Bethenny Frankel's Own "Challenges" Inspired Her New Campaign for Women

Bethenny Frankel is ready to pay it forward in a big way. On December 7, The Real Housewives of New York City mogul launched a new charity initiative in partnership with Dress for Success. Titled B Strong, the new program will "provide support, training, and financial assistance for women coping with crisis situations," according to the press release. The same day it launched, The Daily Dish spoke to Bethenny about why was the right time for her to help others.

"I just felt it. I felt an emotional wave of a difficult time is just still occurring but hopefully passing, and I wanted to pay it forward and help other women," she shared. "And I have a partnership with Dress for Success. They have an infrastructure, worldwide. I know the money's in good hands, I know the organization is already a well-oiled machine, and now I can really make a difference."

Bethenny already knows how to take a dream and make it a successful reality, having created her Skinnygirl empire from the ground up. As someone who has struggled in the past and knows how hard things can be, she noted that anyone can take their dream and make it into something tangible. "It doesn't matter how successful you are. It doesn't matter how pretty of a face you put on. We all suffer from feeling depressed and sad and lonely and hopeless and helpless," she said. "And you know I've been with no money in my bank account; not to the poverty point, but I've experienced challenges in my life, and I've more recently experienced emotional challenges and I want to help other women."

She added that now is the right time to lift other ladies up. "Hillary [Clinton] didn't win, but she wasn't the right woman at this time. But someone else will be, and it could be someone in that room. It could be because of B Strong, because someone is in a hole, is in a corner, and needs to be pulled out. They can get a job through Dress for Success, inspire other women, and they could be president," she explained.

The Skinnygirl mogul has this message for any guys who aren't sure how they feel about all that girl power happening right now. "The world is very empowered right now by females, and men just have to get used to it and get out of the way," she said. "I don't know if men are ready for how much women bring to the table right now, because men just can't pay the bill and expect for that to be enough. Women are paying the bills too."

Check out throwback photos of Bethenny, below.