June 2, 2023 • 7 mins
Vicki Gunvalson is the OG of the OC. She walked into the Housewives franchise with a successful business but what did she do after she got there? Bethenny takes out the microscope on her career and red pens it. Find out what she did right, what she did wrong!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
All right, Vickie Gumbelson is top. She's the OG of
the OC. I can't imagine what it would take to
be in every season since the beginning, with the exception
of previous seasons where she was let go. She walked
in with a successful insurance business. She maintained that it
seems like she has a good business sense, a good income,
(00:35):
and she did put that business first, and so it
was great that she was able to have her office
be a base of many conversations and that it was
a true thing that she was doing. So it was
like a good incorporation of her existing business. Insurance isn't sexy.
There's no brand she can really sell. She could come
up with some software or some kind of model that
she's selling nationally, which actually I think she should have
(00:56):
done some insurance model or function or product or service
that she could sell and monetize to everyone. That would
have been really smart in the beginning, like the way
that H and R block their accountants, but they are
accessible to the whole country. Some sort of service that
she could have done that was scalable. So she didn't
(01:17):
do that. So I'm giving her a bee for her
insurance business. Now is where it gets tricky. Twenty twelve,
she launches Vicky's Vodka. Vicky and her ex boyfriend Brooks
were sued in twenty thirteen by Robert Williamson in a
Nevada court for two hundred and fifty thousand because they
allegedly conspired to commit fraud in their Vicki's Vodka venture.
(01:40):
Robert Williamson alleges breach of contract, breach of good faith, dealing,
and fraud, among other allegations, and seeks commensatory damages in
excess of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I don't
know what happened there. It doesn't matter. Everybody, Everybody in
Hollywood and in housewives and reality television got into cockil
after I invented the skinny Margarita. So I didn't just
(02:03):
invent the skinny girl Margarita, which was a brand. I
invented the skinny Margarita, which is how people all over
the world order it today. The reason I didn't name
my product skinny Margarita is because you can't own the
word skinny. But the reason that it succeeded, in addition
to me pushing it out, was because it was a
new category. I invented a new category. The ready to
drink market was non existent, so I opened up an
(02:27):
I opened up a dead category of cocktails, which was
ready to drink, ready to serve, and I created a
new category in low calorie cocktails. So I did two
different things at the same time. So to have it
be low calorie and ready to drink, blew the doors
off everything and everything followed from White Claw to Margarita's
in a can, to any low calorie drink you name it.
(02:51):
It was a new category. So the reason I told
you that long and boring story is because Vicky walked
into vodka. Vicky is a one walking into vodka normally
and previously at that time marketed to men, so she
was walking in with Vicky's vodka. The one thing that
was good about it was that it was marketed to women.
You don't want to go into the liquor business and
(03:11):
have it be in your own name. Liquor is a
risky business, and God forbid something happens it's in your
own name. God forbid you get in some sort of trouble.
It's just not a good thing. Like it's not You
don't need to name it and people get caught in
vanity and they need to have it be their own name.
They want everyone to give them the attention. The name
Vicky's Vodka is terrible. All vodka names are like, you know,
(03:36):
Tito's is the most personal, but it feels like you're
sort of at some Western bar. Any other vodka from
Chopin to Grey Goose, it's some random thing like a car,
Like you're not launching a vehicle line called Vicky's Cars.
So it's all some obscure name that you don't really
understand of some you know, alluring cool name that has
(03:56):
to do with vodka. Vicky's Vodka is as terrible brand
name as I've ever heard. The name Vickie's Vodka gets
an F because it has the name of the person,
which is very risky business, particularly in uh selling a
substance that's illegal to people under a certain age. That is,
you know, there's a word I'm looking for. It's not
a controlled substance, But to be in the liquor business
(04:18):
and name something after your self is And also she
was older already, so now you're gonna get older, and
now you're not marketing to the young. You know, twenty
five year old market. It's just it's just a terrible,
terrible name. And it's a terrible idea because vodka is
so competitive and liquor companies have billions of dollars to
spend to market their products, and they're not letting someone
(04:39):
come new in a pre existing category that you have
nothing new to say, Like, there's not you know, you
can't say low calorie vodka because vodka, compared to other
alcohol is low calorie. There's nothing creative to do. Flavored
vodkas were done and they were fun and flirty, and
Pinnacle sold for I think six hundred million dollars with
a cotton candy vodka and all that stuff. It's just
(05:00):
a terrible idea that the name is bad, the concept
is bad. She got wrapped up in legal it's crowded,
it's it's not a new concept. She didn't invent anything.
It's just a horrible, horrible idea. No one thinks she
even drinks vodka. That's not what I think of her
as It's just she does tequila shots. She's an equal
opportunity alcoholic drinker. It's just an f so she has
an fina B. Now wines by Wives is not a
(05:24):
terrible idea. I remember hearing this, Vicky and Tamar arguing
on camera about who wasn't pulling their weight with the
company celebrity oriented wine at the month club by Tamra
and Vicki. People would visit wine by Wives where they
can view and choose the wine recommended by their favorite celebrity.
That's a good idea that was probably just executed poorly.
You have too many cooks in the kitchen. The worst
idea in history is multiple housewives getting into business together.
(05:47):
It is working with two teas in a pod, so
that seems that Tarma is someone who can work with others.
I just do not see these two doing a business
and it working out. They're volatile, those two fight on camera.
There's no one like grounded and sound, and it just
It's a good idea that was probably poorly executed because
you need real wine aficionado business people that understand this space,
(06:11):
that understand this distribution. And again, wine is very very crowded.
I'm walking into it, but I'm an expert in this
field now, an expert into this space, and I think
that this idea gets I don't know how they executed,
but clearly it failed, so it gets a D for
the way it failed. But I don't know that. So
like I'm giving this overall idea based on the fact
(06:32):
that it failed, we'll give it a D based on
the fact that it's not a terrible idea. It could
be a B. That's a C. So we have a
C and F and a B plus. So a B
and a C becomes a B plus and a C
becomes like, let's just say like a C plus plus
(06:53):
and a C in an let's give our C minus. No,
I can't. She gets a D plus. Now the Yeah,
the insurance. If we were if we were doing Housewives University,
based on anything besides what you walked in with, she
would have an app. But she walked in with a great,
successful insurance business, so I'm gonna give her. Vicky Gumbelson
(07:16):
has graduated with a C minus from Housewives University
All right, Vickie Gumbelson is top. She's the OG of
the OC. I can't imagine what it would take to
be in every season since the beginning, with the exception
of previous seasons where she was let go. She walked
in with a successful insurance business. She maintained that it
seems like she has a good business sense, a good income,
(00:35):
and she did put that business first, and so it
was great that she was able to have her office
be a base of many conversations and that it was
a true thing that she was doing. So it was
like a good incorporation of her existing business. Insurance isn't sexy.
There's no brand she can really sell. She could come
up with some software or some kind of model that
she's selling nationally, which actually I think she should have
(00:56):
done some insurance model or function or product or service
that she could sell and monetize to everyone. That would
have been really smart in the beginning, like the way
that H and R block their accountants, but they are
accessible to the whole country. Some sort of service that
she could have done that was scalable. So she didn't
(01:17):
do that. So I'm giving her a bee for her
insurance business. Now is where it gets tricky. Twenty twelve,
she launches Vicky's Vodka. Vicky and her ex boyfriend Brooks
were sued in twenty thirteen by Robert Williamson in a
Nevada court for two hundred and fifty thousand because they
allegedly conspired to commit fraud in their Vicki's Vodka venture.
(01:40):
Robert Williamson alleges breach of contract, breach of good faith, dealing,
and fraud, among other allegations, and seeks commensatory damages in
excess of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I don't
know what happened there. It doesn't matter. Everybody, Everybody in
Hollywood and in housewives and reality television got into cockil
after I invented the skinny Margarita. So I didn't just
(02:03):
invent the skinny girl Margarita, which was a brand. I
invented the skinny Margarita, which is how people all over
the world order it today. The reason I didn't name
my product skinny Margarita is because you can't own the
word skinny. But the reason that it succeeded, in addition
to me pushing it out, was because it was a
new category. I invented a new category. The ready to
drink market was non existent, so I opened up an
(02:27):
I opened up a dead category of cocktails, which was
ready to drink, ready to serve, and I created a
new category in low calorie cocktails. So I did two
different things at the same time. So to have it
be low calorie and ready to drink, blew the doors
off everything and everything followed from White Claw to Margarita's
in a can, to any low calorie drink you name it.
(02:51):
It was a new category. So the reason I told
you that long and boring story is because Vicky walked
into vodka. Vicky is a one walking into vodka normally
and previously at that time marketed to men, so she
was walking in with Vicky's vodka. The one thing that
was good about it was that it was marketed to women.
You don't want to go into the liquor business and
(03:11):
have it be in your own name. Liquor is a
risky business, and God forbid something happens it's in your
own name. God forbid you get in some sort of trouble.
It's just not a good thing. Like it's not You
don't need to name it and people get caught in
vanity and they need to have it be their own name.
They want everyone to give them the attention. The name
Vicky's Vodka is terrible. All vodka names are like, you know,
(03:36):
Tito's is the most personal, but it feels like you're
sort of at some Western bar. Any other vodka from
Chopin to Grey Goose, it's some random thing like a car,
Like you're not launching a vehicle line called Vicky's Cars.
So it's all some obscure name that you don't really
understand of some you know, alluring cool name that has
(03:56):
to do with vodka. Vicky's Vodka is as terrible brand
name as I've ever heard. The name Vickie's Vodka gets
an F because it has the name of the person,
which is very risky business, particularly in uh selling a
substance that's illegal to people under a certain age. That is,
you know, there's a word I'm looking for. It's not
a controlled substance, But to be in the liquor business
(04:18):
and name something after your self is And also she
was older already, so now you're gonna get older, and
now you're not marketing to the young. You know, twenty
five year old market. It's just it's just a terrible,
terrible name. And it's a terrible idea because vodka is
so competitive and liquor companies have billions of dollars to
spend to market their products, and they're not letting someone
(04:39):
come new in a pre existing category that you have
nothing new to say, Like, there's not you know, you
can't say low calorie vodka because vodka, compared to other
alcohol is low calorie. There's nothing creative to do. Flavored
vodkas were done and they were fun and flirty, and
Pinnacle sold for I think six hundred million dollars with
a cotton candy vodka and all that stuff. It's just
(05:00):
a terrible idea that the name is bad, the concept
is bad. She got wrapped up in legal it's crowded,
it's it's not a new concept. She didn't invent anything.
It's just a horrible, horrible idea. No one thinks she
even drinks vodka. That's not what I think of her
as It's just she does tequila shots. She's an equal
opportunity alcoholic drinker. It's just an f so she has
an fina B. Now wines by Wives is not a
(05:24):
terrible idea. I remember hearing this, Vicky and Tamar arguing
on camera about who wasn't pulling their weight with the
company celebrity oriented wine at the month club by Tamra
and Vicki. People would visit wine by Wives where they
can view and choose the wine recommended by their favorite celebrity.
That's a good idea that was probably just executed poorly.
You have too many cooks in the kitchen. The worst
idea in history is multiple housewives getting into business together.
(05:47):
It is working with two teas in a pod, so
that seems that Tarma is someone who can work with others.
I just do not see these two doing a business
and it working out. They're volatile, those two fight on camera.
There's no one like grounded and sound, and it just
It's a good idea that was probably poorly executed because
you need real wine aficionado business people that understand this space,
(06:11):
that understand this distribution. And again, wine is very very crowded.
I'm walking into it, but I'm an expert in this
field now, an expert into this space, and I think
that this idea gets I don't know how they executed,
but clearly it failed, so it gets a D for
the way it failed. But I don't know that. So
like I'm giving this overall idea based on the fact
(06:32):
that it failed, we'll give it a D based on
the fact that it's not a terrible idea. It could
be a B. That's a C. So we have a
C and F and a B plus. So a B
and a C becomes a B plus and a C
becomes like, let's just say like a C plus plus
(06:53):
and a C in an let's give our C minus. No,
I can't. She gets a D plus. Now the Yeah,
the insurance. If we were if we were doing Housewives University,
based on anything besides what you walked in with, she
would have an app. But she walked in with a great,
successful insurance business, so I'm gonna give her. Vicky Gumbelson
(07:16):
has graduated with a C minus from Housewives University
Host
Bethenny Frankel
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