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\n Photo-Illustration: The Cut; Photos: Getty\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
While filming her first season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, life coach Amanda Frances throws a painfully awkward manifestation party for her castmates. It\u2019s not unlike the vision-board workshops you may have Zoomed into during the pandemic, when manifestation was virtually everywhere<\/a>, only this one has caviar, cameras, and a host who offhandedly mentions that her house has nine bathrooms. Frances gives each guest a goodie bag with a notebook, a branded \u201cManifestation Moment\u201d cup, and a signed copy of her self-published book, Rich As F*ck: More Money Than You Know What to Do With, which has a photo of her sipping pink Champagne in a tub overflowing with cash on the cover. Now, it\u2019s time to journal. \u201cIf I could have anything, and I\u2019d be guaranteed to get it, if the possibilities were completely limitless,\u201d Frances prompts the table \u2014 as Kathy Hilton, who\u2019s worth an estimated $350 million, looks on in white-rimmed sunglasses \u2014 \u201cwhat would I let myself want?\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s the sort of question Frances often asks clients, the many thousands of women who know her as the \u201cMoney Queen\u201d and have made her into a millionaire. Though Frances entered the Bravoverse as a relative unknown, she\u2019s a bona fide celebrity in the world of online coaching, where the lessons are less about budgeting and investing money and more about how to feel the \u201cvibration\u201d of it. She regularly drops new video courses with names like \u201cTurning Shit Into Gold,\u201d \u201cBecome a Money-Making Coach,\u201d and \u201cMoney Mentality Makeover,\u201d her foundational course, which she values at more than $26,000 but can be yours for just $2,999. \u201cSpend as though you are supported, make purchases as though more is available for you, buy things as though you are a wealthy woman,\u201d Frances writes in Rich As F*ck. Miracles are common in her line of work; one anonymous book blurber says they received four business referrals and a random $30,000 check from an estranged uncle after reading it.<\/p>\n But at Frances\u2019s Bel-Air garden party \u2014 where many of her guests are older and wealthier than she is \u2014 her shtick lands like a lead balloon. The women respond to the journal prompt with jokes and uncomfortable silences. Nobody does much writing. Bozoma Saint John<\/a>, a former executive at Apple, Netflix, and Uber, speaks for many of the Housewives when she later calls Frances\u2019s advice \u201cwoo-woo\u201d and accuses the millennial newbie of \u201ctelling people how to manifest money by taking their money.\u201d Since the season premiered in December, sub-Reddits have teemed with skeptical viewers who suspect that Frances\u2019s brand of financial empowerment is just helping women sell other women the same gimmick, while some former clients told me that her advice did not, in fact, make them rich as fuck.<\/p>\n The Money Queen has defended<\/a> her self-made empire to those crying grifter. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to run a business if you believe you\u2019re taking people\u2019s money,\u201d Frances told me during a nearly\u00a0hourlong phone call earlier this month, as we traced her history from the Bible Belt to Bel Air. \u201cI believe that there\u2019s a value exchange. People who value my work pay for it again and again and again. And if they didn\u2019t like it, we wouldn\u2019t have repeat buyers.\u201d Plus this is a franchise with no shortage of actual fraud \u2014 from Jen Shah\u2019s infamous telemarketing scheme<\/a> to Teresa Giudice\u2019s storied string of financial crimes<\/a>. Is it really a problem to charge for a little magical thinking?<\/p>\n Frances calls herself a \u201cliving, breathing example that we can create what we want.\u201d As a child, she had a book about Barbie\u2019s life in Malibu \u2014\u00a0pink convertible, three-story house, dolphins you could see from the window. When Frances moved into her home in Malibu in 2018, she realized she had a three-story house, and a convertible and, yes, could see dolphins from her living room. She had made that happen.<\/p>\n But how, exactly, does one manifest the life of a Money Queen? Growing up in a middle-class family in Oklahoma, Frances spent Friday nights wandering around Walmart. Her young-adult years were marked, she says, by a cult she fell into. When Frances was in high school, youth pastors at her church said they would help her get her doctorate and become their church therapist if she attended a two-year ministry training program. They later recruited Frances and other members of her youth group to help them start a new church in Florida. But when she arrived, she discovered just how isolated she was. The spiritual advisers she once trusted controlled everything, from who she dated to how often she called home. \u201cThe less contact you have with the outside world, the less it makes sense to you,\u201d Frances told me. When you leave, \u201cyou almost don\u2019t have the language to be normal anymore.\u201d (The cult has made her the butt of jokes on RHOBH. \u201cI\u2019ve never left a dinner party crying,\u201d Frances told her co-star Dorit Kemsley after a tense encounter. \u201cI thought you ran away from a cult,\u201d Kemsley replied.)<\/p>\n Frances tells me it was hard to leave behind the only world she knew. \u201cI felt like I was losing God. I felt like I was losing my family, my people,\u201d she says. She still wanted to be a therapist \u2014 she studied psychology at Oral Roberts University, the evangelical college named after its prosperity-gospel-preaching founder, and moved to Dallas to pursue a masters in counseling \u2014 but her dream of opening a private practice would take years. Then Frances discovered life coaching. She had overheard a professor and fellow student talking about it (\u201cWhat is this life coaching thing? It\u2019s not licensed, it\u2019s not regulated\u201d) when something clicked. She could work wherever she wanted and start on her dream career now, before graduating: \u201cIf I have something to say and something to give, why wait?\u201d<\/p>\n Turns out she had a lot to say about money. It had always felt out of reach for her, but even before studying subjects like the energy of money, she knew she was made for the finer things; her book begins with a story about how she used to sneak into upscale Dallas hotels by walking in behind someone with a key, then lounging at the pool and charging soda and guacamole to her card instead of her nonexistent room. On the \u201ccusp of inspiration\u201d one day, Frances wrote down a prayer: \u201cTeach me how to earn and receive money, and I promise to teach women everywhere to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Fifteen years later, Frances has more than 21,000 clients in 100 countries. The key to her success was taking ancient teachings and making them \u201cblonde-girl friendly, which is a way of saying, \u2018I am young, and I\u2019m teaching it how I would want it to be taught to me,\u2019\u201d she says in our interview, sounding at times exactly like the disaffected Housewife she portrays onscreen and at others like an inspired Valley-girl preacher. According to Frances\u2019s surveys, 95 percent of people who take her Money Mentality Makeover course are happy they did, and the vast majority of her customers are repeat buyers. Online, former clients swear by her \u2014 many of whom, it just so happens, are now life coaches too. \u201cJust because people don\u2019t understand something doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s a scam,\u201d says Carley Greiner, a 29-year-old former fifth-grade teacher who has followed Frances for years and now runs her own online hypnotherapy business to help make \u201cwomen rich through rewiring and regulation.\u201d One coach who specializes in manifestation and astrology says she\u2019s inspired by the way Frances \u201calways shows up, despite the criticism and the backlash\u201d; on Threads, a <\/a>another coach gushed<\/a> about how Frances getting cast on Housewives \u201cteaches us you can turn your coaching business into literally fucking anything.\u201d On Substack, graduates of the Money Mentality Makeover courses post about hitting their income goals and getting ready to \u201cinvest\u201d in Frances\u2019s more expensive offerings.<\/p>\n Pina began following Frances when she was starting up her own law practice in Toronto during the pandemic. It wasn\u2019t that Frances offered anything unique \u2014 all life coaches, she says, \u201cteach you to brainwash yourself into believing in yourself\u201d \u2014 but Pina liked Frances\u2019s ultra-feminine packaging and \u201cBible girl\u201d spirituality, even though she isn\u2019t religious. \u201cThe other people that teach this either are men or they\u2019re boring,\u201d Pina says. She bought a few bundles for a little more than $1,000. Was the money she spent worth it? Not exactly, she says, but only because Frances\u2019s free content was so valuable. The main thing Frances taught Pina is that the power was already within her. Coaches are just guides and motivators; it\u2019s still on you to do the real work of fixing your life. \u201cYou have to understand it\u2019s not like you\u2019re buying a product. It\u2019s not nail polish, where you\u2019re putting it on and actually see the result, right?\u201d Four years ago, she started coaching fellow lawyers.<\/p>\n Others feel like they were drawn in by Frances\u2019s flashy marketing when they were at low points in their lives. Jenna (not her real name), a 38-year-old restaurant worker, came across Frances in the late 2010s after losing a pregnancy. All her friends were having babies, and in a trying time, Jenna bought crystals, \u201cweird supplements,\u201d and a \u201cKick Ass Business Bundle\u201d from Frances for a little under $300, comforted by the blessings she sent in her emails. \u201cWhen you\u2019re vulnerable, you find things you wouldn\u2019t ever normally look at and think, Maybe this will help,\u201d Jenna says. \u201cI just kind of followed her. I was like, I just won\u2019t think about money, I\u2019ll spend and spend and spend.\u201d She dropped around $2,000 on her courses, started traveling and attending concerts, and before long had racked up $10,000 in debt. Of course, Frances wasn\u2019t the one hitting \u201cpurchase,\u201d and in hindsight Jenna feels silly thinking of the chokehold Frances\u2019s angel numbers and email blessings had on her. But watching her former coach hike around Sedona and show off her Chanel backpack on Housewives, Jenna felt unnerved. \u201cI funded her lifestyle for no reason,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Once you start spending money on manifestation classes, it can be hard to stop, especially if you want the life a coach is portraying on Instagram. Jessica, a 45-year-old California nurse, found Frances when she was burned out by life in the ER and wondering what her true purpose was. Frances seemed to have the answers, and Jessica, fascinated by the idea of living life without a fixed income, splurged on Frances\u2019s Money Mentality Makeover course. \u201cI was like, I can take this course and make a shit-ton of money, and achieve more of my vision-board goals, like living in a bigger house or on the beach.\u201d She went on to spend $3,000 on more of Frances\u2019s courses, then started her own life-coaching business while continuing to pay for more guidance from other coaches. Jessica estimates that she ended up spending six figures on these courses in total, including $40,000 she put on credit cards and about $40,000 she took out of her retirement savings. Eventually she went back to working as a nurse, disillusioned by the \u201cblack hole\u201d of it all. In hindsight, a life\u2019s purpose \u201cis just something I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll ever get the answer to,\u201d she says. (If someone wants to use her teachings \u201cas an excuse\u201d to rack up debt, Frances says, \u201cI can\u2019t stop them, but that\u2019s never been my advice.\u201d)<\/p>\n As the scrutiny ramps up, Frances has tried to take the criticisms in stride. She laughs along in interviews about her \u201cabsolutely woo-woo<\/a>\u201d business, though she emphasizes that manifestation is just one part of it, a buzzword the public gloms onto. After filming this season of RHOBH, she started selling a $37 iced-coffee glass that says \u201cScam Artist + Cult Leader<\/a>\u201d on it. \u201cI\u2019ve learned through my career that you have to take your power back around things,\u201d Frances told me. The comments took a toll on her, and sticking them on a product was her way of reclaiming a narrative that had spun out of her control. \u201cNow that nothing crazy has come out about me, and nothing wild is being said by my actual students, I think people are kind of like, Oh, maybe this was just a ridiculous story line,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Some viewers think Frances has been trying to control too much. In January, an Ohio woman posted screenshots from some of Frances\u2019s video courses and meditations \u2014 a woman looking out at a city skyline; Frances speaking from a hotel room \u2014 along with a short transcript of Frances\u2019s introduction to her Drop the Motherf*cking Money Struggle course. \u201cFor thousands of dollars, I got Law-of-Attraction recycled garbage in pink-and-gold 2016 font,\u201d the woman told me. Not long after, she received a cease-and-desist from Frances\u2019s business manager \u2014 a fellow life coach with a \u201cBe kind whenever possible. It is always possible,\u201d Dalai Llama quote in her email signature \u2014 demanding that she delete the screenshots. The woman took the post down, but the cease-and-desist caused a stir online, and the podcast The Bravo Docket dedicated an entire episode to it (\u201cIs Amanda Frances Manifesting Legal Trouble?\u201d the co-hosts called the deep dive). Frances claims the student was actually selling her content online, and she doesn\u2019t consider her to be an \u201caverage client.\u201d Have I noticed, Frances asks, \u201cthat anytime anyone says something bad about me anywhere on Reddit, she\u2019s there within 30 seconds?\u201d<\/p>\n Manifestation became so popular during the pandemic and the years after because it offered the idea that we could spruce up our dismal realities using the one thing within our control: our thoughts. Maybe the Bravoverse would have received this life-coach crossover differently back then, when we were all a little more woo-woo, subscribing to Lucky Girl syndrome and budgeting $30 a month for the To Be Magnetic<\/a> app. We haven\u2019t moved past the desire to delude ourselves, but the backlash against Frances suggests we might be looking for other ways to do so.<\/p>\n Not that buying what Frances is selling is so different than shelling out for a vibration plate or placing a bet on Kalshi. \u201cTruth is truth,\u201d Frances says; all religions touch on the same principles as she does. And she knows what people want. During her Housewives season, she launched an \u201cUnavailable<\/a>\u201d course to teach the \u201cart of energetic protection, clean boundaries, and regulated power.\u201d It\u2019s not about her time in Beverly Hills per se, but she did almost title it \u201cBitches Be Gone.\u201d There\u2019s even a Manifestation Moment Party<\/a> training in which Frances gives you the experience she tried and failed to give her co-stars. It\u2019s pay-what-you-feel, but the course was \u201calways meant to find you,\u201d the website says. \u201cIf something in you knows there is more for you \u2026 you are in the right place.\u201d Scroll down a little, and a \u201cjoin me\u201d button brings you to the checkout page.<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo-Illustration: The Cut; Photos: Getty While filming her first season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, life…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[690,88,267088,66779,604,34113,92],"class_list":["post-615269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-culture","tag-entertainment","tag-manifestation","tag-one-great-story","tag-reality-tv","tag-the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}