You may be familiar with or have heard of a dating app called Bumble. Behind the application, apparently there is an inspiring woman who has succeeded in building Bumble to what it is today.
The story of the founder of Bumble can inspire you if you are currently feeling the difficulty of surviving between a career and a love that makes you depressed. She is Whitney Wolfe Herd.
Whitney Wolfe Herd is currently lined up to become the youngest billionaire in the world who managed to rise from adversity in his past. Instead of wasting his time with regrets in the past, he became motivated to move forward.
So, what kind of adversity has Whitney Wolfe Herd experienced in her past and how did she manage to rise from that adversity? Here's the story of the founder of the dating app Bumble who became the youngest billionaire in the world.
Whitney Wolfe Herd's Downfall in Her Past
Just like people in general who in the world of career and love there are twists and turns, Whitney Wolfe Herd too. Launching from Grazia, he started his career at the age of 22 at a company called Hatch Labs, where he met Sean Rad and Chris Gulczynski who later became the development team for Tinder, a dating app.
The name Tinder itself is the result of Whitney's suggestion which means "dry, flammable material" or which in Indonesian means "dry and flammable material". Quoting from the Instagram account @femalequotient, the name was chosen by Whitney not without reason. The name refers to the explosion of sparks and soon after its release, Tinder became a global hit.
While Tinder became a hit, Whitney also dated Justin Mateen who is one of the Co-Founders of Tinder. However, unfortunately the relationship is not healthy. Whitney broke up with Mateen and Mateen began to threaten, control, and insult her.
For this reason, in 2014 Whitney sued the company Tinder for sexual harassment. Instead of the calm she got, Whitney actually received death threats and rape on social media which made Whitney's trauma escalated into a severe panic attack.
The lawsuit from Whitney for sexual harassment was actually denied by Tinder and the case ended in court.
Successfully Rise from Adversity in the Past
Instead of wasting precious time with regrets in the past, Whitney instead became triggered to move forward. The downturn in his past he made an experience as well as a new page for his career.
In 2014, at the age of 25, he created his own dating app with a unique concept, namely, prioritizing security for women. The dating application he named Bumble.
In accordance with the concept, Bumble makes the woman in control of the relationship. In this application, it is the woman who will approach first for dating. Even Forbes wrote that Wolfe considered Bumble a social platform for women, not a dating app.
"I personally experienced how unequal relationships had a negative impact on our lives. I wanted to change that," said Whitney.
Thanks to the uniqueness of the concept, Bumble became successful as a digital dating app and in 2019 it became the second most popular dating app in the US. In 2021, she is lined up to become the youngest female billionaire in the world at the age of 31.
The total value of its shares is Rp. 187.2 trillion and Whitney's share is Rp. 21.5 trillion. He was also included in the list of the 500 Biggest Fortune from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He celebrated his success by writing a tweet through his personal Twitter account at @WhitWolfeHerd,
"This was made possible thanks to the 1.7 billion women who dared to take the first steps in our app. Thank you to everyone who made this a reality," she wrote.
When he managed to rise from adversity in pursuing a career, he also succeeded in the world of love. Whitney met with Michael Herd who is a restaurant businessman.
Their love relationship continued to a more serious level and in 2017, they got married. After two years, in December 2019, Whitney gave birth to a son whom she named Bobby Lee Herd. Now, he is also successful with both, career and love. While being a mother, Whitney's career continued to climb at Bumble.
Well, how about you? Very cool, huh? You can make the life journey of Whitney Wolfe Herd as a form of self-motivation to move forward, you know. That every difficulty there will be ease. So, keep the spirit and keep trying yes!