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Hi there. I'm Bob Pippman, chairman and CEO of iHeart Media. I'm excited to announce a new season of my podcast, math and magic stories from the frontiers of marketing. Our guests this season show us big risk can yield big rewards. Like Rob Riley, the creative head of one of the world's leading advertising firms, I try to create environments where anybody can say anything without any judgment. Listen to a brand new season of math and magic on our very own iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hi, this is Shannon Dougherty, host of the new podcast. Let's be clear with Shannon Dougherty. So in this podcast, I'm going to be talking about marriage, divorce, my family, my career. I'm also going to be talking a lot about cancer, the ups and the downs, everything that I have learned from it. It's going to be a wild ride. So listen to let's be clear with Shannon Dougherty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hello, sunshine.

What's up, sunny D. It's Monday, March 25. I'm Simone Boyce.

And I'm Danielle Robe. Welcome to the very first episode of the bright side, a brand new daily podcast from hello, Sunshine. We're here to bring you a daily dose of culture, conversation, and inspiration, Monday through Friday.

It's so real. This is happening. Danielle. I've told a few people that I was working on this show, and I can't tell you how many people were like, we need this right now. We need a show like this right now. You do, right?

Yes, completely.

I've always been someone who fights for good news, even though I've covered a lot of hard news in my career as a journalist for over a decade now. And you're often meeting folks when they're at their lowest point in their lives and you're asking for permission to tell their stories. But, I mean, listen, the work of truth tellers is more important than ever before. But we also need storytellers who remind us that joy is a superpower, that it's a form of resistance, which is why we're so excited to bring you this show. Danielle, you're a reporter, too, and we've actually worked at a few of the same places.

This is such a funny story because I've done hard news, I've done entertainment news, and we had the same first job, but not at the same time. So we missed each other. But we've had a lot of mutual friends who have, over the years, know, you should really meet Simone or you should meet Danielle. I feel like you guys would like each other and we just never did.

I know. Okay. Shout out to Jocelyn. She is one of those friends that Danielle was talking about who was trying to connect us for the longest time. And then we both got selected to be hosted this show. And it feels kismet, right?

Yeah, it does feel kismet. And it felt like the universe, like if we weren't going to make plans because we're both, like, busy girls, if we weren't going to make it happen, the universe was so it's kind of cool.

So you're going to get to see our bright side bestie story play out in real time on this show.

Oh, I love that.

Yeah.

Okay, I have my cappuccino with a splash of almond milk ready. You have your oat milk ice latte. Are you ready to get into it?

Let's go.

So you always remember your first, your first kiss, your first concert, your first pet. It's our first show today, so we wanted to bring it in with a conversation worth remembering. Our guest today shines so bright and she's harnessed all of that artistry and sparkle and glow to illuminate women's stories. From her iconic roles to her powerhouse production work, she's dedicated to making things that make girls excited to be women. Reese Witherspoon is here with us.

We could have talked to Reese for hours. We cannot wait for you to hear our conversation. But first, sunny D. Let's catch up.

Simone, what happened this weekend? I missed you.

I missed you, too. Okay, so my son turned four this weekend. We had a birthday party for him. And every time one of my kids has a birthday, I just get so sentimental. And also I feel myself grieving the passage of time. I am coming out of this period of motherhood that has been so challenging. Damn. I don't want to cry on my first show.

Wait, this is wild. Because you don't cry.

I know. I never cry.

This is good to know. Your kids make you cry.

And now everybody's going to think I cry all the time because it's our first show. And I'm crying, but I'm actually not crying yet. Okay. I am coming out of a period of motherhood that has been really challenging. My kids are 17 months apart. They're both toddlers. And it's just been really grueling. Lots of defiance and pushback and just every day feels like this intense struggle. But I feel like the bright side has just opened up for me recently and I feel like I'm in this beautiful, sweet spot of motherhood where I am relishing every moment and savoring every moment and grateful for everything. And there's nothing like a birthday, a milestone to remind you of all the good parts of parenting.

That was really sweet. I'm glad you're celebrating because it's hard when every day feels like a fight.

Yeah. Planning birthday parties for kids these days, it's kind of wild because a lot of people really go overboard. Now, I just saw this post online about reminiscing about parties from the moms were talking about what makes those parties or what made those parties so good at the time. And it was so funny to see how simple they were. It was like we had a jug of fruit punch and we ordered some dominoes and we had a grand old time.

I had like a dance party. And nowadays I look on social media and there's like Brandon Cella and it's like a huge concert.

It's like balloon arches and everything. Right? I'm all about simplifying it because you have to reduce your stress as the party planner, as the host, because if you don't, then you don't get to actually soak up the time with your kids. And it's all about the idea of a party rather than the human that you're supposed to be celebrating. So I really tried to just strip everything down. We had a cute little birthday for him at a movie theater. All his little friends came. This was his first time in a big kid movie theater and my son loves movies.

Wait, what'd you guys see?

Shrek.

Oh, that's so fun.

Yeah.

That is such a good memory for, yeah.

Yeah.

Even if it's just memory and photos, it's very cute.

I think he loved it. I think he had a great time. Danielle, how was your weekend?

My weekend was good. I was on an airplane. I flew to Atlanta for my very first time. I've been into the airport, but never outside.

Get out. You've never been to Atlanta before?

Never.

Wow.

And I've always wanted to go. I went to interview a real life Disney princess.

Get out.

Yep. I interviewed Halle Bailey and a bunch of influencers. Jackie Aina, Kelly, yu Keeley, cat Wells.

This is so cool.

It was really fun. It was for Ariefest, and Aries stopped filtering their photos ten years ago, which I love.

Yeah.

And so it was all about being a real girl, a real woman.

Amazing. Did you filter your photos from the event?

Thank you for asking. So I'm actually so curious how you feel about this. I used to filter photos. I loved it. It was fun, especially if I wasn't wearing makeup. I'm like, this saves me time. And then I started noticing that I didn't like my real face anymore. I would see photos of my real face and not feel good. And so I made the choice to stop filtering photos because I was like, I want to love my real face, but I do believe in beauty, autonomy. So whatever works for you.

Yeah. I don't really use photo filters. It's kind of jarring for me, I think, in the same way that you're saying you didn't recognize your own face. I don't know. It doesn't look like me. I will admit, though, I don't know if I should admit this on the show. We might have to cut this out.

Please do.

The one thing that I do to my photos is I whiten my teeth.

Is that a face tune thing?

It's a facetune thing, yeah. If my teeth are looking really.

You have yellow, white teeth and you have white teeth.

I'm actually getting them whitened today. I'm kind of obsessed with white teeth, but I don't do anything else. I don't do the airbrushing or anything. But, yeah, I mean, if it makes you feel good. Do you? Do you? Boo. All right. We are a podcast that centers joy. So what's the state of joy in the world today? Well, Gallup recently released its 2024 World Happiness report, and this year, it illuminated some findings on happiness in different stages of life. Get this, Danielle. Young Americans are actually less happy than older Americans.

Yeah, duh.

That doesn't surprise you?

Not at all. It's tough out here for young Americans.

All right, so here are the details. Americans under 30 are feeling worse about their lives, but Americans over 60 are feeling the opposite. Also, the United States of America has fallen out of the top 20 for the first time since the World Happiness Report was first published in 2012, which is driven by this large drop in the well being of Americans under 30 that we've been talking about. So that's interesting that you say it's not surprising that Americans under 30 are feeling less than happy. I feel like there's a lot to be happy about when you're a young person.

That's a good point. There is a lot to be happy about. But I actually have a theory on this.

Tell me.

One thing you'll learn is that I have a lot of theories, some founded, some unfounded. I call this the discrepancy theory. So there was a Harvard psychologist.

There is one.

There is a Harvard psychologist named Stephen Pinker. He wrote this book called enlightenment now. And he said that we may be inundated with horrific stories of school shootings and natural disasters, but studies show that it's actually the best time ever to be alive. And so the overwhelming evidence is that we're richer, healthier, better fed, better educated, and even more humane. Like, not to bore you with stats, but the global average iq rises three points every decade. Private prejudice is declining, which is great, especially with youth growth of education and literacy, which is always a flagship of human progress. But here's where it gets interesting. At the same time, our phones have inundated us with information, news about each other, about the state of the world. And I think it's too much for the human brain to handle. And we're more lonely. We have this high communication, low connection feeling, and I think it's the discrepancy that's making us depressed. We're supposed to be so happy, and yet we're not. I also think that there's a lot of pressure as a young person right now. Like, I talked to some parents or even kids who are, like, in high school, they feel so much pressure from their parents, from the school, from themselves to get into a great college, and it's so much harder now than it used to be.

Just think, there's, like, a lot. The word is pressure, really.

I also think that this points to the fact that age brings wisdom and perhaps more contentment.

Yo, I think you're onto something.

Yeah. I just think as you get older, like, we've all heard it, as you get older, you have less f's to give about issues in your life, and you care less about what people think. And I find that that's so true in my life. I'm 36, so I'm not part of that under 30 group anymore. But I actually am happy. I'm very happy with my life. I don't consider myself to be miserable. And I hear a lot of people talking about being miserable, and I want to be empathetic to that. But I also think there's so much to celebrate and so much to be happy about. I think we've lost sight of the art of contentment and cultivating contentment in.

Our lives because we're always new now. Next.

Exactly.

I think you hit on something with gaining more wisdom, because I want to bring the bright side to this. I do think that there's an antidote, and it's intergenerational relationships. People who are a lot older widen the aperture and show you that you're living in this tiny, narrow band of time. And so I think to be with people who are in their 80s or 70s shows you the breadth of what happens in 10, 20, 30 years, and it actually increases our optimism totally.

I think we have to get off the hedonic treadmill.

What does that mean?

The hedonic treadmill is this idea that positive life events will greatly impact your happiness level. So, like, if I just get that job, if I just get into a relationship, if I just move to that place, then I'm going to finally be happy. I think the joy is in the journey. It's not about the destination.

I'm so glad I get to sit across from you. You have such a beautiful vocabulary.

Thank you. I feel the same about you. Up next, Reese Witherspoon takes us back to her early days as an entrepreneur at hello, sunshine. And the moment that her work matched up with her life's purpose.

That's after the break. Stay with us.

Hi there. I'm Bob Pippman, chairman and CEO of iHeart Media. I'm excited to announce a new season of my podcast, math and magic stories from the frontiers of marketing. Our guests this season remind us to embrace change and fearlessly look toward the future. Like Andrew Jirecki, award winning filmmaker and creator of movie phone. The studios didn't really control the theaters. The theaters didn't control the studios. And I thought, well, there's a window in here where I could make things easier for the consumer and also make something that would be very useful for the industry. Or Kellen Kenney, chief marketing and growth officer at at T, who installed fiber in customers'houses rather than leading from afar.

It is so crucial that you spend time with the customers.

That is the best lesson in these exciting times. We're looking to the math, the strategy and analytics, and the magic, the creative spark. More than ever, listen to a brand new season of math and magic on our very own iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, everybody. Welcome to across generations, where the voices of black women unite in powerful conversations. I'm your host, Tiffany Cross. Tiffany Cross. I want you all to join me and be a part of sisterhood, friendship, wisdom, and laughter. In every episode, we gather a seasoned elder. But even with a child, there's no such thing as the wrong thing if you love them. Myself, as the middle generation, I don't feel like I have to get married at this big age in life. But it is a desire I have and something that I've navigated in dating and a vibrant young soul for engaging, intergenerational conversations. I'm very jealous of your generation that didn't have to deal with Instagram and Tinder. This is across generations, where black women's voices unite. And together, you know how we do. We create magic. Listen to across generations podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hi, this is Shannon Doherty, host of the new podcast. Let's be clear with Shannon Dougherty. You may know me from let's be 9210. Charmed mall rats. Heathers probably also know me from my stage four cancer diagnosis and sharing that journey with so many of you. There's something so authentic about a podcast. It's me connecting me, talking raw in the moment. That's what my goal is to give you, to talk about why I feel that cancer, to a certain extent, is a gift, what my responsibilities are as a person with cancer, because I think that there's something so much bigger than me. And to be honest, I'm still trying to find out what that is. And maybe together we'll find it. It's going to be a wild ride. So I hope that you all tune in. Listen to let's be clear with Shannon Dougherty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Welcome back to the bright side. We're talking second acts and new beginnings with the one, the only, Reese Witherspoon.

She's an award winning actor and producer. She's a hugely successful entrepreneur. She's been called the High priestess of book publishing, and she's an executive producer of this very show.

High Priestess is probably the best title ever. Eight years ago, Reese founded the media company hello, Sunshine with the purpose of changing the narrative for women. She set out to put women at the front and center of her productions, and she's done just that with shows like the morning Show, Daisy Jones and the six big little lies, and so many more.

Reese is here to tell us about what motivated her to take charge nearly a decade ago and what she's learned about perseverance, longevity, and joy along the way. Reese Witherspoon. Welcome to the bright side.

Hi, guys.

I'm so happy to be on the podcast.

The first podcast, the very first episode.

Very first of the bright side.

Let's start this party.

Let's get it started, people. Let's go.

Come on. What have we been waiting for?

We're so grateful to be working with you on this project. And since today is the very first episode of the bright side, we thought we should talk about the reason why we're all here, which is hello, sunshine, the company that you founded back in 2016. But I think to give our bright side besties the full origin story, you got to take us back to 2010, 2011, because you had been acting for about 20 years at that point, and you've talked about how the scripts that were coming in were just so flat. So how bleak was it to be a woman in Hollywood at that time? Reading those scripts, I started noticing that.

There were less and less opportunities for women to star in movies. And I started seeing that the amount of scripts was drifting and diminishing, and they weren't really showing the full spectrum of what women's lives were at the time. And I just happened to start reading scripts that were just offensive, and I just thought, something has got to be better. I remember I read this one script that was so bad and so offensive, and it had two female leads kind of fighting over the same guy, and the guy was kind of a thought. I thought, this was so bad, and it had, like, all these kind of boob jokes in it and things. I was like, that's not funny. And I called my agent, and they were like, every woman in Hollywood wants these two parts. Yeah. And I thought, this isn't good. This isn't good enough for me, and it's not good enough for my colleagues, the other women that I'm so close with in our business. But also, this is not something I want my daughter to see. And that was a big thing for me, too. A lot of what motivates me in this world is like, what is the world I want to have my daughter walk through?

I feel like that's what hello, sunshine has become. Like, you are doing everything to try and pass the torch, and you were working in a system that wasn't working for you. I've heard you talk about rewriting the rules, which I think is such a beautiful way of phrasing it. What did you see exactly in the industry that you were like, I need to change this. This has got to change.

Yeah. It wasn't just that the scripts were bad. So then if you go look at a problem, you have to go back to the root of why is that problem keep happening? So for me, that was like, okay, now I need to do research. Why are these the best that Hollywood has to offer? So I went around to each studio, and I started to meet with executives and know, what are you developing with a female lead? And all of the studios except for one, they said, we're not developing anything. So I went, okay. Instead of sitting here and complaining about the problem, because that wasn't acceptable, I decided to do something about the problem. Because women, we're always part of the solution. And you can admire problems, but what are you doing to change things? So I started thinking, well, if I started funding development of female led and female written stories, why wouldn't I want to be in them, and why wouldn't my friends want to do them? And I just took a big leap. I put my own money into the company. I really didn't know how to run a company like this.

I did it for three years and to a lot of success, but didn't make any profit. So I had to retool, too. I had to figure out a business plan that was going to work to make this successful, because it was my mission to change the landscape for women's storytelling. I had to learn the bumps in the road to become successful at it.

So you take that leap of courage and faith to start this company and start creating women centered films and tv shows. But how did you know that all of this, that hello, sunshine, would be possible when so many people around you were telling you that it was impossible?

Well, I always have been a little bit of a contrarian. So if somebody was like, something can't be done, I'm like, oh, really? I'll figure out a way to do it.

Hold my beer.

Yeah. Here are my earrings.

Okay.

Exactly.

No, I don't like. No, and I don't like. That's just how it is, because it doesn't have to be the way it is. But it does take determination. It takes a lot of time, and I couldn't do it by myself. So a big part of this was, like, trying to recruit people towards my idea and trying to find the right team to support that idea. And that's when I met Sarah Harden, who's our CEO, and together, she would take my ideas and turn them into a business plan. She'd be like, okay, these are the kind of people we have to hire to support that idea, and this is how we're going to actually make that happen. But I think you need those kinds of different types of personalities in order to make a creative business successful.

I want to hear more about those early days, because you said you're not making money at first. What was the moment when you thought, we really have something here?

Well, the first three years, I was just buying books and then turning them into movies and tv shows. That was like Gone Girl Wild, and then big little lies, and we were making money, but we're just breaking even. So I was able to pay the employees and for the space, but I wasn't making a profit that was going to be able to make it so that the business made sense. I didn't want to take money from people and then not return the money. And then I wanted to make sure that this was a great idea because I knew there was value in storytelling for women. So early days were like, I mean, the first office space I had had, like, a leaky air conditioning machine that would drip on my desk.

This is so relatable, Reese. We love it.

And it was two rooms, and the assistant was in the room room, and I split the two desks in one tiny little room, and that's where me and my executives sat, and we had one assistant. That was the beginning.

What did you think would be the hardest part of building your own production company? And what was the hardest part? In reality, what I thought was going.

To be the biggest problem was finding material, but that wasn't hard at all. There's so many amazing books, and there were so many great ideas. I think the hardest part was getting funding, because you had to convince people that the idea was going to make them money. People don't want to invest money unless they're going to get a multiple on their investment. And so I went around to a lot of people and had a lot of crossed arms and closed doors. So just convincing people that the idea is valuable, and then also that you're going to work hard to execute on it. But there's a lot of vetting that was done on me. A lot of people called my former people who had hired me to do different movies, and I benefited from the fact that I'd been super professional for 20 years. So it was really a second chapter career for me, and I had to really dig in. And, y'all, I've never worked so hard in my whole life. I remember just being so tired all the time, because one year I made three television shows in a year. And then I was also doing all the executive work behind the scenes and doing Reese's book club and doing all the social media.

And it was a lot, but I was like, it was so fun because I was working with like minded people, and we were all working in one direction. And also, I don't know. It's just like my purpose in life matched up with my work, and I've always had a great job, and I love making movies, but it was like my purpose came to life, which is centering women in storytelling. And then it was like, oh, then it just became so fun to go to work every day.

I love talking about purpose because I think it changes your life once you really ground down into a purpose and also something that's outside of yourself. And I know that your grandparents really instilled in you the importance of having a sense of purpose from a young age. So can you just tell us about that a little bit more? Like, how do you view your purpose during that chapter of your career when you were primarily a performer? And then how did it shift for you once you started this company?

Purpose is so important. I think we all, as human beings, are trying to figure out the why of our life. And even if you've had success as a mom or success as a business person, you're always looking for a deeper meaning. So for me, it goes back to my childhood growing up with my grandma, who was a teacher, and she just loved books and was always encouraging me to read. She taught me to read, and she would do all the voices when I was little, and it just ignited in me a passion for learning and reading, and it made stories come to life for me because she was so imaginative and such a great teacher. And my grandfather was just service. Service. He was in the military. He was just about the boys and girls club of Nashville. And he was always doing something every day to serve his community, and it gave him great purpose. He woke up every day with this feeling of, people need me. I am wanted. I am valued. So I'm kind of a blend of the two of them. My grandfather was super extroverted, and my grandmother was very introverted, but they raised me because my parents were both working all the time and in the military.

And so I really felt their influence as I walked through the world. And I think it's important to say, too, all of our grandmothers walked through the world in a way where they didn't have the opportunities we have. They weren't allowed to have credit cards. They couldn't have a loan on a small business. So I think about that every time I've accomplished something or made a big move in business, I always think about the women that came before me, that I am standing on their shoulders, and how lucky we are to be in this time, at this time on this planet, in this place. It's really fortunate.

Well, you're now the biggest producer in the world of women's stories. How have you seen the industry change since starting? Hello, sunshine.

The business has really changed. When I started in 2011, we only had a few studios, and they were buying, really for movies, and television was a very siloed off business. Since then, with the emergence of streaming, there's so many more options, there's so many more buyers. You're seeing more female screenwriters, you're seeing more female directors. Still not enough. But you're seeing a lot more representation, too, across women of color, women who are differently abled. And I think you're getting better storytelling. And also, there's this thing, too, that you could hide from. Before there was social media and before there was streaming, they would say, well, the audience doesn't like that. And the audience was sort of this. We were like, where is the audience? And who are they? But now you can push a button on Instagram or Facebook and find out exactly who the audience is. And they do, like, women's storytelling. And if you go on Netflix and you go into a meeting with them, like, oh, yeah, women are our best customers because they market, too. If they love something. And you know this about our girlfriends, it's like, oh, my God, have you seen this show?

Have you watched that? Have you tried this lip?

You.

They will sell your products for you. So if you get a woman who's a fan of something, or she understands the purpose behind something and she gets excited about it, it's so good. It's so great. So women are finally coming into their power as consumers, as makers, and we hold a lot of control and power that we don't even know.

Reese, you brought up friendships, and I know that your friendships are so dear to you and so important to you. When I think about my friendships with women, I also think about how they've been cheerleaders for me professionally. So how have your female friendships impacted the way that you show up in the work that you do?

Oh, wow. I mean, it's so critical. There's times where I couldn't even get out of bed, and my girlfriends would come over to my house, like when I was going through a bad breakup, or I'd have, like, a really disappointing day as a parent or day, week, or divorce or. It doesn't matter. My friends, I don't have a lot. I'm like, quality over quantity.

But that's the only way to be, right? I mean, especially as you get older, I think.

I think so. But, I mean, everybody has different. You see girls that have so many friends, and I'm like. And they manage it somehow. It's just not my personality type.

Well, you are running an empire. I am so lucky.

I have the best friends in the world. They just show up for me during hard times, and it's mutual. I always say to my kids, too, to have a good friend, you have to be a good friend. I also think about it in terms of, like, a bank account. Each friendship is a bank account, and you need to review every year. Are there more deposits than there are withdrawals?

Totally.

Or vice versa. There should be a balance there. Like, what are you putting into their life and what are they taking? Like that.

We're actually having a friendship coach on an upcoming episode, and it was such an eye opening conversation. One of the main things that she said that women look for in friendships is that reciprocity that you just talked about is making sure that I'm pouring into you. You're pouring into me.

Yeah, I think so. If you're sitting with somebody who's. Or how about these people who call you and talk about their problems all the time, but then someone goes on with you and they're nowhere to be found, right? No.

Or nobody.

Those people, if they don't ask a.

Question about your life, that's a big one for me, too. If they only talk about themselves and don't ask a question about you and what's going on with you.

Yeah, not good. I mean, that's just. What's that? Narcissism? There's so many different names. We name so many things now, but it's just, like, not okay. How about just that not okay person that can't show up for me, like, bye, we're done.

I know that for every win, there's five or ten losses that nobody sees. Tell me about some of the hard stuff. Was there a time that sticks out to you where something really didn't go as planned?

Yeah, I mean, definitely after big little lies won all these awards, and it was such a successful show, and then going to meet the accountant, and the accountant was like, you can cover the employees salaries and you can cover the rent, but there's literally nothing left over to hire to grow, to expand. And I thought, okay, I worked that hard. I identified this material. We did so well, it won eight emmys. What is going on? And that's when I had to go, okay, I'm not doing this right. I got to step back from it. Sometimes you need to step away and look at things from a different perspective. And that's when I brought in people to help me build a business plan, because I didn't go to business school. People say Roi and DTC and EBITDa. And I was like, I don't know what you're talking about.

I feel so seen, right?

Like, they talk about it like you're supposed to know. And I didn't know. And Sarah Harden came into my life and was so patient with me. And I also think it's important to ask questions and not feel stupid. And it's also an intimidation factor. If you walk in, you're trying to build a business, and you're like, new people are trying to intimidate you by using a bunch of acronyms that you don't understand. So if you have the courage to say, I'm so sorry, do you mind explaining exactly what you mean by that? Sarah was always so patient with me, and she helped me learn. And it was about, like a year and a half of going to Sarah Harden's business school.

That's way more fun than a college campus. It was in line with that. I think about girls trying and failing because I think we let little boys fail, which no are you most thankful for?

Oh, gosh, so many. As my friend says, rejection is God's protection. And it's so true at the time, you feel so devastated. So it was probably a lot of times where I was trying to raise money for the business, and they said no, which was probably a lot, but I only needed one yes. And I got the one yes. And that started the ball rolling. And I'll be forever grateful to those people for taking a chance on me. But I looked them in the eye and I said, you will not regret it. I will give you a return on your investment, or I'll fall over trying. You won't see me not hustling to make it happen because everything doesn't always work out perfectly, but I know that I will always try my hardest. So that was like a big no in my life that affected me. And also employees that you've got to get that person or it's not going to work out. Yeah, it's okay if they take another job or you end up not working with them, it's really, you're going to do better things or different things or something else is meant for you.

Reese, I get really fired up when I talk about the intersection of ambition and motherhood. So can we go there for just a brief second? Yes. Before. Hello, sunshine. Before the book club, before all the Emmys, you were a mother first. You became a mother at a very young age, in your early 20s. How did motherhood at such an early age prepare your heart for the work that you're doing now?

It's pivotal. The fact that I was a young mom, it's such a foundational piece of who I am, because when I was 23 years old, I had my daughter, and I wasn't expecting to be a mom at 23. It was a decision that I made with my partner at the time, and it just changed me so profoundly. And I didn't like who I was very much. I was looking in the mirror at that point and who I had walked through the world as. I was super competitive. I was an actress for hire at the time, and I was trying so hard to get jobs. And I had this scarcity mindset that if another girl got the job, that it's going to be less for me. And I started reading so many books. I watched Oprah so much. And I started, instead of just watching Oprah going, okay, I'm going to read the books that she recommends on self love, self help, positivity. And I read so many books. Like, one that was really important for me was soul stories by Gary Zukoff. It was all about having integrity as a human. And part of that book is about having a abundance mindset, not a scarcity mindset.

Because when you live in the fear of scarcity, you believe there isn't enough for everyone. But when you live in abundance and you go, no, there's more for me and there's more for her. I am so happy she got that job. I am so happy she is doing well, because you know what? That's going to create abundance for me. It's going to create abundance for other women. So that was just one little mindset shift that happened for me when I was about 23 or 24, and that was about me trying to change who I was for my daughter, because I wanted to be more of an example of someone I wanted her to want to be. I wanted her to look at me and think, my mom's a role model. And I wasn't a role model before that. I wasn't demonstrating values that I would want my daughter to model and then I was able, once I got that foundation under me, and I was like, okay, my behavior is going to be the kind of behavior I want her to model. Okay, now that I've got that, I'm going to take that into my work world.

I'm going to have the behavior in my work world that I want her to model. I was like, hold on. If I did that, maybe I can kick it up a notch and do it as a bigger business, modeling the kind of things I want to see in the world. So really becoming a mom at a young age was everything for me. Because I had enough money, I was financially prepared. I had a very stable relationship. I had really good parents who are protecting me and helping me. So I want to say that's not the perfect choice for everybody, but it was the right thing for me.

There's just one thing I want to say about that. I think it's so important for young women to hear that, because so often we hear that motherhood is going to be the death of our career, and it's just simply not true. I mean, there are so many incredible examples of ambitious mothers.

I think so, too.

And I think we worry as women, like, I haven't done enough in my career. But I will say, with a caveat, right. You know, if you're in a good place, there's no perfect time about having a baby. I also. There's no perfect time. What's the day that you want your entire life to change, right? Is that like a Tuesday at 03:00 or is that like a Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Your whole life is going to change, and it's going to be about another human being in the world and raising that human to the best of your ability. There's no good time, right? But there is timing. That's like, I feel stable in my career. I feel stable. I have enough money. I have a good, supportive network around me, whether there's a partner there or not a partner there, there's a network of help because you do need a lot of help, but it isn't prohibitive. I found it as motivating because I wanted my daughter to feel inspired and also my mom worked. I feel like if your mom worked, I don't know. Do you all think that? Because I feel like my mom was the example.

I was always trained to be like my mom, and my mom was a nurse, and so I watched her go to work, and then she'd come home, tell me all the stories of all the babies she took care of all day. And I was like, I want to have a job with purpose.

Is that what those spaces of joy are for you? I feel like the sets you create, the experiences, the shows they center around joy. Why is that important for you?

Well, first of all, I think it's important to set a tone. The way you start things and the way that you end things is really important. The sort of rituals around work, you come in and you say hello to everybody. Like, Kerry Washington taught me such a big lesson on our show, little fires everywhere. Every morning she goes, happy Monday, everybody. It just set a tone, and I've never seen anybody do that before, but it was almost like it reminded me of being in school. And the teacher said hello to each kid, but everybody felt seen and acknowledged or hope. Everybody had a great weekend. Let's have a great week. And then the end of the day. Thank you so much, everybody, for a great day. Made such a difference. And as a leader, I thought that is such a valuable skill that she just shared with all of us. But for me, I'm always the person who's like, how can I insert a little joy into today? So whether that's like bringing cookies that I brought or telling everybody a joke or trying to find a way to bring humor into a really difficult situation, or light.

Sometimes I just say a lightness. Let's bring a lightness into this, because all is not lost. We're real smart people. We're going to figure it out. That can just really change any work environment.

Sugar is my form of joy as well, Reese. But I want to circle back to something that you just said. I mean, we've talked a lot about the hard times today and how it's not all sunshine at the top. So how do you find the bright side when everything is going wrong?

Well, I take time and space to just breathe, put away the phone, I walk outside in nature, or I get with my dog. I snuggle my dog, or I pet my dog. That's a very relaxing form of therapy for me. Or I talk to my girlfriends 467,000,000,000 times a day. So I'll say, I learned on Simon Sinek's podcast that friends only need eight minutes, eight minutes of your time. So we now have a code where I just text eight minutes and then find eight minutes somewhere. They'll say, okay, in 2 hours, I have eight minutes. And you really only need eight minutes to process something difficult or.

Feeling that.

That'S like, a little. Well, I stole it from Simon.

I'm stealing it from you.

That's so okay.

But women like to share great things, so we just proved their.

Hey.

Okay, we have one last question for you.

That's it?

That's it. Unless we want to talk.

We could talk forever, Reese, we'll do this again soon.

Okay? Good.

Narrative plays such a huge role in your life. We mentioned that. Hello, Sunshine's goal, or one of them, is to change the narrative for women. And I think that you've really been a force in telling your own story as well. And I used to read your book, whiskey in a teacup, and I know that you come from a long story and a story of women. Your grandmother was a schoolteacher, and she taught you how to read. What does it mean to be Dorothy Draper's granddaughter?

Well, I learned from my grandmother a long time ago that women are the heroes of their own stories. And I think we all have a story in our lives of a woman who's overcome incredible odds, whether it's your aunt, your sister, your grandma, who either overcame a financial or personal disaster to make her way in the world or become the woman she wanted to be. So that is a big part of rewriting the narrative for women in media, because women ultimately save themselves. And I think we all grew up with a lot of stories that partners were coming to save the day or romance would make you whole. Just not true. So it's a really big piece of why we pick the books we pick why we make the tv shows we make the movies we make. There's always, at the end, a woman who saves herself.

Thank you for your time, Reese.

Thank you so much, Reese.

Thank you. Well, I just want to say, you guys, I am so excited about this podcast. The bright side, you guys are giving people a chance to shine a light on their lives, shine a light on little advice that they want to share, and that's what we need. Thank you for taking the light, and now you're taking it with you, and you're going to shine it all over the world, and it makes me really happy.

We're really honored. That's the word. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Honor, privilege. I never imagined that I would get the chance to carry this honor and help be a part of this legacy. So it's truly an honor.

Well, thank you.

I feel it.

I feel it off of y'all. And I see the joy that you're having with each other.

We are. This is my bright side bestie right here. Reese Witherspoon is an award winning actor, producer, and the founder of hello, Sunshine.

We'll be back with more after the break.

Hi there. I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeart Media. I'm excited to announce a new season of my podcast, math and magic stories from the frontiers of marketing. Our guests this season remind us to embrace change and fearlessly look toward the future. Like Andrew Jirecki, award winning filmmaker and creator of Moviephone. The studios didn't really control the theaters. The theaters didn't control the studios. And I thought, well, there's a window in here where I could make things easier for the consumer and also make something that would be very useful for the industry. Or Kellen Kenney, chief marketing and growth officer at at T, who installed fiber in customers'houses rather than leading from afar.

It is so crucial that you spend time with the customers.

That is the best lesson in these exciting times. We're looking to the math, the strategy and analytics, and the magic, the creative spark. More than ever, listen to a brand new season of math and magic on our very own iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, everybody. Welcome to across generations, where the voices of black women unite in powerful conversations. I'm your host, Tiffany Cross. Tiffany Cross. I want you all to join me and be a part of sisterhood, friendship, wisdom, and laughter. In every episode, we gather a seasoned elder. But even with a child, there's no such thing as the wrong thing if you love them. Myself, as the middle generation, I don't feel like I have to get married at this big age in life. But it is a desire I have and something that I've navigated in dating and a vibrant young soul for engaging, intergenerational conversations. I'm very jealous of your generation that didn't have to deal with Instagram and Tinder. This is across generations, where black women's voices unite. And together, you know how we do. We create magic. Listen to across generations podcast on the I Heart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hi, this is Shannon Doherty, host of the new podcast. Let's be clear with Shannon Doherty. You may know me from let's be 9210, charmed mall rats. Heathers probably also know me from my stage four cancer diagnosis and sharing that journey with so many of you. There's something so authentic about a podcast. It's me connecting me, talking raw in the moment. That's what my goal is to give you, to talk about why I feel that cancer, to a certain extent, is a gift, what my responsibilities are as a person with cancer because I think that there's something so much bigger than me. And to be honest, I'm still trying to find out what that is. And maybe together we'll find it. It's going to be a wild ride. So I hope that you all tune in. Listen to let's be clear with Shannon Dougherty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

So that was a big first interview. The queen bee of the besties.

Oh, my gosh, Reese. Reese. I'm still not over it. She is such a personal hero of mine for so many reasons. But I'll give you one big one. Through the work that she does to honor female authorship, she is reminding the world that women contain multitudes and that we need to tell our stories, that our stories need to be told. I know how it feels to have to hide your multitudes. And I'm so grateful that I'm at a place and that I'm in this space where I don't feel like I have to hide my multitudes anymore. Wreath shines a light on unseen creatives.

I think that's probably why so much of the language around hello, sunshine and the bright side is about shining a light. I think that's super intuitive of you. I liked when she talked about her early years, too, because I felt really aligned with it. When I moved to LA, all I wanted to do was be a tv host. I just wanted to interview people. And I was so hungry that I was really just kind of like self involved. Not self involved, but I was trying to find success for myself that I didn't realize that you miss the richness of life when it's all about what you get instead about what you give. And that comes with the abundance mindset. And I did so much of the similar work that she was talking read. For two years. I was reading books and listening to podcasts and Oprah and Gary Zukov and trying to find that light.

Yeah. I think shifting to that idea of what is for you won't miss you is something that's been so helpful to me because have you ever gotten a job by being competitive? No, it doesn't exactly work that way. I think anytime we're trying to force something into submission, that's when we're out of alignment.

I think you learn that with experience, though. Like, I couldn't have told 22 year old Danielle that, could you have?

I probably would have been so insecure that I wouldn't have listened or wouldn't have known how to incorporate that advice, I think, on the subject of competition, though, I'm curious if you agree or disagree. Like, competition is not even a thing that goes away. Like, you're always going to be surrounded by people who are really smart or really talented in your field. And I think you have to learn how to navigate it and recognize that you can gain something from it, that you can learn something from the people that you're around, and also that you never want to be the smartest person in any room. Right. You always want to be working with people who are challenging you and sharpening you. So, yeah, my perspective on competition has changed a lot as I've gotten older.

I want to bring up one more thing about what Reese said, because she said that the hardest part about building hello, sunshine. Was finding money that people would not invest in her. And I was shocked to hear that. I look at her as a person who is just so investable. She's a doer. She has integrity. Of course she's going to complete the task. Of course she's going to make it. She's going to try with all her might. And that's what you want when you're investing in an entrepreneur. I just was kind of shocked. Were you?

So I listened to her talk about this in an interview with Regina King, and I also was shocked to hear her talking about how hard it was to get people to believe in her as a producer and to build up that credibility. But if you think back to that time right before she made gone girl and wild and big little lies, this concept of this multi hyphenate producer performer and a female who was doing that was really unheard of at that time. Like, there weren't many women who were doing that in the way that she's doing it now.

I just don't think they were taken seriously.

Right, right. They weren't. Yeah. And so, I mean, it just shows you how much has changed and how much hello, sunshine and Reese have been a part of that change, have been drivers of that change. Because imagine if Hollywood and the arts community just kept on moving in the direction that it was going before. Like, we would be in a completely different universe right now, lacking all these rich stories about women.

She said something about how if someone says no, that she's like, all right, let me rewrite the rules.

Yes.

I love that energy so much. I think that the world is in need of leaders so badly. Social movements need leaders. Companies need leaders. We are all looking for leadership. And I think she provides that so well. I heard something the other day that no means next option. No. And I think she lives by that. She's like, no. All right, I'm moving on to the next one. I'll figure it out. So I think if I take anything from today, it's next option. Go be fired up. Go into the world and try and give it your all.

I love that. And I love hearing her talk about her contrarian spirit.

That's something you have.

Oh, I totally have a contrarian spirit. I definitely relate to that. And she's talked a lot about how she was this really high spirited, imaginative little girl. And I think it's a great reminder for all the parents out there that if your child has that strong will that can make your life kind of a headache in the early years, that it's not necessarily a bad thing. That that could be the sign of a natural born leader under your roof.

Before we wrap day one, Simone and I want to leave you with a little spark of joy to take with you through your day.

Here's something that stood out to both of us from our conversation with Reese. Be the hero of your own story today and every day. Well, that's it for us today. Tomorrow on the show, we have the goddess of gatherings, Priya Parker. She's an expert on how to create meaningful get togethers, and she'll help us set an intention for this gathering. The bright side.

All right, brightside besties, we want to hear from you. And when I say want, we are dying to hear from you. Which parts of Reese's story resonated with you the most? Send us your answers. Or even better, a voice memo at hello@thebrightsidepodcast.com.

We love to hear those beautiful voices. Listen and subscribe on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

And if you love today's episode, share it with someone you love. It really helps people discover the show.

You can find me simone voice. At simone voice.

And you can find me Danielle Robet. At Danielle robet. R o b a y.

See you tomorrow.

For bridget Christ, the road to love was not so straightforward. Bridgy, I forbid you for marrying that spencerth youth, Miles Carr.

What the devil is that?

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Hi, this is Shannon Dougherty, host of the new podcast. Let's be clear with Shannon Dougherty. So in this podcast, I'm going to be talking about marriage, divorce, my family, my career. I'm also going to be talking a lot about cancer, the ups and the downs, everything that I've learned from it. It's going to be a wild ride. So listen to let's be clear with Shannon Dougherty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.