‘RHOP’ Stars Have the Most Failed Businesses

The Big Picture

• RHOP
  housewives often launch new business ventures, but not all of them find success.

• Bethenny Frankel and Heather Gay are examples of housewives who have achieved success with their business ventures, while others, like Gizelle Bryant of
  RHOP
  , faced setbacks.
• Karen Huger stands out as the most successful entrepreneur among the
  RHOP
  cast, with her fragrance, candle, and wig line under the La’Dame name receiving positive reviews and generating profit.

In the second episode of Season 8 of The Real Housewives of Potomac, Dr. Wendy Osefo shared that she’ll be starting her own talk show. Last year’s venture of opening a Nigerian-themed lounge did not work out, thanks to Peter Thomas, and before that, she also started a candle collection that still exists. In fact, it’s safe to say that almost every season of RHOP following the premiere season has had a housewife launch a new line of something.

Plenty of housewives from other franchises have had a lot of success with the business ventures they started during their time on their respective franchises. Bethenny Frankel’s SkinnyGirl alcohol line has become a mainstay in grocery and liquor stores, and most recently, Bravo fans have been hearing a lot about Heather Gay’s skincare company. Granted, the reason her business is in the news lately is thanks to allegations that Monica Garcia used a fake name and did not pay for the services she received while there. With a new business being born every season on RHOP, who has actually had success, and who hasn’t on the reality show?

10 OZ – Ashley Darby’s Restaurant Featured Australian Cuisine

The restaurant was a tough sell from the get-go, given that most people’s understanding of Australian food involves a blooming onion in a fast-casual setting. OZ’s offerings were much more exotic, including things like kangaroo meat. Ashley and her now ex-husband, Michael Darby, opened the restaurant in 2015, and a new menu created by Ashley was soft-launched during the second season of RHOP. News of the restaurant’s closure broke in 2019, and the timing coincided with the birth of their firstborn son, Dean.

RELATED: ‘RHOP’ Is Demonizing the Culture and Spirituality of Nigeria

9 EveryHue Beauty – Gizelle Bryant Faced Issues Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Gizelle launched her beauty line, EveryHue Beauty in 2017, and it initially did very well. Bravolebrities like MJ Javid and Kenya Moore were supportive fans of the product line. The line was even sold in Target stores nationwide and prided itself on offering a variety of shades for women of color. Unfortunately for Gizelle, her manufacturer shut down in 2020, a revelation shared during the season 5 reunion. Gizelle caught some much-deserved flack for shadily insulting Karen Huger’s wig line venture that season. Gizelle has since put entrepreneurship aside and is focusing on other endeavors.

8 ZenGem By Ashley – Ashley Darby’s Athleisure Line

Ashley’s ZenGem line is a mystery. And this is not hyperbole; the website she has set up for the fashion line shows nothing but a 403 Error Code page. It definitely exists, as the debut of the line is where the infamous fight between her friend Deborah and Keiana Stewart occurred. Glimpses of the clothing before the fight were seen by eagle-eyed fans on social media and were, frankly, underwhelming. If this line does make it to major distribution, it will probably not do well. Ashley is a certified yoga instructor, and her zest for fitness and wellness has been a major part of her storyline, so the fashion line coincides with her passion.

7 Glo RX – Robyn Dixon’s Skin Care Business

Robyn has a skincare line for those who may not be aware. It’s called Glo RX and features eye masks, facial masks, moisturizers, and gift cards to purchase said items. It’s difficult to tell how the business is going, primarily because there is a much larger skincare line that boasts a similar name. The Glo-RX is another skincare brand with a focus on anti-aging, very similar to Robyn’s. The primary difference is that they have way more products and options for consumers. There is also another skincare line called The GlowRX, which is not related to either Robyn or the other doppelganger company. The comparisons are unfortunate for The Glo-RX and The GlowRX, as RHOP fans are over Robyn, thanks to the end of season 7, and have taken to Robyn’s business pages and social media pages to insult and troll her. It also seems out of the blue, as she’s never talked about skincare on the show. Robyn has recently shared that she’s opening a Glo30 franchise, so perhaps that will help with brand awareness confusion? Or it could make it worse. Either way, the lack of originality places this particular Dixon venture low on the list.

6 Amilleon London – Mia Thornton’s Product Line

Mia Thornton Actually Does Have Her Own Real Business

Mia Thornton has been known for boasting about her status as the owner of The Joint Chiropractic franchise. Recent developments have determined that she was actually just on the marketing team and that her soon-to-be ex-husband was the one running the show until his siblings iced him out of the company. As it turns out, Mia is the CEO of her own beauty product line, Amilleon London. The business seems successful enough, and while there aren’t many written reviews, the beauty line does have a small following on social media.

5 Embellished Hats – Robyn Dixon’s Random Hat Company

Robyn launched her hat line in season 5 of RHOP. After the episode premiered, fans flocked to the e-commerce site, and her hats sold out. Embellished is still going strong, with more of a focus on creating designs for historically Black fraternities and sororities, as well as satin-lined hats that protect Black hair textures. She admits in a recent interview with Blavity that she needs to put more of her personal energy into the business. Robyn herself is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, which was the second Black sorority created and founded at Howard University in 1913. This niche focus on the Divine Nine is a brilliant move and has worked well for Robyn. Unfortunately, thanks to her recent controversies, all of the comments on Embellished’s social media pages are filled with vitriol and hate from angry fans.

4 Onyi Home Essentials – Dr. Wendy Osefo’s Candle Line

Dr. Wendy Osefo is a lot of things, and in her second season of RHOP, she decided to start a candle business. Her husband, Eddie, was extremely skeptical of the venture, especially with its rough business plan. Luckily for both of them, RHOP helped its success. Within 72 hours of the product line dropping, the candles were completely sold out. This happened even with Karen Huger’s candle line on the market. Now that Onyi Home Essentials is a success, Wendy is focused on starting a talk show, yet another venture she has the talent but not the know-how for. Time will tell how it all works out!

3 Candiace Dillard’s Pageant Consulting

In addition to her music career, Candiace Dillard has a few other businesses that have proven to be quite lucrative. One of which is her Pageant Consulting business. Candiace works with clients and provides them with pageant training. According to an article on Bravo’s website, Candiace has worked with and trained over 500 women for pageants, all of whom earned titles with her guidance. She’s a former Miss United States.

2 Prima Hair Collection – Candiace Dillard’s Hair Line

Speaking of Candiace, she also co-owns a hair product line, Prima Hair Collection, a business she co-founded with her mother and sister after she won the title of Miss United States. The collection has a lot of offerings, like bundles, wigs, and hair care products. There was discussion of her opening a brick and motor store, but it seems to be on pause. It also appears she hasn’t been promoting the business lately.

1 La’Dame by Karen Huger – a Perfume

It’s only natural that The Grand Dame, Karen Huger, tops this list. With all her ventures listed under Karen Huger LLC, The Grand Dame first launched her fragrance, La’Dame, to rave reviews. The scent is popular, which led her to create a candle for it. Her candles created conflict between her and Dr. Wendy Osefo, who also launched her candle line, Onyi Home Essentials, around the same time. Karen also created a wig line under the La’Dame name. Karen’s businesses are lucrative enough to have her included in a list of some of the best Real Housewives businesses, a list that, according to Nicki Swift, was created via a survey of 587 people. Karen is the most successful entrepreneur of the RHOP cast, which makes absolute sense. The fragrance is sold in Bloomingdales.

RHOP airs every Sunday on Bravo at 8 PM EST, with next-day streaming on Peacock.

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