Reese Witherspoon is a force to be reckoned with. She’s an Oscar-winning actress, producer, founder of fashion brand Draper James, founder of the media company Hello Sunshine, and now, a leading literary authority with Reese’s Book Club. In recent years, the bubbly Southern actress has become a prominent authority in the literary world, with her book club gaining a cult-like following. Capturing the attention of literary lovers worldwide, Reese’s Book Club’s Instagram boosts over 3 million followers.
While book clubs are commonly thought of as a hobby for suburban mothers or a social outlet for senior citizens, Reese’s Book Club is a literary empire valued at over 900 million dollars. Since incorporating her book club into Hello Sunshine in 2017, novels selected for Reese’s Book Club experienced a significant boost in sales, with none of her picks selling under 10,000 copies–a rare feat for authors in the cutthroat publishing industry.
Yet, Hello Sunshine doesn’t derive any of its’ book club earnings from publishers for their book club selections. Rather, the club thrives due its’ successful online shop and strategic brand partnerships. In addition, several of Reese’s book club picks have been adapted into highly successful movies and films by Hello Sunshine, including Little Fires Everywhere, Where the Crawdads Sing, and Daisy Jones & the Six.
But, how did the college dropout (although from Stanford) and actress, best known for her role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, become the queen of book clubs?
The secret lies in Witherspoon’s strong business acumen and ability to transform her passion for reading into a highly successful business. What can entrepreneurs learn from Reese’s Book Club when starting their own business? How can you apply the principles behind Reese’s Book Club to transform your passions into a thriving business?
Utilize your interests
Before dropping out of Stanford University to pursue acting, Reese Witherspoon studied as an English Literature major. Witherspoon has talked extensively about her love of reading, and frequently informally shared her book recommendations on her personal Instagram prior to the foundation of Reese’s Book Club.
Rather than completely starting her business entirely “from scratch,” Reese utilized her passions and hobbies as a starting point for her book club. Her passion for reading, as evidenced through her Instagram, allowed her to establish her book club as an extension of her personal brand.
Aspiring entrepreneurs should utilize their passions as a basis for their prospective businesses. By concentrating on their natural interests, entrepreneurs can focus on areas in which they are already knowledgeable and enthusiastic about, tapping into markets in which they have unique insight.
Transfer your existing skills
Although Reese Witherspoon has made multiple career changes, many of the skills she has acquired throughout her various jobs primed her to succeed with Reese’s Book Club. For example, Reese’s English Literature degree, although unfinished, may have sharpened her ability for book selection and curation.
In addition, her experiences as a producer granted her with valuable knowledge and insight into the art of storytelling. In particular, Reese noted that many stories in popular media are largely centered around men, inspiring her to center her book club selections around stories about women. This has proven to be wildly successful, attracting a dedicated fanbase to her club and spurring several on-screen adaptations of book selections.
Her career as an actress allowed her to gain key skills of self-promotion, marketing, and personal brand curation, transferable to the entrepreneurial sphere. Witherspoon’s experiences with personal branding and marketing herself as an actress were easily transferable to her future career as a business owner with both Draper James and Reese’s Book Club.
Finally, Reese’s career as an actress allowed her to gain valuable knowledge in self-promotion and marketing. Such skills allowed her to promote her book club, understanding the ways in which to capture and retain public attention.
Many skills acquired in education or in former careers can be utilized for success within your business. Aspiring entrepreneurs should not to view their previous job(s) or careers within an echo chamber, but rather see how the insights and experiences you gained in the past can be utilized within emerging businesses. It may be valuable to list out both the soft and hard skills they have acquired, brainstorming ways in which such skills can be applied to their future businesses.
Tap into your network & platforms
Beyond tapping into her own wealth of knowledge, Reese Witherspoon utilized her pre-existing network of Instagram followers, business connections, and contacts within the publishing/literary industry from her appearances in and creation of book-to-film adaptations to create her book club.
Although the average person may not have access to the types of connections that an A-List actress like Witherspoon does, it is important to take stock of your own personal network and platforms. Don’t be afraid to promote your business on your own social media and spread the world to family and friends. You never know who might become a customer or offer your business valuable support.
Collaborate & Lift Others Up
Another key aspect of Reese’s Book Club is her writers’ fellowship, LitUp. LitUp is a fellowship specifically designed for unpublished women and nonbinary folks from diverse backgrounds. In addition to providing writers with a retreat, LitUp fellows gain access to support from a published author and Reese’s marketing team.
By incorporating a writer fellowship designed to break down barriers within the publishing industry for aspiring authors, Reese’s Book Club fosters a culture of inclusivity that attracts wide audiences. LitUp not only elevates underrepresented authors, but introduces Reese’s Book Club to new audiences and platforms.’
Offering support to authors from diverse backgrounds, Reese’s Book Club also creates a reputation of goodwill within their business that is attractive to both prospective customers and brands.
Prospective entrepreneurs may not yet have the ability to create programs within their business like LitUp, but can look for ways to collaborate with other entrepreneurs and brands to introduce their business to new markets. In addition, whether or not one believes in karma, goodwill can do a lot to boost the reputation of your business.
Take-Aways
From dropping out of the highly prestigious Stanford University to pursue an acting career to pivoting from acting to producing and founding Reese’s Book Club, Reese shows aspiring entrepreneurs that simply having the courage to get started may lead to unimaginable success. By embracing the strategies that Witherspoon has utilized in her successful businesses, entrepreneurs can transfer their passions into success.
