In a recent interview, Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd spoke on the value of being underestimated and how this can be turned into an opportunity. According to Herd, ‘I love being underestimated … It’s a total superpower’. This statement has resonated with many people and has become an inspiring message for business owners and entrepreneurs.
We will explore this topic further and discuss how we can turn rejection into an opportunity.
Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd on the value of rejection: ‘I personally love being underestimated … It’s a total superpower’
Whitney Wolfe Herd is an American entrepreneur and business executive currently serving as the founder and CEO of Bumble, an online dating app. Initially an employee at Tinder, a successful dating app company, Wolfe Herd developed Bumble, hoping to create a more empowering site for women by putting them in control of their experience on the application.
Having begun her career as the co-founder of social and dating apps like Tinder, Wolfe Herd has become one of the most recognized innovators in online dating apps. Not only is she a successful businesswoman and entrepreneur, she is also a strong advocate for female rights and empowerment through her work with numerous organisations helping to provide women with tools necessary to succeed in business environments.
In 2014, while employed at Tinder Inc., Whitney founded Bumble ‑ initially intended as a platform to help make women feel safe on dates ‑ which rapidly evolved into one of the most popular dating platforms out there alongside its sister service Badoo. With tens of thousands of new users each day joining the platform since its launch in 2014, Whitney’s success story demonstrates her ability to turn painful experiences such as rejection into opportunities instead.
Overview of her quote
The quote “I love being underestimated… It’s a total superpower” comes from Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd. She shares her personal experience about the power of turning perceived defeat into opportunities and using rejection as a driving force in her life to keep striving for success.
Her advice is seen throughout the entrepreneurial world due to her success with the popular dating app Bumble, where she serves as CEO and cofounder. She shares that it is important to stay focused on your goals in life and not let rejection, failure or criticism slow you down. She has developed an entire culture that values feedback and encourages self improvement, and credits this inspiring methodology for Bumble’s success.
Beyond her professional successes, Wolfe Herd also emphasises fostering meaningful relationships with one another. When asked how she ensured Bumble’s growth while finding personal fulfilment, she explains that meaningful relationships are key: “Having a good support network of friends and family was essential to keeping me balanced through all the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.” Her mission for Bumble is to create a platform for meaningful connections and provide real world value in terms of both job opportunities and promoting human connection more broadly. Through hard work, resilience and positivity in the face of adversity, Whitney Wolfe Herd has become an influential leader whose words resonated with many people worldwide.
The Power of Rejection
Rejection is an emotion that no one likes to feel, yet it is an inevitable part of life. Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd sees rejection as a valuable experience that can bring unexpected opportunities. She said, “I love being underestimated … It’s a superpower”.
In this article, we’ll explore the power of rejection and how it can be used to create future successes.
How rejection can be an opportunity
For Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, being underestimated is a superpower. According to Herd, learning to deal with rejection early in her career has made her more successful.
In an interview with the Forbes Under 30 Summit in 2018, She described how she uses rejection as motivation and channels it into positive energy. “I love that people underestimate me,” she said. “It’s my favourite thing.”
Herd believes that underestimated people tend to be more creative and innovative than those given too much deference and trust. She believes that being underestimated allows room for more creativity because one needs to problem-solve and find better solutions than the expectation might suggest. She encourages everyone to ensure they don’t miss out on opportunities due to their self-doubt or the doubt of others.
The CEO also says it’s important for entrepreneurs today to practise self-care since the road ahead can be uncertain and disappointing. However, by not taking no for an answer and using the momentum from rejections, one can start getting recognition along with success as each failure only strengthens them and brings them closer towards achieving what they initially set off for.
Herd’s advice speaks directly to turning fear into a challenge: “Without fear, there is no courage,” she said during her interview at Forbes Summit, “recognize your power within, feed off criticism and constantly search for opportunities even if they seem hard or difficult.” In this way, rejection leads you towards eventually understanding yourself, which eventually becomes the key motivator in achieving all your desired goals!
The importance of resilience
When it comes to resilience, no one knows better than Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd. For such a successful entrepreneur, it’s easy to think that everything has come easy to her – yet the path has not been smooth sailing. She has experienced many moments of rejection in her career yet she refused to let this hold her back. In an interview with Business Insider, she expressed how important resilience was when facing rejection: “To have resiliency and be able to bounce back from those ‘No’s, you must cultivate a deep emotional strength within yourself. I believe that these ‘No’s teach us so much about ourselves — our power within them is how we choose to respond or learn from them.”
Whitney emphasises the importance of resilience and highlights how important it is to recognize the value of being underestimated: “I love being underestimated… It is truly a superpower when you can come into any situation and under promise and over deliver. This skill will take you far in your career if properly harnessed.”
From her journey as an entrepreneur who turned rejection into an opportunity for personal and professional growth, Whitney exemplifies how anyone can use this superpower if they choose to be resilient and stay positive in difficult situations.
Examples of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s Rejection
Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd firmly believes in the value of rejection and turning it into an opportunity. She has experienced a lot of rejection throughout her business career, but has emerged as a leader in the tech industry.
In this section, we will look at some of the most memorable rejections she experienced, and how she turned them into success.
Rejection from Tinder
When entrepreneurial powerhouse Whitney Wolfe Herd had the idea that sparked the hugely successful dating app Bumble, the Tinder founders initially rejected her idea. Some of the feedback given to Wolfe Herd included “people don’t have time to make contact with other people” and it was suggested that she shouldn’t take her dream of creating a dating app any further.
Despite being met with rejection from the Tinder team, Whitney Wolfe Herd continued working on Bumble. Launched in 2014 and growing amazingly, Bumble has been a huge success, leading her to become one of Forbes magazine’s youngest self-made female billionaires in 2020.
Whitney Wolf Herd has openly discussed how rejection can ultimately motivate people to achieve their goals; “It’s so important not to give up even if you’re facing doubt and naysayers around you”. In an interview with Bloomberg TV host Emily Chang in 2018 she said: “I love being underestimated…It’s a total superpower.”
Rejection from other companies
Despite the incredible success of Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd still experiences rejection in business. After launching Bumble in 2014, she was approached and offered jobs by technology giants such as Google and Facebook multiple times. However, Herd turned them down due to their corporate structure and her opportunity at Bumble.
Instead of allowing her prior rejections to define her and discourage her from future endeavours, Whitney Wolfe Herd recognized that “being underestimated is our power” and has since grown an empire through it. Furthermore, the rejection motivated her to succeed and prove those doubters wrong. From being a co-founder of Tinder to becoming the founder/CEO of Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd turned every single bit of adversity and negativity into motivation for her journey to become one filled with great success.
How to Turn Rejection Into an Opportunity
In a world where being accepted is often valued more than creativity and innovation, it’s easy to get discouraged by rejection. But Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd has a different view. She believes rejection can be a powerful opportunity, which she has used to her advantage throughout her career. In her own words, “I love being underestimated. It’s a total superpower.”
In this article, we’ll explore how to transform rejection into an opportunity, starting with the inspiring advice of Whitney Wolfe Herd.
Reframe your thinking
Rejection can be hard to take, but it is often a necessary part of reaching goals, getting what we want and having an impact. For example, Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd has experienced massive success in the tech industry, despite facing plenty of rejection herself.
Her approach to dealing with disappointment? Reframe your thinking. Rather than seeing rejection as a setback, reframe it as an opportunity for growth. “The world’s going to tell you no many, many more times than it’s going to tell you yes — use that as fuel,” Wolfe Herd told CNBC Make It. By reinterpreting your rejections as motivation rather than discouragement, you can use them as a signpost on your journey towards success.
Wolfe Herd suggests that spending time with inspiring people and reading great books offers perspective and strengthens your resolve through tough times or when faced with rejection. She also suggested that constantly aiming low avoids ever experiencing the disappointment of failure or when plans don’t work out—but she believes it’s smarter to strive for what you want and set ambitious goals. “Do me a favour: over-deliver,” said Wolfe Herd “I love being underestimated because I just work five times harder so I can over-deliver … It’s like this total superpower.” Taking ownership of your failures ultimately leads them to become wins down the line, something which she believes helps her focus on her deep purpose and bigger mission in life: “If my goal is becoming thrilled about failure then I won’t be disappointed any more; I’m just trying everything in the world…this has turned into this business mind-set because I don’t have fear anymore.”
Take action
Successful entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe Herd has achieved a great deal in life and she’s versed in the ability to turn situations around – especially when it comes to rejection. While many of us may view rejection as something to be feared or avoided at all costs, Bumble CEO Herd believes it can be a powerful tool for success- and she’s the prime example.
Speaking from personal experience, Herd reveals her view of rejection as an opportunity rather than a setback. Firstly, it’s worthwhile to consider why you have been turned down and then use this moment to precisely problem solve with solutions at hand. Next, it’s important not to dwell too much on what cannot be changed; instead focus on what can be done differently going forward. Then comes the critical point of taking action; after all, talk is cheap but action is where we make an impactful difference.
Rather than letting crippling fear take over, focus on the practical steps that need to be taken for success to happen such as improving your skill set or adjusting your approach – like Whitney Herd! She fully embraces rejection and sees it as part of her ‘superpower’; having been underestimated so much has enabled her immense drive for success where her cold- hard legacy speaks for itself!
Leverage your network
It is essential to embrace rejection and leverage that energy productively and positively. Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd encourages people to use their networks for support when faced with difficult situations, such as unusual rejections. She advises people to connect with those who have similar experiences, from close friends and family, to members of online communities. “By reconnecting with those who understand our journey we can recognize the successes achieved, even during times of difficulty,” she said in a 2019 interview. In addition, the herd believes that surrounding yourself with a supportive group allows for the development of resilience, resulting in the cultivation of new skills and techniques for handling different forms of adversity.
In addition, Wolfe Herd encourages individuals to explore their hidden resources that may have been overlooked previously, such as creative capabilities or an aptitude for problem solving which can be utilised while dealing with rejection situations. Lastly, it is important to remember that despite being underestimated by others on numerous occasions and facing unfair criticism, having a mindset focused on harnessing opportunity is beneficial in creating self-alignment and achieving positive outcomes despite challenges.
Rejection can be a difficult thing to experience, however, Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd believes that it should be seen as an opportunity. She’s learned to not take rejection personally and to instead use it as fuel to work harder and prove her critics wrong.
Her inspiring story of turning rejection into an opportunity illustrates how important it is to look at life’s bright side and seize opportunities as they come.
Summary of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s story
Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd is an inspiring example of how to turn real-life failure into the ultimate success story. She began her career in the early days of smartphone technology, co-founding the dating app “Tinder” with two other entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, despite her intelligence and ambition, she was ultimately dismissed from her creation due to gender discrimination.
While this could have easily damaged her self-confidence, Whitney used her experiences to expand and develop her business acumen. She took the setback as an opportunity, launching a rival company known as “Bumble” in 2014. Within just four years, it surpassed Tinder regarding user numbers and profitability.
Whitney has plenty of wisdom to share amongst aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those whose ambitions might be underestimated by their peers – she shared that “I love being underestimated… It’s a total superpower”. Her commitment and perseverance have proven that any deep disappointment is worth overcoming if you consistently strive towards your goals and listen to your gut instinct.
Encouragement to embrace rejection as an opportunity
In an article conducted by Time Magazine in August 2020, Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd spoke about the value of embracing rejection as an opportunity. Instead of seeing it as a negative experience, Herd believes being underestimated can “become a total superpower”. She encourages people to turn rejection into learning experiences and use them as motivation to strive for greater success. By keeping a positive attitude, individuals can redefine what it means to be successful and open up the possibility for more meaningful opportunities going forward.
Herd sees rejection as an opportunity for growth — something to rise above rather than wallow in discouragement. She notes that outperforming expectations is the most powerful way to prove naysayers
Tech expert fresh from the Australian Coast. Been in the tech industry more than 9 years, as part of a Business Growth Group. His out of office days are 100% for freestyle surfing and waves chasing.