets and retail trading reporter from The Wall Street Journal, joined Cheddar to talk about the waning popularity of the group “Users are going on to find the next GameStop, and instead, they're seeing many of the new users who have joined the subreddit still talking about GameStop and AMC," McCabe noted. "And, they've become frustrated as they're ready to move on from those original meme stocks."
