Gwyneth Paltrow: The 15th Anniversary Special Episode

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1:12When you are pioneering anything or introducing new ideas to the culture, you get criticized. You do? Yeah. Did you hear about that? I didn't find the one. I found someone I respected and we made it the one. In a sort of longing kind of view of love, people understand each other as if by magic. Nothing in itself is addictive, on the one hand. And on the other hand, everything could be addictive if there's an emptiness in that person that needs to be filled. I now know that nobody changes until they change their energy. And when you change your energy, you change your life. I'm Gwyneth Paltrow.

1:48This is the Goop Podcast. bringing together thought leaders, culture changers, creatives, founders, and CEOs, scientists, doctors, healers, and seekers here to start conversations because simply asking questions and listening has the power to change the way we see the world. Here we go. Today's episode of the Goop podcast is extra special because we are celebrating our 15 year anniversary this week. So this time I'm answering questions from my close friends, colleagues, and mentors about building Goop, the past 15 years, and what I'm most looking forward to next. I should say this is the very first time I'm hearing these questions, so let's dive right in.

2:40This is Amy Griffin from G9 Ventures. I'm proud to have been a small part of the Goop journey from the beginning with GP. Congratulations on the anniversary of the business. You've come a long way from your newsletter in your London kitchen. And my question for you today is, what one piece of advice would you give to young entrepreneurs who are setting out on their journey at their kitchen counters? Amy Griffin, I could not love you more. Talk about a woman who is so unbelievably supportive of other women and female founders specifically. When I think about women launching businesses right now, I think about the importance of tenacity and self-belief.

3:30You know, women have a harder time, as we all know, when you look at the data raising capital. and so there's a tenacity that needs to be involved and a resilience and a self a self-belief that is um almost insane like you really need to just know with every cell in your body that what you are building needs to be launched in the world and you are not going to stop until you realize your vision. So I would say that and also make sure you are aggressive about finding amazing mentors, people you can have on speed dial to help answer questions whenever you may need them. Hi, GP. It's Wendy Loria.

4:22So I was previously the VP of brand partnerships at Goop and was reminiscing with friends recently about getting those first Goop email newsletters in our inbox and how we were so immediately obsessed with them. And I was wondering, what was the first Goop product that you fell in love with? I know we love all our children equally, but what was the first one that you were really obsessed with? so great to hear a question from wendy who is one of my favorite goop employees of all time such an amazing woman this is hard wendy because i i really do love creating product across all different categories and i get so excited and inspired by g label and then by a lip balm But I think the first product we made that I fell truly in love with was, I'm going to say, our first ever G-label suit, which was a tweed suit, a belted blazer, and these very cool culottes.

5:29and I still wear it. It's still in style. And it was just incredible to me as somebody who has loved fashion for as long as I have and loved the self-expression that can come from it. I could not believe that we had actually made something that I could pull on and zip into. And yeah, so I'm going to go with that. First G label. My name is Beatrice Dixon. I am the CEO and co-founder of the Honeypot Company. The question that I have is I'd love for her to share her concept of life. I think it's just one of the most beautiful concepts and it's one of the reasons why she takes such good care of herself and I'd love for her to share that with the people that are listening.

6:19That is a beautiful question from Beatrice, one of my closest friends. I think what I have learned about the best way for me to approach life is to be ruthlessly myself and really lean in to and accept all of the parts of myself because that's the way that I've healed and that's the way that I've become fully integrated and that's the way that I can love and adore all of the people in my life that make my life worth living. So I give very freely to myself emotionally, and I give very freely to the people that I love. And that makes my life feel very whole and complete. Hi, Gwyneth. There's a question that I would ask if we were sitting by a fireplace together with a glass of wine, just the two of us.

7:22More than any other business person I know of, your success has elicited, I would say, the most intense of reactions. On the one hand, you're seen as a pioneer, as someone who shines the light on processes, places, products that are well worth looking into, and that's your brand. On the other hand, I can almost see you smiling just listening to this. You have elicited outright ridicule and derision. You are mocked, dismissed, and marginalized as a thought leader and as a businesswoman. As someone who cares about you, How is this for you? What is this mashup of loyalty and respect on the one hand and dismissiveness and contempt on the other?

8:28How does it sit with you? How do you live with it? How do you think about it? How do you understand it? And how do you protect yourself from some of that negativity? So what's it like to be Gwyneth Paltrow? I guess is my question. Thanks. That is a great question from dear Terry. Okay. So I have had to fully embrace that I am a person in the culture that is the person that I am. So I have stopped questioning really. I mean, there was a period of time where I thought, you know, wow, people are really being so negative and willfully misunderstanding me. And they're building business models out of clickbait.

9:27You You know, as soon as they put my name in something, then people click on it. And I thought, why? Why? I wonder why. Like, I'm just trying to put good things into the world and be curious and open-minded. And I really had to stop asking why and realize, like, it just has nothing to do with me and my mission and what I'm doing. And that the important thing is always for me to stay true to who I am and close to my intentions. And then the rest of it sort of falls away. But there have been times where it's felt really, really hard and really hard on my nervous system specifically, because sometimes even when you know that something is, you know, bullshit or irrational, it's like your nervous system is still on some level bodying these, you know, this, this degree of energetic negativity.

10:24and, and it, and it can be hard. Um, I, I really just have faith that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. And I, I don't know, I think I've befriended myself to such a deep degree that these things don't really bother me. Like sometimes, you know, for a minute I can be like, oh, that was a mean comment or whatever. But very quickly, I reorient around the relationship I have with myself, which makes me feel very whole and very strong. And I feel like it's, it's me and me against the world. And, and so that gives me this very strong foundation. And then what also happens then when you're really close to yourself like that, like shame doesn't penetrate And those feelings like the kind of byproduct of those attacks don't really sink in because I don't hold those judgments against myself.

11:33So they don't really stick when other people hold those judgments against me either. I also have a practice of looking after myself. You know, I have a meditation practice. I have my exercise, my walking. and my relationships that keep me, I don't know, sort of processing through my life and in deep gratitude. And so I just try to kind of stay in the plane where I'm my whole self. But yeah, there are certain times when it's been intense. Thanks for caring, Terry. at goop we believe the spaces we spend time in shape how we feel and how we connect that's why we're drawn to convene a global hospitality brand reimagining work in meeting spaces centered around design and care convene's sophisticated purpose-built locations are designed to inspire connection whether it's a board meeting for 10 a team off-site or a workplace membership that gives you and your team a home base.

12:41With hospitality at its core, every detail is taken care of, so your in-person time feels seamless, elevated, and intentional. If you're looking for a new workspace or planning your next off-site or meeting, schedule a tour today at convene.com. And for our Goop listeners, mention Goop to receive up to$500 off your next meeting or event reservation rental fee. This promotion is valid for all new clients on select spaces, booked and actualized prior to December 30th, 2025, and subject to availability. Convene for the moments that move your business. Hi there, it's BJ Miller, and I'm a hospice and patent medicine doctor, and I know Gwyneth from 2019's Goop Health Extravaganza, where my dog Mazie and I got to hang out with Gwyneth on a stage.

13:35Gwyneth, how do you want to handle aging in this next phase of goop? I'm assuming you're getting older. I know I am, and many of us are, about 80 million baby boomers reaching retirement. It seems to me that we need to have a new kind of approach to aging besides just fighting it all the time. how might goop how might you address aging in such a way that it lends itself to accepting it more than fighting it great question from bj so i'm so glad to be aging and i'm so glad for all of the lessons and learnings that i've accumulated i think that's the outcome of that is what they call wisdom. And I love being on the other side of 50.

14:29I love having let go of the fear of what it's going to be like to age and not be seen in the same way and not be desirable and all that. I really am trying to reframe this for myself because Because in so many other cultures, older women are revered and, you know, people saddle up to them by the fire and want to hear about their life stories. And, you know, I think in our Western culture, we are we we we kind of put older women out to pasture. And I would like to be part of changing that. I see so many women who are already changing that. But I think it comes also with a softening into this idea that it is beautiful to age.

15:26It is okay to age. And that these chapters that we have as women, you know, one is more deep and lovely than the next. And not that they're without their challenges because they certainly are. But I think as we age, what I'm starting to feel is that there is a softness and a sweetness that happens in the back half of your life that is transcendent and wonderful. And so I want to kind of lean into that and be open-minded about getting old. And I'm excited for it. I'm excited to have grandchildren one day. I'm excited to downshift into a slower, more, I don't know, methodical life that's not so frantic.

16:23And I think that, you know, when I think about my father who died at 58, I just, I just am so grateful to be healthy at 51 and hope that, you know, I can, I can pursue the sort of strongest, healthiest version of aging without trying to erase myself in the process. Hi, GP. It's your favorite person on the planet. So obviously, you know who that is. It's Sarah Foster. Congratulations on 15 years. I remember when I got your first newsletter with salad dressings. And I, to this day, I still make it. I still revert to your newsletter. It's amazing what you built. We all look up to you. You're the person that just does it with elegance, grace, and all the things.

17:10But as someone who is also building a brand and I'm a couple years in, what is the one thing you could go back around that year two, year three mark where you go, okay, you know what? I would have maybe not done that. I would have done that differently. And then I also want to know what you do with all your G-label clothes that you don't wear, because I'd love to be on the list to get those. Oh, my Sarah Foster. So when I look back to two or three years in, so I'm going to go to sort of the two or three years after we first started to monetize the business. Because for five years, I was just sort of writing content and there was no monetization model.

17:50It was just kind of all heart and me putting content into the world. But once I started hiring people and operationalizing and building an actual business, I would say about two to three years into that time is when I really started to learn the importance of team and communication. You can only build a business as strong as the team around you. and it's really true that adage that some of the people who are there with you at the beginning who are amazing and just in it with you are not necessarily going to be always the right people through the whole trajectory of the business and clear loving and honest communication around those times, those transitions are really important.

18:45And if I could go back, I would work on having more awareness around team and, and I would work on more honest communication and less about hurting people's feelings. In the business world, people speak straight. And I think having come to this from being an artist and being an empath, it took me too long to figure that out. So hi, G. It is one of your besties and interior designer, Bridget. And so a little bit of a backstory, when you and I sat in a restaurant in London, you were sitting across from me and you said, I'm thinking of starting this blog and I want to give women some really helpful and wonderful, informative, great information.

19:49And my response to you was to pass the salt. And since then, that has become Goop, which is obviously important to so many of us. And we look to that for helpful information. So my question to you is when you have an idea and you're so inspired by something and so passionate about something, how do you move it forward and how do you keep it going in tough times and in wonderful times? This is a good question because really it's all about perseverance. There have been so many times I've thought I want to quit. Like, I just can't, I just cannot keep doing this. And, you know, if something hasn't worked or, you know, I've, I've failed at this, that, or the other, like there have been so many moments where I've just thought, I don't know if I can keep doing this over these past 15 years.

20:49But as weird as it sounds, I've always felt like there is this, this, the goop is kind of its own thing, like its own, it's here to do something. And it's not even really up to me, you know, like I felt it come through me so strongly the way that I hear, you know, songwriters talk about how a song will come through. Like I felt that with goop, like I felt it coming through so strongly and I kind of awkwardly put something into the world and then it evolved into something else. And there were all these little iterative processes. And, you know, sometimes I really feel like I'm just shepherding this thing that's its own entity.

21:39And I'm not entirely sure what it's here to do, but I believe so strongly in what we're doing at the same time. And I think it takes a deep commitment. And then a lot of energy just in terms of execution, because, as you know, it just it really never ends. You know, it never ends until it ends. And who knows when that's going to be.

22:18longer than that. And I say that because that's a lot of episodes with an incredible amount of wisdom shared. So Gwyneth, could you share which insight or tactic from the podcast has had the most significant impact on your daily life? Bill, you are a great man. Thank you for sitting in the room and listening to all my bullshit for all these five years. You know, I have so many incredible learning moments from doing the Goop podcast. I mean, Martha Beck's episode really stands out. I mean, there are just so many, but I do kind of go back to episode one where I interviewed Oprah Winfrey, who is the only person in the world who makes me starstruck.

23:07and I remember her talking about this idea of not holding on too tightly to something that you really want and this idea of wanting something and letting that energy kind of move through you but not having your ego be too attached to it and it's definitely something that has stayed with me many, many times. I hear her words in my ears at certain moments, and it's been very helpful. Hello there. It's Caitlin O'Malley. I'm the former food director at Goop. I worked for Gwyneth for a long time and worked on recipes and the cookbook and a bunch of stuff, but mostly I I remember just a big part of my job was nerding out about food with Wenath, which was really fun.

24:01We always had a really kindred sensibility about things and how excited we were about food and how important it was in our families and to our well-being. And it was just a great time. so I'm really excited to get a chance to ask this question because it is something I've thought about a lot over the years which is what would your next cookbook be and I know I've heard you say that you don't want to do another one they are a behemoth undertaking I remember that well from the clean plate but your books are all such essential texts for so many home cooks and And I really love how they evolved with you and sort of reflected where you were at in your life with your family.

24:50And I would love to know what would that be now? Is it hashtag boyfriend breakfasts or is it how to cook for a big blended family, different age groups and dietary preferences and how to do a big Sunday dinner for that whole beautiful crowd? Just a thought experiment. No pressure. I'm sure everyone would love that book, though, whatever it is. Oh, my God, Caitlin, I love you so much. This is a really good question. I, yes, a cookbook is a big undertaking, and I don't feel like I have the time to do it right now. Maybe I'll do it if you come back, Caitlin. Come back and work here again, and then I'll do one with you.

25:36But I would think that boyfriend breakfast would kind of definitely be a chapter at least. You know, the way that that evolved was so funny. It was just me kind of wanting to look after my boyfriend Brad at the time. He was my boyfriend at the time. And just kind of do that expression of care every week. and it was just breakfast, but it turned into something really special that, you know, has carried on for years and years at this point. And it's gotten a little trickier since we've gone paleo. Cause I used to make all kinds of things with flour and butter and cheese, and then we had to clean up our act a bit.

26:19And so I don't know, I think that could be a chapter. I think, I think, um, you know, continuing to eat with gut health in mind, like developing recipes around that. I think just because it's helped me so much to heal my gut, I didn't realize how many issues I had with my gut and how, what the kind of knock on effect of them were. And I think, yeah, there's a cool thing there around a blended family and these big dinners. I don't know. Caitlin, why don't you come back to work and then we'll discuss it and make a book together. Hey, GP. It's Mary with The Collective. When you started your business, what was your strategy for balancing motherhood when you were choosing to spend your time as a mother versus pursuing your own interests as a businesswoman?

27:16And like you, I'm considering transitioning out of my career into another, but I find it very difficult to find the right balance for my boys. They're still young. And I start feeling guilty trying to chase a new dream. How do you decide what the right balance is for you? Mary, I think you said it. Everybody has their own true scale. scale and I think we get in trouble and we hurt ourselves when we put a lot of shoulds on one side of the scale. Every woman should feel free to pursue a passion, a career, and also be able to be fully a mother. Obviously we can't be two places at once and there are compromises to be made always.

28:11I think for women, you know, working mothers in a way that, you know, is specific to us. But this idea that if we're not in the right place, we're bad, we're wrong, we're hurting somebody, or we're not doing a good job at work. If we're leaving early to go to a soccer game, I think we need to reimagine a little bit. You know, it's like, I think we keep sort of dragging this idea from the 1980s, you know, what a man's idea of work and kind of trying to approximate that. Like we are modern women with multidisciplinary interests and focuses, and we should free ourselves up to explore those things and to be able to index in and out of the things that capture our hearts in those moments.

29:11And sometimes that's sitting on the floor with your kid playing Legos. And sometimes it's, you know, pursuing whatever it is that you want to pursue at work or in art. I think we hurt ourselves, like we actually hurt ourselves when we think about a specific way that we have to be either a mother or a non-working mother or a working mother, we're carrying an old framework along with us where from within it, we're punishing ourselves for never being enough anywhere. And I think we just kind of need to tear that framework down and be gentle with ourselves and also stay tuned in, you know, like stay tuned into our kids.

30:00I remember when my kids were younger, sort of trying to feel out like, hey, are they, are they cool with me? Like not being a pickup and, and yeah, I think they were because, you know, when I was home, I tried to be super present, but I had a job to do as well. And the punishing of myself was just not productive at all. And I think then the kids can feel your guilt and shame around it. And then maybe they start to think there's something wrong with it at that point, because we think there's something wrong with it. So be free, Mary, change your career, do your thing. I think, you know, we're here one time, you have to follow your dreams.

30:48Hi, it's Jen Hyman, the CEO and co-founder of Rent the Runway, where Gwyneth serves on the board. My question for Gwyneth is, what have you learned from your time on the boards of Rent the Runway and other companies, and even being an advisor to other companies that you take into how you run Goop? Great question from a great CEO, Jen Hyman. I've learned so much from being on the board of Rent the Runway, I was very lucky that Jen asked me to join before they ran the process of going public. And I knew absolutely nothing about what it took to become a public company. I had a front row seat to the whole process, which was very eye-opening and daunting and convinced me that I never want to go public.

31:38I learned through that process how the founder's vision is so important in terms of future growth of the company and people's confidence in the company. And I learned so much from it all the time. I mean, Rent the Runway is an incredibly operationally complex business. And I have learned so much about the evolution of a business model during, you know, COVID and beyond and learned so much about agility and just how quick thinking Jen Hyman is and how solution oriented she is. And it's been very inspiring to be on that board. And on the other boards, yeah. And the companies that I advise, I just, I love being around and learning from other founders and watching how they attack different problems.

32:47And there are so many different kinds of founders. That's the other thing I've learned. I mean, I sit on the board of Wonder Food Company and Mark Laurie is the founder and CEO of that business. And he is one of the most ambitious, big picture thinkers who then is driving execution and operational excellence in a way that is just mind boggling. and then I am on the board of an amazing wellness company called Equity which is a gorgeous iced tea line with adaptogens and watching the founder Quentin build this company which is small right now and I believe going to be a big beverage company watching again like the open-mindedness, the ability to learn, to absorb, and to be, I mean, Quentin has taught me more about authenticity, I think, than any other founder that I work with.

33:50Hi, it's Maria Shriver. Gwyneth and I have known each other for many years. And if I had one question to ask Gwyneth, it would be hard to only make it one question. But I think I would want to know who do you want to be when you turn 80 or 85? What's the vision you have for yourself at that age? What do you look like? Who's at your table? Who's around you? What will you be looking forward to? When you look back, what are you most proud of? Oh, I love Maria Shriver, by the way. She is a national treasure of wisdom and kindness. When I'm 80 or 85, I hope to be healthy. I hope to have my mind intact.

34:41I hope that my muscles and bones haven't receded to the point that I'm scared to be physical. I see myself in our house in Santa Barbara surrounded by all of our kids and grandkids a sort of easy coming and going of everybody I would like our house to feel like a safe place for people to return to and I also hope that I'm still engaged in life I hope I'm still going to museums. I hope I'm still traveling. I hope I'm still walking a lot. And I hope I'm able to look back, having fully forgiven myself for anything that might still be bothering me slightly, and truly understand how beautiful it is to be flawed and human, and that all of the ups and downs that I had lived for those 85 years have led me to be the optimistic, sharp-minded old woman that I am.