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00:00CEO AND CHAIRWOMAN OF REBEL GIRLS, A BRAND WITH A MISSION OF INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF GIRLS. AND YOU GUYS ARE FINALISTS FOR THE APPLE DESIGN AWARD. WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT MEAN? JES: WE ARE AND WE ARE THRILLED. EMILY: CONGRATULATIONS. WHAT DO YOU THINK APPLE SEES IN THE DESIGN? JES: THE REBEL GIRLS APP IS A FINALIST FOR THE DESIGN AND SOCIAL IMPACT. THERE ARE SIX CATEGORIES OF AWARDS AND WE ARE ONE OF THE FINALISTS FOR THEM. IT IS AROUND THE DESIGN, THE INTENTIONALITY BEHIND THE APP AND WHAT WE ARE DOING. WE ' RE AN EMPOWERMENT BRAND FOR GIRLS, WE ' RE A STORYTELLING COMPANY. WE TELL THE STORIES OF 650 WOMEN SO FAR, ALL ABOUT INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF GIRLS. SO APPLE IS TALKING ABOUT APPS AND WHAT APPS MAKES IMPACT, THE IMPACT WE ARE HAVING ON GIRL ' S LIVES AND OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AND AUTHENTIC STORYTELLING IS FRONT AND CENTER. EMILY: HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY HELP USED -- HELP YOU TELL THE STORY? GOSH, WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO INSPIRE GIRLS FOR GENERATIONS, AND WE STILL FACE A LOT OF CHALLENGES. WHAT IS IT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN HELP? JES: STORYTELLING IS WHAT MATTERS. SO, GIRLS STARTING AT THE AGE OF SIX START LOSING CONFIDENCE AND THEY START FEELING THEY ARE LESS SMART AND LESS CAPABLE THAN BOYS. SO HOW DO WE TELL GIRLS MORE STORIES THAT INCREASE THEIR CONFIDENCE? WE STARTED IN BOOKS, WE SOLD 8 MILLION BOOKS, THEN WE WENT TO AUDIO AND DIGITAL. SO TECHNOLOGY CAN INCREASE ACCESS TO STORIES AND ALL KINDS OF STORIES, AND WE CAN INSPIRE MORE GIRLS THAT WAY. EMILY: WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR COMPANY AND THE DEVELOPERS AT YOUR COMPANY, WHAT IS IT ABOUT WWDC THAT IS SO SIGNIFICANT? ARE YOU LOOKING HERE TO SEE WHAT APPLE ' S OF THE FUTURE IS AND HOW YOU CAN CAPITALIZE ON THAT? JES: APPLE HAS AN AMAZINGLY HUGE ECOSYSTEM OF AUDIENCE AND DEVELOPERS AND WE HAD A WONDERFUL RELATIONSHIP BOTH ON THE PODCAST SIDE OF THINGS AND THE APP SIDE OF THINGS WITH APPLE. SO WE ARE HERE TODAY FOR THE AWARDS CEREMONY AND TO SEE WHAT THE FUTURE IS AND HOW WE CAN BE AT THE FRONT OF THE FUTURE FOR STORYTELLING FOR GIRLS. EMILY: WE WERE HOPING TO HEAR SOME AR, VR UPDATES THAT WE DID NOT GET. WE THOUGHT THERE MIGHT BE SOME CLUES. WE BELIEVE THERE IS A HEADSET COMING AND THAT COULD BE THE NEXT BIG THING. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU WERE HOPING FOR? I IMAGINE THE ABILITY TO TELL SOME OF THESE STORIES IN AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY COULD POTENTIALLY BE VERY POWERFUL. JES: ABSOLUTELY. RIGHT NOW WE ARE BUILDING AN IMMERSIVE ONLINE, OFF-LINE ECOSYSTEM FOR GIRLS WHO ARE INTEGRATING OUR BOOKS APP. -- BOOKS WITH OUR APP. EMILY: WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE CONTROVERSY AROUND THE APP STORE, THE COMMISSIONS IT TAKES? DO YOU BELIEVE IT IS FAIR? JES: WELL, AS A SMALL BUSINESS, LESS IS MORE FOR US. [LAUGHTER] EMILY: BUT REALLY, THERE IS A HUGE CONTROVERSY AROUND THAT. I WONDER IF THAT AT ALL EXCEED WANT TO DEVELOP FURTHER PLATFORMS, OR NO, THE APPLE PLATFORM IS SO VALUABLE AND IT IS WORTH THE RENT, ESSENTIALLY. JES: THE APPLE PLATFORM BRINGS IN AUDIENCES AND THEY SUPPORT THEIR DEVELOPERS, AND THAT IS WORTH PAYING A PREMIUM FOR. EMILY: BIGGER PICTURE BACK TO YOUR MEDIUM, THERE IS CONCERN ABOUT WOMEN AND GIRLS BACKSLIDING IN THE PANDEMIC. WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON THAT? HAVE WE LOST PROGRESS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS? JES: ABSOLUTELY. EMILY: HOUSE OUT? JES: -- HOW SO? JES: WE SEE IT ACROSS THE BOARD. YOU SEE WOMEN DROPPING OUT OF THE WORKFORCE. LAST YEAR ONLY 2% OF VENTURE FUNDING WENT TO WOMEN, WHICH WAS EVEN LOWER THAN THE YEAR BEFORE. I THINK IT IS ABSOLUTELY TIME FOR US TO STEP UP AND DO MORE FOR GIRLS, FOR WOMEN, TO ADVANCE SOCIETY. EMILY: WHAT IS THE SECRET? WHEN MY DAUGHTER TURNS SIX, WHICH SHOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY? JES: WELL, YOU SHOULD READ HER REBEL GIRLS STORIES FOR ONE. EMILY: I HAVE A FEW. I HAVE THE BOOKS. JES: I LOVE TO HEAR THAT. HELP HER DEVELOP HER CONFIDENCE. FIND THE THING THAT MAKES HER REALLY TICK AND LEAN INTO THAT. THE THING THAT MAKES HER SMILE, WHETHER IT IS SPORTS, MUSIC, MATH, BUGS, WHATEVER, BRING

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Rebel Girls on Apple WWDC Highlights

Rebel Girls CEO Jes Wolfe joins Emily Chang from Apple Park to talk about what she's most looking forward to in Apple's product roadmap and the app store ecosystem, and their latest $13M funding round. (Source: Bloomberg)

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