What A Real Housewife Can Teach Us About Our Future

I'm not a fan of doing this, but I am going to talk about someone whom I have never met before.  I have known of her for a long time and seen her mature.  I have been with her through some of her greatest plights and amazing victories.  I have hated and loved her.  I'm talking about Bethenny Frankel formally of Bravo's Real Housewives of New York City. 

Now don't get me wrong, I am not an avid follower of the Housewives series, but I caught onto this series while I lived in the city. For those not familiar with Bethenny, her story goes that she started as a celebrity chef  and used reality TV to develop the Skinny Girl brand which includes margarita mixes, media and cleanses.  After a slew of books and a few seasons of her own reality show, Bethenny sold her Skinny Girl Margarita brand for $120 million. 

The reason I am bringing her up is that when I went to our beautiful library, I saw a search page for her new book open on the computer.  Every single copy was checked out. So, I want to play with the zeitgeist of Bethenny and how her business and female entrepreneurship in general can help Northampton spring into the future. 

I'm using the term female very loosely, because this is potentially going to be the only way to be an entrepreneur in the future. However,  Oprah, Bethenny, and Warren Buffet are a few examples of what I'm talking about.  They are not motivated by external factors such as money, power, fame, or beauty.  They are motivated through an internal purpose, and they share it through business.  It's not that they shy away from money. Money is always a nice reward, however their purpose of creating what they create and doing what they do isn't only about profit maximization.  They want more people to use their products, because their products have a deep purpose. 

I am all for competition and will not get involved with the Davis site debate, but I have to ask: What is the future of Northampton?  Are we going to be a strip of banks, grocery stores and pharmacies? Are we going to host more fast food restaurants and chains? Or are we going to become the home of a slew of fabulous new businesses that will bring something different to our community. A boutique? More small busines restaurants? Hey, even a new Spa p0ssibly? I know what Bethenny, Oprah, and Warren Buffet would choose. 

I just want us to think about the future of where we live and fight for what makes Northampton instead of Anytown, USA.