Meghan Markle’s new podcast Confessions Of A Female Founder was released today, featuring an interview with her friend Whitney Wolfe Herd.
The Duchess of Sussex announced the new Lemonada Media show by posting a series of throwback photos on Instagram of her selling cookies as a child.
In the first episode, Meghan interviews 35-year-old American entrepreneur Herd, who is the founder of the female-focused dating app Bumble and also the co-founder of Tinder.
This conversation took place shortly after Meghan’s husband, Prince Harry, arrived in the UK, while King Charles III flew to Italy with Queen Camilla for a four-day state visit.
The Duke of Sussex is currently in London for an appeal regarding a High Court decision on whether he has the right to taxpayer-funded armed bodyguards.
In an interview recorded in February, Meghan called Herd ‘the kind of friend who just always seems to know the exact right thing to say when I need perspective’.
Herd also spoke about Meghan’s ‘brutalising’ time in the public eye, telling her: ‘I do think there is so much to be said for your ability to exist, even in the presence of that.
‘It takes a very strong cookie. When I was going through the media storm and being called this and that, and this and that, at Tinder, I didn’t leave my house for, like, a month and a half.’
Meghan told Herd about being ‘absolutely consumed with packaging boxes’, adding: ‘That’s all I could think about. And I would sit there doing the unboxing in my head.’
And Herd said: ‘I think you have to really take a deep breath and say, ‘You know what, how big of a deal is this? If this is not going to be a defining issue in your business, your life, your family in five years, like, you’ll be fine.’
The Duchess of Sussex has launched a new podcast called ‘Confessions Of A Female Founder’
Meghan released four throwback photos of herself as a child on Instagram to launch the show
Meghan’s announcement on Instagram today to confirm her new podcast is now live
They also talked about how having children had change their perspectives on life, with Herd telling Meghan: ‘I think being a mother, as you know, nothing comes before that. Their well-being is our well-being. And so I think it forces you to prioritise in ways that, for me, I never did before.’
Meghan also explained how her daughter Princess Lilibet, three, would sometimes come into her office at their home in Montecito, California, following a nap.
She told Herd: ‘She knows where to find me, even if my door is closed to the office. She will be sitting there on my lap during one of these meetings with a grid of all the executives.
‘But also I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t want to miss those moments. I don’t want to miss pickup if I don’t have to. I don’t want to miss drop-off. I think what I do love the most about having young kids in this chapter while I’m building is the perspective that it brings.’
Herd also described Meghan as ‘such an amazing hostess’, adding: ‘When you go to your home, you’re, like, engulfed in love and coziness, just carry — you — through, and the rest writes itself.’
One of the four photos issued by Meghan on Instagram today to announce the new show
Meghan is pictured as a child with friends in one of the pictures to launch her new podcast
A photo of Meghan as a child which she released today to help confirm the new show’s release
The series is the latest in the former Suits actress’s flurry of output after her much-criticised Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan and her new brand As Ever.
Meghan also released a series of throwback photos, saying: ‘Being an entrepreneur can start young. (By the way, all these years later and I’m still selling cookies!)
‘Tune in for the premiere episode of ‘Confessions of a Female Founder’ featuring my dear friend, @whitney, now streaming wherever you get your podcasts! @lemonadamedia.’
The Duchess also told the New York Times in an email: ‘I hope ‘Confessions of a Female Founder’ reminds listeners they’re not alone. These are honest conversations with women who’ve built from the ground up, faced challenges and kept going.’
The newspaper reported that Meghan and Herd ‘discussed navigating media scrutiny, shaping a brand, spreading kindness, embracing self-love, prioritising family and finding strategies to tackle it all’.
Meghan speaks with Whitney Wolfe Herd, who founded the female-focused dating app Bumble
Lemonada Media co-founders Jessica Cordova Kramer (left) and Stephanie Wittels Wachs
Meghan’s Spotify contract ended in 2023 after one series of her first podcast Archetypes
A trailer for the show was released on March 25, with Meghan promising ‘girl talk’ and advice on how to create ‘billion-dollar businesses’.
Meghan told one guest to think of the experience as being in a ‘dolphin tank’ rather than a ‘shark tank’, asked another whether she is single now, talks about the ‘laser focus’ needed in business, and finished her voiceover with: ‘Let’s do this, ladies.’
The podcast will also follow the Duchess’s work on her As Ever brand which has now begun selling jam, herbal teas, flower sprinkles and ready-make crepe mix.
The new show is part of a deal signed in February last year with Lemonada Media, which follows her previous series Archetypes on Spotify in 2022.
That show about female stereotypes ran for just one series, and was part of the Sussexes’ previous £20million deal with Spotify, which ended the year after.
