Reese Witherspoon Discusses Building Hello Sunshine
Reese Witherspoon’s media company, Hello Sunshine, recently hosted its second annual Shine Away conference in Los Angeles.
This two-day event focused on empowering and connecting women through panels, activities, and programming.
During the conference, Witherspoon had an intimate conversation with Laura Dern and Octavia Spencer. Dern humorously shared that she often seeks Witherspoon’s guidance on various aspects of her life. “Basically, I run everything by Reese, from my romantic life to what jobs I should pursue,” she said.
Reflecting on her early days as a producer, Witherspoon, who founded Hello Sunshine at 34, confessed, “I didn’t know what I was doing.” However, she recognized a need for change within the industry. “I didn’t have the time to consider the bigger picture, like what our business was or how they were generating revenue. I questioned why there were so few roles for women and why people of color were often absent behind the scenes.”
Despite her initial fears, Witherspoon took a bold step forward. “It was terrifying because I wasn’t sure if I would get my money back. Each day I woke up thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’m not gonna get my money back.’ But I’d rather bet on myself and risk losing that money. Every morning, I told myself, ‘I am my own lottery ticket.'”
After the success of Big Little Lies, Witherspoon realized she needed assistance. “After Big Little Lies won all those Emmys and Wild and Gone Girl received several Oscar nominations, I thought, ‘Wow, we made $600 million at the box office, but I had only four employees and couldn’t keep the lights on.'”
To address this, Witherspoon brought in Sarah Harden as CEO, focusing on building a solid infrastructure and hiring executives. She stressed the significance of supporting female creators. “When you see a show on Netflix or any platform, just hit the ‘like’ button — you don’t realize how important that is. That simple action can actually impact the salaries of the women behind it.”
Other prominent attendees included Olivia Munn, Amanda Kloots, Heather McMahan, Diana Flores, Alex Morgan, and Candace Parker.
