Reese Witherspoon reflects on her past: 'I didn't know what I was doing'

Reese Witherspoon, a renowned actress and producer, recently reflected on her journey and the lessons learnt from being in the entertainment industry. 

Witherspoon’s media company organized a two-day event for its second annual Shine Away conference in Los Angeles. 

The agenda behind the event was to empower and connect women through panels, activations, and programming.

At the event, Witherspoon joined Laura Dern and Octavia Spencer for a conversation and reminisced on her early days as a producer. 

She noted that starting Hello Sunshine at 34 "I didn't know what I was doing." 

"I didn't have time to look at the bigger macro, like, what is our business? How are they making money? Wait, why are there no parts for women? Wait, why am I not seeing any people of color behind the scenes?"

"It was scary because I didn't know if I was going to get my money back. Every day I woke up thinking, 'Oh my god, I'm not gonna get my money back.' But I would rather bet on myself and lose that money trying hard. I woke up every single day and I was like, 'I am my own lottery ticket,'" Witherspoon shared. 

Taking into account the Big Little Lies’ success, the Legally Blonde disclosed that she was on the verge of seeking professional help. 

She quipped, "I had a moment right after Big Little Lies... I thought, OK well, Big Little Lies won all these Emmys and Wild and Gone Girl got all these Oscar nominations, and we made $600 million at the box office. I had four employees, and I couldn't keep the lights on."

Also, emphasizing the importance of women's empowerment, Witherspoon revealed that she chose a female CEO named Sarah Harden for her company.

"When there's a show on Netflix or whatever, just push the 'like' button — You don't know how important that 'like' button is. Just 'like it,' because that actually affects the salaries of the women who made it," the 48-year-old actress added. 

Moving forward, during the candid conversation, Dern, the Jurassic Park star, also confessed that she seeks Witherspoon’s on everything, from her romantic life to career choices. 

"Basically, I run everything by Reese, from my romantic life all the way to what jobs I should do," Dern said.

It is pertinent to mention Witherspoon’s latest work as an executive producer was Side Hustlers season 2, which premiered on August 16, 2024.