To celebrate turning 60, Melinda French Gates sat down with iconic changemakers of all ages to talk about their biggest life transitions for a special series, “Moments That Make Us.” In this episode, she chats with actress and producer Reese Witherspoon about her passion for sharing women’s stories, what it’s like being a working mom in Hollywood, the one question she asks before deciding whether to recommend a book, and how she feels when someone doubts her.

Check out all of the conversations in this series:
Megan Rapinoe:    • Moments That Make Us: The Radical Emp...  
Reese Witherspoon:    • Moments That Make Us: Reese Witherspo...  
Ava DuVernay:    • Moments That Make Us: Ava DuVernay’s ...  
Michelle Obama:    • Moments That Make Us: Michelle Obama ...  
Oprah Winfrey & Gayle King:    • Moments That Make Us: How Friendship ...  
Billie Jean King:    • Moments That Make Us: Billie Jean Kin...  
& don’t miss the Trailer! :    • Introducing "Moments That Make Us" wi...  


In this episode:
• 0:40 – Reflecting on Reese’s 40s and making peace with change and uncertainty
• 1:19 – How Reese’s mother’s career as a pediatric nurse shaped her idea of working as a mother from a young age and her experience as a mom in Hollywood
• 4:13 – Advocating for women’s representation in film to every film studio in Hollywood
• 6:09 – Why books are meaningful to Reese and becoming a continuous learner
• 7:05 – Starting a business without a business background, thinking beyond constraints, and raising money for Hello Sunshine
o See more: https://hellosunshine.com/
• 8:42 – Reese’s decision to take the role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde after watching an interview of Gloria Steinem on Goldie Hawn’s role in Private Benjamin
o See more:    • Legally Blonde (2001) | Official Trai...  
o See more: https://www.glamour.com/story/reesew...
• 11:17 – Pushing back on the constant messages of perfectionism from society
• 13:07 – Finding deep connections and Charlie Munger’s ‘Web of Deserved Trust’
o See more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/30/melin...
• 13:53 – The formative experience of an allgirls school and Melinda’s own experience with her teachers at an allgirls school
o See more:   / urn:li:activity:7162535433267064832  
• 16:00 – The joyful experience of raising kids
• 17:22 – Starting Reese’s Book Club and the criteria for picking books to share with others
o See more: https://reesesbookclub.com/
• 18:58 – Telling strong female stories and the importance of asking others their story

Produced by Feee Films
Directed by Felicia Manning
Photography c/o Pivotal Ventures

Follow Melinda French Gates on:
Twitter/X: @melindagates
Facebook: @melindagates
LinkedIn: @melindagates
Instagram: @melindafrenchgates
YouTube: @melindafrenchgates

Follow Reese Witherspoon on:
Twitter/X: @ReeseW
Facebook: @ReeseWitherspoon
Instagram: @ReeseWitherspoon
TikTok: @ReeseWitherspoon
YouTube: @ReeseWitherspoon