She starred in the Bravo television series The Real Housewives of New York City, appearing in eight of its thirteen seasons since its 2008 premiere. In 2009, she founded the lifestyle brand, Skinnygirl.

Prior to this, she was the runner-up on the NBC reality competition series The Apprentice: Martha Stewart in 2005. She has gone on to headline several series of her own: the Bravo spin-offs Bethenny Ever After (2010–2012) and Bethenny & Fredrik (2018), the FOX daytime talk show Bethenny (2013–2014), and the HBO Max reality competition series The Big Shot with Bethenny (2021).

Outside of her work in reality television, Frankel is the founder of the Skinnygirl, a lifestyle brand, and BStrong, a disaster relief initiative. She is also the author of four self-help books.