Businessly Blonde: Reese Witherspoon Talks Entrepreneurship at HBS Event

Twenty-four years after Legally Blonde star Reese Witherspoon first asked if it’s hard to get into Harvard, she returned to campus on Tuesday to discuss entrepreneurship and female empowerment at Harvard Business School.

Witherspoon told a packed crowd in Klarman Hall, many dressed in pink, that confidence is key to success on both the silver screen and in the business world. It was her first public appearance at Harvard, following dinner with Harvard College Dean David J. Deming on Monday.

Witherspoon’s career as an actor took off after the 2001 film Legally Blonde told the story of Elle Woods — a sorority president who came to Harvard Law School in pursuit of her ex-boyfriend, only to leave with a newfound sense of self.

Deming told Witherspoon that the College still plays Legally Blonde for the freshman class at the beginning of the year, she said.

“I had no clue,” Witherspoon said. “But it’s had this tremendous impact and this resonance, because I do think everyone feels like an underdog. It doesn’t matter who you are, you are overcoming something to sit in this room at this moment and to be part of your own hero’s journey.”

At the event, hosted by the Women’s Student Association, Witherspoon also answered questions about her media firm Hello Sunshine and her new novel Gone Before Goodbye. HBS students Jadyn Bryden and Kayla Walsh, who are leaders of the WSA, moderated the event.

Before the event, Witherspoon spoke at HBS professor Reza R. Satchu’s class “The Founder Mindset,” which teaches students what makes successful business leaders. Satchu, who was also the opening speaker of the event, recently published a case study based on Witherspoon’s career titled “Owning the Story: Reese Witherspoon & Hello Sunshine’s Media Flywheel” in October.

At the event, Witherspoon said it has been “surreal” to see the lasting impact that Legally Blonde has had on Harvard’s campus and in popular American culture.

“I had no idea when we were doing that and building that, when I was 23 years old, that 25 years later you guys were watching it on campus at Harvard,” Witherspoon said.

When asked what advice she would give her daughter if she wanted to go into business, Witherspoon said she would tell her to “go to HBS,” which was met by applause from the audience.

Witherspoon also said that if Elle Woods had gone to HBS rather than HLS in the movie, she probably would have prioritized networking.

“The great thing about coming to a school like this is the friendships,” she said.

“Those can be lifelong friends, and they can also be business contacts and colleagues that you will not even know when it pays off,” Witherspoon added. “But it is so important to keep in touch and be mutually interested in their goals.”

Taking questions from the audience, Witherspoon was asked to repeat her famous line from Legally Blonde about getting accepted into Harvard Law School – “What? Like it’s hard?”

She obliged to raucous applause.

Clara S. Geffs, a first year student at HBS and an aspiring entrepreneur, said she was grateful to have female figures in the world of business such as Witherspoon to “shake up the space” and serve as role models.

“I know there’s still more work to be done, but I just feel so grateful to be in the time period that I’m in, and that I get to learn from women like Reese – and still try to pave my own path – but have people to look up to,” she said.

First year HBS student Shachar S. Cohen, who attended the talk, said Witherspoon’s talk was “a strong demonstration of the power of women.”

“She’s such a well rounded person, she’s also funny and entertaining, not just smart and a business woman,” Cohen said. “It’s very much inspiring.”

At the end of the event, Witherspoon pulled out a replica of the pink pen her character used in Legally Blonde and threw it on the stage. She then called up Satchu who performed the movie’s “Bend and Snap” maneuver to pick it up.

—Staff writer Evan H.C. Epstein can be reached at evan.epstein@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X at @Evan_HC_Epstein.

—Staff writer Graham W. Lee can be reached at graham.lee@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @grahamwonlee.