THE BUZZ ON WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT CHLOE DOWNEY
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s we sat down to chat, I couldn’t help but notice her silent obsession with skulls and the color jet black, as well as beaming yellow hues and the word “Bumble” on just about every surface and article of clothing. This girl is definitely not your average college student. A typical day in the life of 23-year-old Connie Rodarte includes working at the golf course in town and keeping up with classwork at Texas A&M University as a Communication major, all while managing nine Bumble Campus teams across Texas, Kentucky, and Kansas. How did you come to be a Bumble Community Leader? I’ve been working for Bumble within their college ambassador program, Bumble Honey, for over two years now! Originally, I joined as an ambassador for the campus team at Texas A&M and quickly fell in love with the brand and everything Bumble stood for in terms of their mission and values. My passion for Bumble’s mission of empowerment continued to grow and over this past summer, I accepted my current position as the Community Leader for the upcoming semester. When I was offered the position, I felt an immediate rush of emotions that quickly took over me—I cried, laughed, screamed, and finally announced the news to everyone close to me. This moment was exactly what I had worked for all this time. What’s great about being a part of Bumble’s ambassador program is that your work doesn’t go unnoticed and I’m so excited to continue to be a part of the Bumble team. How has working for Bumble enhanced your college experience? Working for Bumble has not only helped me grow professionally but also personally in my day to day life. Professionally, it has allowed me to learn and build a healthy work ethic, and gain a variety of experiences in brand marketing and interpersonal skills. Personally, Bumble has helped me grow into the empowered, strong,
and confident woman I am today at 23 years old. I couldn’t have come this far without the extensive support of my entire community, including my fellow Community Leaders and the wider Bumble team who have become my best friends! Was there a reason you chose to work for Bumble over other dating applications/sites? Absolutely. I chose to work for Bumble because of the company’s commitment to women empowerment and its mission in helping people make safe and equitable connections. Bumble’s initiative to only allow women to message first in a heterosexual match is unheard of in the world of dating applications. How do you think this rule allows Bumble to differentiate itself in a heavily saturated market? Empowering women to make the first move in the context of heterosexual dating is the feature that sets Bumble apart. When Bumble launched in 2014, no other dating app required women to make the first move and it also wasn’t something that was normalized. Women have always been told to wait until a guy approaches them first when dating, but our Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd wanted to flip the traditional gender dynamics of dating by encouraging women to make the first move and go after what they want in life. Whitney believed that being the first mover would translate into other aspects 31