Gwyneth Paltrow: The Woman Behind the Goop Empire

Gwyneth Paltrow, the acclaimed actress and founder of Goop, sat comfortably in her Amagansett, New York home, reflecting on her journey. She pondered, “I think no one really believes I run my company.”

Paltrow, now 51, has been the face of Goop for over a decade. Yet, she believes that many perceive her as merely a figurehead, rather than the driving force behind the brand. “I run the company, definitely, but I’ve never been the kind of person to try to correct a mistaken opinion or idea from the public. I think it’s a pretty fruitless exercise,” she remarked, waving her hand dismissively.

The Genesis of Goop

In October, Goop will celebrate its 15th anniversary, a milestone that fills Paltrow with nostalgia. She reminisced about the early days when Goop was just a newsletter she wrote from her London home, where she lived with her two children, Apple and Moses, and her first husband, Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay.

“I had a very small, quiet life in North London with my mom, my mom friends, and was married to a rock star, which had its own complications,” she recalled. “If your husband is a touring musician, you’re home alone a lot. So I lived in a little bubble with my kids, and of course, I didn’t want to travel or work or be on a set.”

Despite her success and fame, it had been about a decade since she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in “Shakespeare in Love.” In a moment of curiosity, she dashed off to fetch her 1998 Oscar statuette from another room.

Paltrow’s Amagansett home exudes luxury and security, with a guard dog, a house manager, and a security camera room. The interior is adorned with neutral cream tones, and the guest bathroom boasts Aesop hand soap and a digital scale. Outside, well-maintained gardens surround the property, and there’s even a bathtub filled with sandals.

Initially, Goop started as a platform for Paltrow’s recommendations. She reveled in offering solutions to people’s queries, saying, “I always felt a great excitement in saying, ‘I have the answer to your question. There’s a great reflexology center just around the corner.

Today, Goop is a sprawling empire with approximately 170 employees, according to Paltrow’s estimates. It encompasses various facets of wellness, including a newsletter, a highly popular podcast with over 100 million downloads, a beauty product line called Goop Beauty, and a clothing line known as G. Label by Goop, offering soft fabrics in neutral tones. Additionally, Goop Wellness sells vitamins and sexual accessories. The brand has also expanded into television with two Netflix programs, operates five physical stores, and runs a takeout chain in Southern California called Goop Kitchen. Moreover, it hosts In Goop Health, a wellness conference franchise, and even ventured into the world of cruising, as featured in a Harper’s Magazine cover story.

As part of its 15th-anniversary celebrations, Goop is launching a range of exclusive products and services. These include a two-bedroom Goop villa at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, filled with Goop products and adorned with Goop x Fromental wallpaper. For those with a penchant for luxury, there’s a limited edition Lobmeyr crystal vessel, a collaboration with FoundRae jewelers, retailing at $2,500. The Goopglow Microderm Instant Glow exfoliant is also getting a special commemorative packaging.

Goop’s daring branding and unconventional products have made waves, with phrases like “Goop is an irreplaceable provocative brand for the wellness cause” gracing its press releases. However, its impact beyond its loyal customer base remains a subject of debate. The brand’s audacious candle names, such as “This Smells Like My Vagina” and “This Smells Like My Orgasm,” have certainly raised eyebrows. Goop also popularized the term “conscious uncoupling” with its 2014 post about Paltrow’s divorce from Chris Martin.

Paltrow has been no stranger to controversy herself. Earlier this year, she faced criticism for discussing her intermittent fasting and dietary choices. She chuckled as she recalled the incident, saying, “The bone broth thing? Oh my God. Did I know about it? Apple told me, ‘Mom, you’re on TikTok.'” She asserted that she enjoys a varied diet and even humorously declared, “By the way, I think a European croissant is a superfood.”

Though Paltrow has been absent from the silver screen for several years, her influence endures. Lauren Sherman of Puck News remarked that she “can convince you to buy anything.” Paltrow’s clothing, predominantly from Goop’s G. Label, made headlines when she wore it during a trial in March, where she was not found at fault for a skiing accident at Utah’s Deer Valley Resort involving a retired optometrist named Terry Sanderson. Viewers took note of everything she wore, inadvertently turning her into a fashion influencer.

Reflecting on this unexpected turn of events, Paltrow mused, “I was just getting dressed and living a pretty intense experience every day. The opinions generated by my clothing were very strange to me. It was all pretty strange. I don’t even know if I’ve processed it. Sometimes in my life, it takes me a long time to look back, process something, and understand it.”

Paltrow’s online presence extends beyond fashion; she has also posted sponsored content about a posture corrector and publicly supported Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, a wealthy real estate developer. She described her mindset, saying, “I think I have an open mind toward everyone. I love hearing what people have to say.”

However, she noted that Caruso’s views had evolved in a way she found delicate, indicating that her stance might not be entirely aligned with his.

As an entrepreneur, Paltrow now wields a different kind of power, one she finds more liberating compared to her acting days. She reflected, “I’ve thought about it in terms of my lived experience as an actress, who was told to be here at this moment, wear that, stand there, and do it again. So on a movie set, you never feel like you have power. It was difficult for me to do what I was told, but I also had no desire to be a director or be behind the scenes in that industry. I feel like I was always stretching its limits a bit.”

Her friend Brit Morin, founder of the e-commerce site Brit + Co, emphasized the unique impact Paltrow has made through Goop. “Although the profit and loss rate of movies and startups is similar, the difference is that there are huge returns on venture capital in startups,” Morin explained. “You can get a return on investment 1000 times higher, and the box office has never seen anything like it. Entertaining is a short-term way to influence someone. She has created products that people have in their homes, that they put on their faces, that they wear and eat.”

Despite its success, Goop has kept certain financial details under wraps, declining to disclose profit or revenue figures to The Times.

Paltrow took over as CEO of Goop in 2017, a role that presented its own set of challenges. She admitted, “In terms of learning the lessons of how to be a leader, it took me a long time because I was learning on the job, especially in managing staff. If you don’t develop a corporate culture, it’s very difficult to understand how to manage people and how to set good boundaries.”

While she didn’t cite specific incidents, the departure of former Goop employee Elise Loehnen in 2020 drew attention. Loehnen went on to write the New York Times bestseller “On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good.”

In a subsequent interview with The Times, Loehnen expressed her shift away from the self-optimization ideology prevalent in the wellness world, citing a desire for more control and certainty.

Goop’s long-term growth strategy remains uncertain, with options including acquisition or going public. Investors like Tony Florence of New Enterprise Associates and Dana Settle of Greycroft have expressed their support, but Paltrow remains cautious. She reflected on the financial journey, saying, “The weight of accepting money, I probably took that responsibility too seriously. It was difficult to be the person who was trying to grow while at the same time being very conservative with the company’s financing. I was kicking the horse and pulling the reins at the same time. But now, when I look back, I’m very grateful that the company took its time to evolve into what it is and that we didn’t have this crazy meteoric rise.”

Goop’s cosmetic brands, constituting 60% of its sales, face fierce competition in a crowded market filled with celebrity-endorsed products. Paltrow acknowledged this reality, stating, “There are so many brands now that are like ours. I’m comfortable with that. Competition keeps us all honest.” In 2018, Goop settled a deceptive advertising lawsuit brought by California district attorneys.

Even her former fiancé, Brad Pitt, ventured into the skincare business with his brand, Le Domaine Skincare. Paltrow, ever diplomatic, received and appreciated his products, remarking, “They’re good. Yes, it’s a beautiful brand.”

As for the possibility of a tell-all autobiography, Paltrow remained coy. She stated, “I don’t want to devote too many chapters to the love affairs and expose people like that, so I don’t know. Don’t make me take the truth serum.”

Looking ahead, Paltrow envisions a future beyond Goop, expressing a desire to fully embrace her “wise old lady years.” She longs to spend time cooking, tending to her garden, and relishing the role of a grandmother. She concluded, “The future will reveal itself to me.”

But there’s one promise she won’t forget: “Well, I did promise my mom—actress Blythe Danner—that I would do a play when I sold the company.” The details, whether with Danner or solo, on Broadway or in a monologue, remain to be seen.