Lisa Rinna Wrote the Book on Reinventing Yourself

“I knew that if I was going to write this book, I had to be transparent.

Lisa Rinna has built an empire by saying yes. “I just say yes more than I say no,” the actress, author and reality television veteran said at Newsweek‘s Women’s Global Impact Forum in Los Angeles. Judging by her recent streak, that philosophy is paying off. 

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You’ve successfully made a business out of just being you. Did you ever expect that? 

No, because I am an actor, I studied to be an actor. I never thought that any part of myself, other than playing characters, would be what I’m known for today. 

And your book, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It, is now a New York Times bestseller. Congratulations! You left Housewives, and for a lot of post-Housewives careers, it’s difficult, let’s be honest. But you have only thrived, with the book and then The Traitors. How did you navigate that? What intentional steps did you take? 

Let me tell you a story. When I turned 40, I thought my career was over. As an actor in this town, at 40, you just don’t really get hired much anymore. I thought, I have to do something to support my family. We’re a two-actor household—somebody works, somebody doesn’t, and it can get precarious. So I said to my husband, okay, it’s over for me, I better figure it out. That’s when we decided to open our clothing store, Belle Gray. We did it on our own without any backers, which I wouldn’t recommend, but we did it, and we had that business for 10 years, which is a long time in retail. Then I got called to do a talk show. I had gone on [Live With] Regis & Kathie Lee the day she announced she was leaving, and Regis started having ladies come guest host with him, and that started the ball rolling. So I think the thing is, I just say yes more than I say no. 

Is that really the secret, just saying yes? 

I think so. I don’t have a lot of ego around needing to only be an actor. I’m very practical. I had a family to raise, two young children, and a husband who’s also an actor. Sometimes he works, sometimes he doesn’t. So I’m always thinking: What can I do to make sure we can still live the life we want to live? It really is just that. 

In reading your book, you are so open. But is there anything you held back? How do you decide what not to share? 

I don’t know the answer exactly. I knew that if I was going to write this book, I had to be transparent in some way, shape, or form; otherwise, why do it? I didn’t want to write it at first when they came to me. I’d already written a couple of books back in 2008. 

I have your sex book, actually, found it on eBay. 

There are great tips in it! But my first book was more of a renovation book where I came clean about a lot of things, and that became a New York Times bestseller. So I thought, I don’t need to write any more books. When they came around this time, I said, “No, I’m good.” And they said, “We think you have a lot more to say.” So I thought about it, and I said, “Have me meet with three ghostwriters. If I connect with one and feel like they get my voice, I’ll do it, but no more than three.” I met with someone and thought, they get me, this could be fun. And it turned out to be the greatest experience. But more than that, I said, “If I’m going to do this, I have to tell my side of the story.” That’s what I did, and it was very cathartic. I’m really glad I wrote it. 

How has your openness translated into business success? 

It’s hard for me to look at it that way directly, but I think it comes down to authenticity. The more authentic I am, the less I care what people say, because listen, we’re living in the world of social media, that’s what it’s about. It really happened during COVID when I started doing the silly dance videos. I was having so much fun, and it seemed like it was bringing people joy. That freed me up to think, I like this, why don’t I just do more of it? And that opened everything up. 

Your decision to do The Traitors — I saw you and immediately said you weren’t going to last because you were too iconic, too much of a target. But Rob Rausch did get you eventually. How has it impacted your career? 

Amazingly. Those are the things that keep you reinventing yourself. I always say you need prime real estate, and for me, television is prime real estate, but it has to be a hit show, a hot show. That’s really why I did Housewives. My career was just nothing, cold as a fish, and I knew that was good real estate. What The Traitors did was reinvent me and let people see me for who I really am, not this evil villain from Housewives. People got to see more of me as me. That was very helpful. 

When something doesn’t go right, when it was good until it wasn’t, as you said about Housewives, how difficult was that decision to leave? Because that’s a business decision, too. 

It was really, really hard, because I am a worker bee. I like to work, I like knowing I’m getting a paycheck, I like being on a series. When you leave, you go out into the unknown. But I knew I had to go, and that’s happened to me before, and it usually works out. So I just have faith. 

When things don’t work out, how do you bounce back? And does learning from past experiences help dictate the decisions you make going forward? 

Sometimes things don’t work out, that’s life. You just have to keep going. I did eight years on Housewives. To me, that was a success. My beauty brand, Rinna Beauty, I did that for five years, made a great product, but they stopped putting money into it. So what are you gonna do? I look at that as a success, a beauty brand for five years in a market that diluted with so much. Eight years on Housewives, success. Eight years at QVC, success. Then it takes a left turn, you get a different production team, different people, and that changes things. You have to be able to say, okay, it’s not what it was, I can’t stand behind this anymore. The product started to suffer, and I wasn’t able to sell something I didn’t believe in. So you adapt and pivot. That’s what it’s about. And I learn from everything I’ve done. 

Your social media following is as much a part of your business as anything else. How have the dance videos impacted the sponsored work you get? 

I’ve gotten a lot of sponsors, and The Traitors opened that door beautifully. I’ve done about 12 endorsements in the last year, which is a lot. What I find really funny is they take exactly what they see from real life, what they saw on The Traitors, and put it right into the commercial. I’ve danced in practically every single one. We do “Whackadoodle Time,” we do “It’s Couture, Honey,” all of it gets funneled into endorsements, and I just get a big kick out of it. I go home to Harry Hamlin and rattle them all off. 

You’ve said you won’t go back on Housewives, which is devastating. But would you do another reality show, maybe one just about you? What’s next for Lisa Rinna? 

I would have to see what’s presented. I don’t know the answer to that. If it feels authentic, if it’s organic, if I have a connection to it, I say yes. It has to make sense. But I’m open. I actually love reality television, I’ve done quite a bit of it. I loved Dancing with the Stars. That was the greatest experience. Something like that? Who knows. I’m open. 

And your daughters, Delilah and Amelia Hamlin, have been very successfully building their own careers, too. 

They’re doing well. Those girls are going to take over the world. They’ve worked hard, they’re making bank, and it’s really great to see. I just love it so much.