Amanda Frances is addressing the questions, criticism, and curiosity surrounding her life as viewers watch her settle into season 15 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

The self-proclaimed “Money Queen” has had a rocky introduction to the group, with several cast members openly questioning how she built her multimillion-dollar business by teaching mindset and manifestation. Now, Frances is speaking out and explaining exactly how she makes her money — while also opening up about her past, including growing up with very little and her experience leaving a cult.

In a new interview with People, Frances said she isn’t surprised that some of the women are skeptical of her career.

“[The women are] like, ‘How could you possibly make money teaching people about mindset and energetics and self-help and you apply these spiritual things to business? Who makes money that way?’” she said.

Frances insists that the concept isn’t nearly as unusual as people make it seem.

“Well, like a lot of f—ing people: Tony Robbins and Gabby Bernstein. We could make a huge list of people. I didn’t invent self-help,” she added.

Before building her business, Frances says she grew up in a very different environment in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, where money was tight and opportunities felt limited.

She recalled that her family often had to stretch every dollar, even sharing bath water between siblings and making homemade versions of snacks they couldn’t afford.

“If you always grew up with some amount of privilege and some amount of wealth around you, you don’t know that when you’re growing up in an environment without that, it almost feels unavailable — it almost feels impossible,” Frances explained.

“In the world I grew up in, the vast majority of the time, the vibe was just, ‘It is what it is. This is how life works.’ There wasn’t a lot of talk about questioning it or breaking out of it.”

When Frances joined RHOBH, her income quickly became a major topic among the cast. Several of the women questioned how she generates revenue from online courses centered on manifesting wealth and shifting mindset.

According to Frances, the concept is actually pretty straightforward.

“If I were to break it down just real simply, I self-published my book. I had great success, so I created a course called ‘Self-Published,’” she said, referring to her 2021 book Rich As F*ck: More Money Than You Know What to Do With.

“I made a few million dollars selling digital courses online, so I created a course called ‘Sell From Your Soul’ on how to sell. I have a course called ‘Course Creation Queen.’”

Frances explained that her programs often grow out of strategies that worked for her personally.

“Essentially, every time I was doing something well, I was like, where can I put that in my body of work to help people?” she said.

In addition to courses, she also runs a mentorship program she calls a “Mastermind,” where she works closely with a group of entrepreneurs as they grow their businesses.

Frances describes her work as a more holistic approach to finances that blends emotional well-being, mindset, and personal development.

“Not everyone likes a spiritual and energetic approach to money and business,” she admitted. “But many people do.”

“The principles for releasing a limiting belief or working through a false perception are the same whether we’re talking about money or anything else,” she continued. “And as I was conquering that for myself, I had a lot to say.”

Frances also pushed back against critics who claim her teachings are simply “wishy-washy” manifestation advice.

“I get people to question everything they’ve been told about how life works and money works and what’s possible for them,” she said.

“I think there are people making it out to be like, I teach them weird, wishy-washy magical thinking. But I’m a trauma-informed therapist.”

Her interest in spirituality dates back to childhood. Although her family wasn’t particularly religious, Frances says she became fascinated by religion at a young age and even began attending church regularly at just nine years old.

She later earned two Bible school degrees and a master’s degree in counseling before continuing her studies abroad in Bali, where she explored Buddhism and Hinduism.

“When I learned more about energy and more about mindset through my own studies and getting my Master’s, it just informed what I’d always known from religion. It just made everything make more sense,” she said.

Frances also briefly enrolled in a PhD program, though she ultimately didn’t finish it. Still, she says the experience reinforced her belief that mindset principles can also be supported by science.

“You can call it manifestation and make it woo-woo, and it is, but we can also prove it in so many ways, whether we’re talking about science or looking at the fact that every religion and philosophy ever has talked about these principles,” she explained.

Interestingly, Frances says appearing on RHOBH was something she had long believed would happen.

She revealed that she told friends the year before she was cast that she felt she was “meant to be on TV.”

“Who with an online presence that wants to get their work to more people would say no to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?” she said.

Still, her calm demeanor on the show has sparked criticism from viewers and castmates alike, with some suggesting she avoids conflict or seems overly sensitive.

Frances says she simply approaches disagreements differently than the rest of the group.

“They’d be fighting, and I’d be like, ‘Do I have anything meaningful to say here?’ And also, ‘Do I have anything meaningful to say that they can receive?’” she explained.

“Because I’m not in the environment I’m used to, where everyone in my world is so into personal development, and we’re all wanting to learn and grow from one another.”

“So it’s like, if it’s going to fall on deaf ears, should I even open my mouth right now? So I don’t think they liked that.”

Another moment that caught viewers’ attention involved a tense dinner conversation where her past involvement in a cult was brought up by the group.

Frances says she wasn’t upset that the topic came up — but she was surprised by how it was introduced.

“The weird thing about that to me wasn’t that it came up — it comes up all the time, I’ve written four blogs about it and two articles,” she said.

“I’ve talked about this for years. It’s the intro to my new book.”

“What was weird was it wasn’t like, ‘Hey, Amanda, this is so interesting. Tell me more.’ It was like they were coming at it like it was dirt instead of like it was something that I’ve always talked about for 18 years.”

According to Frances, the conversation felt less like curiosity and more like an attempt to expose something negative.

“It felt like, ‘We are determined to dig up dirt on you, and then when there’s no dirt to be found, we’re just going to not believe anything you say,’” she said.

“It was a very interesting approach to getting to know a new friend.”