If you still haven’t heard of the CEO of Bumble, let me introduce you to Whitney Wolfe Herd. At the age of 31, she is now the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, the youngest woman to take a company public, and the media’s new favorite role-model.
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Her entrepreneurial spirit began in college when she started two businesses: a bamboo tote bag business to raise money for areas affected by the BP oil spill and the ‘Tender Heart’ clothing line to raise money to fight human trafficking and support fair trade. Post-grad, she worked in Southeast Asia with orphanages before coming back to the U.S. to co-found her first big business venture: Tinder. At only 22, she was the VP of marketing of Tinder and contributed largely to the company by making the swipe-to-match dating app extremely popular on college campuses and even coming up with the name.
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In an unfortunate situation that too many women are familiar with, Wolfe Herd decided to leave Tinder in 2014 after being on the receiving end of sexual harassment. In a lawsuit against Tinder, Wolfe Herd alleged that her ex-boss and ex-boyfriend Justin Mateen called her a “whore” and a “gold digger”, and she showed evidence of threatening and derogatory text messages that he had sent her. While the suit was settled for $1 million plus stock in Tinder, Wolfe Herd became the victim of social media attacks for bringing the suit in the first place. Receiving rape and murder threats from strangers led to Wolfe Herd deleting her Twitter account and moving to Austin, Texas with her boyfriend – and now husband – Michael Herd.
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It was in Texas where her journey to Bumble began. Andrey Andreev, the founder of Badoo (the world’s largest online dating network) reached out to Wolfe Herd, wanting her to come work for his company. She resisted at first, having no desire to get back into online dating. But she did have a special idea on her mind: a women-centric networking app focused on positivity. After speaking with Andreev, she realized a women-centric dating app could also be created by giving women the power to make the first move. In order to have a conversation after two people match with each other, the girl has to ask first.
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This simple feature proved to be just what so many girls were looking for. Just a year after Bumble launched in 2014, the app garnered over 15 million conversations and 80 million matches. By November in 2017, Bumble had over 22 million registered users and began seeking a $1.5 billion sale. In 2020, Wolfe Herd began serving as the CEO of Bumble which replaced MagicLab as the parent company of both Bumble and Badoo.
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On Thursday, February 11, Wolfe Herd took Bumble public and rang the Nasdaq opening bell with her 1-year-old son by her side. The IPO was a blockbuster, raising $2.2 billion from investors with shares priced well above the initial range they set out. Bumble topped $13 billion in valuation and Forbes estimated Wolfe Herd’s net worth at approximately $1.5 billion.
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Wolfe Herd says, “I just don’t harbor resentment toward anything or anywhere or anyone — I’m too busy.” And while I admire her maturity, I can’t help but think that she’s achieved the greatest revenge of all time. Ringing the NASDAQ bell, becoming a billionaire, and crushing Tinder under her foot all while holding a baby on her hip. It simply doesn’t get better than that.
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I also can’t help but think about how this is a huge win for the controversial Girlboss movement, even though I never liked the sound of Girlboss myself. It came with this pressure that I’m supposed to be doing bigger, riskier, and world-changing things or else the patriarchy will reign over us forever. I also caught whiffs of the idea that being a Girlboss required having superiority-complex and an unhealthy love of money. Messages like, “Is your empire thriving?” and extravagant use of dollar signs made me wary of the culture they’re trying to promote in young women.
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But then I read articles about why other women want Girlboss culture to die, and found myself becoming more annoyed with Girlboss criticism than I ever was with the actual movement. Firstly, a lot of the criticism focuses on the founder and her mistakes with the Girlboss company rather than where Girlboss is today and the movement’s current impact on women. To some, the term itself – Girlboss – is a “sexist Trojan horse.” On the outside, it carves out a space for women in male-dominated industries. On the inside, it denies women agency, diminishes them, and denigrates their authority. We’re so scared of women’s power that we have to roll it in glitter and “pinkwash” it.
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While pinkwashing has several different definitions, none of them are applicable to the Girlboss movement in my opinion. And this kind of push back against things that are pink, glittery, girly, and pretty is a far bigger detriment to women and other feminine individuals in the workforce than the flaws of a movement about women having ambition.
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There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to incorporate glitter and the color pink into one’s professional space. For me personally, I derive a great deal of power and productivity from having my pink journal, my pink mug, my gold metal straw, and my pretty freshly done nails. And this may be a nightmare for others, but that doesn’t make it unprofessional. Nothing about these aesthetic preferences interfere with my quality of work or anyone else’s quality of work, and it’s time to stop propagating the lie that they do.
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Additionally, there is immense value in aesthetics that lean into femininity. Just look at Bumble and their unmistakable marketing. Bees, bright yellow, honeycombs. It’s girly, it’s on purpose, and it’s working for them. And Bumble doesn’t stop at marketing. If you search for pictures of Bumble’s HQ, you’ll encounter multi-colored balloons on the roof, pink chairs in the conference rooms, and bathroom mirrors with inspirational truisms like “YOU’RE A QUEEN BEE” written across them. It’s basically Girlboss heaven, and if you’re wondering if this distracts Bumble employees from their work, please refer back to their $13 billion evaluation.
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But let’s talk more about the word Girlboss. Does the term truly deny women agency and diminish their authority? At the surface level, it very well might. Slapping the term Girlboss over women in positions of power can make it easier for men to group these women into a category separate from so-called “regular” (as in male) bosses and CEOs. And while I agree that no one should treat a female CEO differently than a male CEO, they are in fact different and there are far less female CEOs than male CEOs. Bumble is one of 21 companies taken public by a female founder even though hundreds of start-ups go public every year. The desire to be openly proud of breaking into male-dominated industries is more than understandable and should be encouraged.
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And if you look into Girlboss culture, you won’t find the hollow empowerment pieces and money-hungry behavior that I thought you would. Instead, you’ll find real stories. There is a seemingly endless chain of women eager to tell their stories and give advice to other women searching for inspiration. Collectively, they’re showing the world that behind these women in power, there are journeys filled with trials and accomplishments that make them more than qualified for the authority they have today. Girlboss culture does not take away these experiences from women. Instead, Girlboss culture celebrates these experiences.
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“TODAY IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN MAKE THE FIRST MOVE…” reads a post on Bumble Instagram from their IPO day on February 11. This moment in history with Bumble and Wolfe Herd shouldn’t be overlooked, and I think it’s a good time for everyone to start paying attention to how women can change entire industries. We should start thinking of all the needlessly male-dominated industries that could benefit from women-centric and women-led revamp. We should be supporting movements like Girlboss’ that work to inspire and uplift all women, whether they like glitter or not.