On my first time covering Cannes, I realized that self-esteem also means being heard and that the attention economy only matters when we feel fully seen.
By Fernanda Paiva
It happened at the end of the talk. The question seemed simple:
“Reese, you talk a lot about joy. What does joy mean to you?”
She smiled, took a deep breath, and responded with something that hit me like a handwritten note:
“Joy is feeling free to speak in your own words. It’s knowing that what you say matters. That someone is listening because it’s you who’s speaking.”
That line kept echoing in me.
Maybe because I, too, have been silenced.
Maybe because, as a woman and a communicator, I’ve learned that our value is often measured not by what we think, but by what we represent.
And it was precisely about that which Reese returned to speak.
She shared how, early in her Hollywood career, she was offered roles that gave her nothing meaningful to say. Her lines were decorative.
That’s why she created her book club to make space for other women who, like her, had something to say.
That decision changed everything.
Today, Reese is the founder of brands and projects co-created by and for women like Sunnie, a beauty line she launched right here in Cannes.
All of it rooted in the same purpose: creating space for women to speak with authenticity and depth.
It touched me deeply, especially because I’m here in Cannes for the first time, covering the festival as a representative of Flint, a startup working in the Creator Economy. And we talk a lot about the attention economy.
But in this place full of noise brands, timelines, slogans, notifications hearing someone say that happiness is being heard made me rethink what we’re really trading when we create content.
Because yes, we’re talking about self-esteem, about authority
But we’re also talking about belonging and recognition.
About the courage it takes to say something in your own voice and be met with a response:
“I hear you.”
Reese reminded me that attention is a scarce resource.
And that being heard, being seen, having space to share your ideas with someone who truly cares
that might just be the truest form of joy.
“Joy is being heard. Joy is being seen. Joy is being yourself.”
Reese Witherspoon taught me that.
And I’ll never forget it.
