Gwyneth Paltrow Once Shared That Her Celebrity Status Hurt Goop
Gwyneth Paltrow’s A-list star status has certainly been beneficial for her company Goop. Her fame and fortune were what helped fund her lifestyle brand. But according to Paltrow, her star power could also serve as a hindrance to the company’s progress.
Gwyneth Paltrow felt her celebrity status would make it hard for Goop to stand on its own
Paltrow fell into her new gig as an entrepreneuer after discovering she was really good at giving lifestyle advice. Eventually, Paltrow figured her advice didn’t have to be limited to her inner circle. With the right approach, she could help guide other women to make healthier choices that improved their lives in a variety of ways. Goop seemed like a good way to reach a broader audience.
“I go on tour with my husband and go to cities I would never necessarily go to. So I started accruing all of this information. I am the person my friends call when they want to know: ‘I am redoing this bathroom, and I want a sink that looks midcentury, but a contemporary version of a midcentury. Where should I go?’ or ‘How do I make your [recipes]?’ … I thought this would be a fun, creative way to share with friends,” she once told USA Today.
But at the time, she couldn’t have expected Goop would become the global phenomenon it evolved into.
“I never really knew where I wanted it to go when I was starting it. I just thought if I could affect one woman’s life positively who was trying to do all the things I was doing, and I had one solution that worked for me that might work for her, it was worth it to try and share it,” she added.
Judging by its success, Paltrow has affected more than just a few women’s lives for the better. Goop is currently worth $250 million according to Women’s Health. Its fortune seems to have even supplemented her earnings as an actor, which isn’t as high as it used to be. And although Paltrow’s success has played a major part in the company’s popularity, the Se7en star worried her fame could hurt its growth. She hoped Goop would be able to stand on its own name instead of Paltrow’s, and that the brand would grow bigger than her. She acknowledged, however, that this wouldn’t have been an easy feat.
“It makes it much more difficult. For the business I’m creating, it’s an obstacle I always have to overcome,” Paltrow once told The Hollywood Reporter. “For example, Reese [Witherspoon], who is a dear friend, has this quickly growing Draper James [clothing] business, and she leverages her celebrity in a great way for her brand. But for this model — where I’m trying to make Goop bigger than me and its own brand — you become inextricably linked. I’m a target in a way most entrepreneurs are not.”
Gwyneth Paltrow can do what other entrepreneuers couldn’t thanks to her celebrity
At the same time, Paltrow’s celebrity has allowed her to initiate contact with other business moguls who her competition might not be able to access.
“But it’s also a blessing when we need to leverage my celebrity — it opens doors,” she said. “I don’t know many young entrepreneurs who can call [Disney CEO] Bob Iger, [Facebook COO] Sheryl Sandberg or [Airbnb founder] Brian Chesky, and they are kind enough to waste a little bit of their day to help me. So in that respect, my celebrity has been a huge asset.”
Additionally, there was some interesting overlap she found between being an actor and an entrepreneur that helped realize her Goop dreams.her
“When you are an actress on a set, an unspoken component of your role is an energetic one to maintain balance and communication, which is a very feminine impulse. For me, when I’m on set, I try to make sure the energy is clean and people can communicate in a safe space, and that’s what I bring to my leadership here at Goop, too,” she said.
