1. Her role as Elle Woods.
This iconic role portrayed the typical sorority girl as a smart, independent, strong woman who doesn’t need a man. The dedication she showed to get into law school is inspirational. Elle Woods went from an LSAT score of 143 to 179 (the top score you could get is a 180!) in record time because of her sheer dedication and that’s something we’re all inspired by.
2. She started "Hello Sunshine" and "Pacific Standard."
Did you know that Reese Witherspoon created her own media brand that celebrates women and all they do?
Did you also know that she started a production company called Pacific Standard? Well now you do, it's incredible. Pacific Standard became a subsidiary for Hello Sunshine and now they both work to promote stories by and about women on multiple different media platforms.
The “Hello Sunshine” website is filled with women celebrating women. You can read stories about women around the world, read the best Beychella tweets, listen to the Hello Sunshine podcast, submit your own stories that matter to women and even join Reese’s book club which features books that are always centered around women.
3. Her inspirational speech at Glamour's 2015 Woman of the Year Awards
Reese Witherspoon was given an award for her efforts in creating films with strong female roles and her speech was powerful. It revolved around the question, “what do we do now?” As women in all types of industries around the world, what do we do now? How do we accomplish more? What can we do to spark change? How can we prove someone wrong? How can we become more ambitious?
4. She spoke out about her own harassment and sexual assault experiences.
Sadly, there are many women that experience harassment or assault in their life, yet they are told to keep quiet. When they don’t say anything about it, no change is made. Reese Witherspoon decided to speak about her experiences at Elle’s 24th annual Woman in Hollywood Celebration in hopes to stand up for women who had the same experiences and to spark change.
5. The historic Time's Up movement.
Reese Witherspoon, along with Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, Shonda Rhimes, Ava DuVernay, America Ferrera, and over 300 more women working in film, television, and theater have come together to say Time's Up. This movement is for everyone who has been a victim of harassment or abuse and the money raised seeds a legal fund for survivors to get justice for what they went through. Time's Up is also a huge effort to seek a safe and equal workplace for the entertainment business.
6. She did THAT.
Notice how everyone’s wearing black? Yeah, she did that. With the help of other Time's Up founders, the word was spread that men and women going to the 2018 Golden Globes should dress in all black. Many influential people stood in solidarity to show how much more work needs to be put in to stop sexual harassment in the workplace.
7. She's best friends with Oprah and Ellen.
Three of the most influential women of our time are BFFs... if that isn't best friends goals, I don't know what is.
