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Celebrate International Day of the Girl with Rebel Girls!

Posted by Sophie Butler on Oct 10, 2022

Celebrate International Day of the Girl with Rebel Girls!

Happy International Day of the Girl! It's on this day that we get to appreciate all the special girls in our lives that lighten up our world. So what is International Day of the Girl?

International Day of the Girl is an internationally recognized observance on October 11 that empowers girls and amplifies their voices. It acknowledges the potential and power that adolescent girls have to directly impact the future and spark positive change in the world. It encourages the importance of opening opportunities for girls and amplifying their voices young. It is also designed to eliminate gender-based challenges around the world. Celebrating this day internationally shines a light on underprivileged girls and demands the need for equality of rights, education, and health. 

We got a chance to speak to Jes Wolfe, the CEO of Rebel Girls on how they are celebrating and empowering girls on this day and all year round. 

Check out our interview with Jes Wolfe below!

Tell us a little bit about who Rebel Girls is, your mission, and what kind of books you publish.

Rebel Girls is a global empowerment brand whose purpose is to help raise the most confident and inspired generation of girls. Storytelling is our superpower, and we do that through our books, audio content, merchandise and events. In terms of our publishing, our key demo is 6-12 girls and their families. Our content is designed to be multi-generational with 60% parent and child co-reading together.


Why was Rebel Girls started?

Rebel Girls was started because of an extreme lack of representation in children’s literature. Less than ⅓ of books have female characters and only 19% of children’s books have female characters with agency. Rebel Girls books were meant to fill this gap by showcasing hundreds of amazing real life women and girls who have contributed to making their communities and the world a better place. The aim was to offer a much more diverse and empowering story to that of the traditional fairy tale - instead of the helpless princess, Rebel Girls books showcase true agency.

8 out of 10 girls say they want to feel more confident. By the age of 6, girls begin to believe that they are less smart and less capable than boys. Only one-third of all children’s media has female characters as the lead. And in children’s literature, there are 2.5X for animal/other main characters than Black main characters.


What are some of Rebel Girl’s bestsellers and how do you see your customers using your books?

Our Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and its follow up are both New York Times bestsellers. At any given time, we have bestsellers on lists around the world including our own published content as well as our localized editions. Customers use these books often at bedtime - they are used by families to help their children unwind and to inspire their dreams (both literally and figuratively).

Our books are also used more and more frequently in schools - to educate children in a captivating way about amazing women in history - be that scientists, explorers, activists, artists, etc. We also see girls creating their own Rebel Girls books clubs to discuss our stories and do our activities. We are hearing from museums, libraries and other organizations who are developing programs and events around our books and themes, many of whom reach out for support and additional curriculum ideas.

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls

What have you learned since being the CEO of Rebel Girls?

So much! I became the CEO of Rebel Girls in April of 2020 - just as everything was shutting down around the world. In the last 2.5 years, we’ve all gone through a global pandemic - which has added so many challenges from health and safety to supply chain nightmares to a global paper shortage to changes in online and retail marketplaces. There have been a number of covid, geopolitical, and social issues that present challenges, changes, and movements adding new complexities to running a business - in addition to the myriad of challenges of running a startup.

A key learning for me is the absolute importance of being nimble. Being able to adapt is mission critical. And not just being able to adapt, but having an intentional mindset that embraces change and doesn’t get too hung up about setbacks. I’ve learned to treat challenges as opportunities - and to get excited about changes - even if they were unexpected and not the course I had originally set my sights on. I’ve learned to think creatively about all aspects of my business and all aspects about people and relationships and storytelling. I’ve learned to not box myself into thinking “X must happen” or “we must do Y” or “we absolutely cannot do Z” and to get comfortable with multiple scenarios and outcomes (and even to plan for them).


Do you have any stories from your customers that stick out to you?

There are so many! Here are a couple recent stories that I’m particularly close to that show the power of our stories and community:

  • We published Rebel Girls Awesome Entrepreneurs in May - in addition to the 25 stories of women who started businesses, the book included robust back matter with a step-by-step guide for girls to start their own businesses. We have been hearing so much positive feedback about this title and the activities. One especially touching story was of a 10-year-old girl that had been quite anxious throughout covid - she was leading a reclusive life. She was so inspired by the stories in the book that she went about starting her own string bracelet business (via the prompts in the back matter). This built her confidence and so she built a webpage to support her new business. This in turn built more confidence and so she started to go outside more and even joined a sports team.
  • Earlier this year, we hosted a merchandise product launch for a ski and snowboard collaboration in Lake Tahoe. Of course the skis and snowboards were a huge hit. The event essentially turned into a book signing with our co-founder. Girls came up to us gushing that they had “grown up with Rebel Girls” and please could they have their books signed. To me, this event is the power of our community and their connection to our storytelling. It's a beautiful and precious relationship.

What do you think makes a successful publishing company? How has your team found success?

First and foremost - telling important stories in an engaging and captivating way! If the audience doesn’t enjoy the content - nothing else matters.

Second - really understanding one’s audience - from a research perspective, interviews, focus groups, surveys, third party data, analyzing one’s own data, etc. And letting data and customer voice guide decision making.

Third - being forward looking - having a view on the future, and what topics will resonate. Being innovative on titles, approaches, channels, all of it. Creativity is key both in terms of the content produced, but also the business model, the marketing, the partnerships, and embracing experimentation.


Tell us a little about your new release “Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Inspiring Young Changemakers”.

This is our fifth volume in the Good Night Stories series. While each book is a standalone, this book in particular is different as it focuses solely on contemporary women - all under the age of 30, many under the age of 21 - who are changing the world today. It is meant to give girls the most relatable slate of role models, ever.

Further, the creators, writers, illustrators of the book, are all between the ages of 11-30. We worked with 96 women and girls from more than 40 countries to create this book - and it is meant to be by girls and for girls (and about inspirational girls!). We also created some incredible audio content to compliment this book - select story pages include QR codes that unlock a 10-20 minute audio story about the woman. The audio stories include original sound and music and are in the format of our award winning podcast series.

Rebel Girl Images

“Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Inspiring Young Changemakers” focuses on powerful figures that are making a difference today compared to your other titles that feature figures from the past. How has this publication and others reflected how rebel girls is changing as a publisher?

We are evolving as a publisher and as a brand in a couple important ways. From a storytelling perspective we started out very much focusing on ‘stories of the past’ - giving credence to women who have laid the foundation for so much of what we enjoy today. We are now entering a phase where we are focusing very much on the ‘stories of today’ - the next generation of girls who have taken the torch and are moving us forward as a society. In the future, you will see Rebel Girls also helping to tell the ‘stories of tomorrow’ - for Generation Alpha girls - we want to help them to tell and celebrate their own stories.

As a brand we are also evolving. Our first five years were focused on ‘how do we inspire girls’. We now want to not only inspire, but to also activate girls - how can we help girls achieve more confidence and become the star of her own story (and the hero of tomorrow). We’re also in the very beginning stages of connecting girls - and you’ll see a lot more activation and connection from us as a brand in the future. We want girls to be their best selves - and to feel community and belonging with others - an entire generation of self-identified Rebel Girls!


What are your hopes and goals for the future of Rebel Girls?

We’ve set a goal to reach 50 million girls by the end of 2025. Currently, we’ve reached 23 million - so we are well on our way. Our community of self-idetified Rebel Girls each feel they have a unique superpower and the confidence to pursue their dreams. From a storytelling perspective, I’d like us to continue to create amazing content - and to expand the Rebel Girls universe into more formats, titles, and mediums. From a brand perspective, I’d like for Rebel Girls to be an integral part of girls’ lives and a big part of revolutionizing girlhood. That we are the brand who authentically speaks to generation alpha girls and is a critical part of their identity.


How can people learn more about Rebel Girls?

You can go to our website at rebelgirls.com. Or follow on social media

  • Twitter and TikTok: rebelgirlsbook
  • Facebook and Instagram: rebelgirls
  • LinkedIn: Rebel Girls

Or listed to the Rebel Girls Podcast, available on all podcast listening platforms.


We loved talking to Jes Wolfe, the CEO of Rebel Girls, and seeing Rebel Girls is working hard to continue to empower and inspire the next generation of girls. You can find Rebel Girl's titles on our website now at discounted, wholesale pricing. Whether you are looking for your very own Rebel Girl Journal or a book sharing tales of extraordinary women, Rebel Girls has tons of titles that will help you impact the girls in your like so they can grow up to be empowered women. And make sure to check out Rebel Girl's newest title "Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Inspiring Young Changemakers"


Rebel Girl Titles