MANILA, Philippines—The Founder and CEO of Bumble Inc, Whitney Wolfe Herd that also operates company, some of the world’s most popular dating apps such as, Badoo, Bumble, and Fruitz, shares how to have balanced life.
According to a study conducted by Bumble, there has been a shift in the way we think about, and value, our work and our partner’s work. Gone are those days that our job titles and demanding work days are seen as a status symbol with half of people are prioritizing work/life balance (49%). When it comes to their partner, more than half of people care more about their work/life balance than their career status (54%). Over the past year, more than half of people (52%) are actively creating more space for breaks and rest and more than 1 in 10 (13%) will no longer date someone who has a very demanding job.
Bumble Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd’s advice for balance
Don’t glorify the grind. At Bumble, we work hard, but we don’t glorify hustle culture. No one should sacrifice their mental health for the sake of their career. During the pandemic, when our mental health took such a collective hit, we instituted two company-wide weeks off a year, as well as an unlimited paid time off policy.
Structure your day based on your needs: I’m a CEO, but also a mom so, like many of us, I need to balance my time between priorities that are important to me. That’s why our flexible work policy is key, so you can map your day out beyond the typical 9-5.
Sometimes I’ll need to do calls with teams in different time zones and this will require flexibility in my working hours. I make sure that this doesn’t mean I lose family time. If I’m up early working through emails, I’ll carve out time in the afternoon to spend with my kids.
When you take a break, really switch off: We all have such busy lives, it can be difficult to take a break. Leaders have to set an example in a business, demonstrating that it’s okay, and encourage people to take their holiday. We’re all better when we have had some time to disconnect and can return to our work with a refreshed mindset.
Image courtesy Bumble Inc
Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014 after her own experiences with toxic behavior on the internet. Bumble was created to empower women, putting them in control of the interactions by making the first move. The app is focused on kind, respectful, and equal connections across all areas of life, including friendship (BFF) and business (Bizz).
At 31 years old, Whitney Wolfe Herd was the youngest woman CEO to take her company public in February 2021. She did so with a Bumble board that is 73% women, a stark counterpoint to all the firms that go public with boards that are made up mostly—if not entirely—of men. In 2019, Whitney was instrumental in helping pass a cyber-flashing law in Texas that makes sending unsolicited nude images, a punishable offense. Bumble has since passed similar bills in Virginia and California and is advocating for a new law in New York. In November 2021, Bumble launched a campaign in the UK to criminalize cyber-flashing alongside women’s advocacy groups.
Bumble was one of the first apps to introduce photo verification, to launch in-app video chat (pre-pandemic), to use artificial intelligence to identify unsolicited sexual images, and was the first dating to ban ‘body shaming’ language – derogatory comments made about someone’s appearance, body shape, size, or health.
Wolfe Herd has previously been named to TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Forbes’s “30 Under 30” list, the Bloomberg 50, and InStyle’s 50 Women Who Are Changing the World. She has been featured on the cover of Fast Company, Forbes, and WIRED magazines, and in 2021, Bumble was named one of Apple’s Apps of the Year.