Gwyneth Paltrow, CEO and founder
of Goop. And Kristin Lemkau, Chief Marketing Officer,
at JPMorgan Chase. ♪ I do my hair toss, ♪ ♪ Check my nails, ♪ ♪ Baby how you feelin' ♪ ♪ Hair toss, ♪ ♪ Check my nails, ♪ ♪ Baby how you feelin'. ♪ Gwyneth: Oh, my shoe came off. ♪ Baby how you feelin’. ♪♪ All right, one more time,
can I get a big Women on the Move welcome
for Gwyneth Paltrow? [audience screams and applauds] - Good afternoon! - So, she doesn't need
a big intro, but I'm going to just try. So she's, as everybody probably
knows, Oscar winner, bestselling author,
mother of two teenagers, recently just got married, and more than a decade ago, when she was at the peak
of her career, she took a turn, and potentially
accidentally, started her own company,
which is now Goop, a full lifestyle brand that The
New York Times has estimated is worth $250 million. [audience screams and applauds,
Gwyneth laughs] And by the way, she can also
cook and sing. [audience laughs] She founded Goop from her
kitchen table back in 2008, and it started out as an email,
that became a newsletter. And it's now a lifestyle brand,
it's an e-commerce brand, it has physical retail stores,
it has a wellness summit, and now you have your own
proprietary products around skincare, self-care,
fragrance, clothing, just about everything. [Gwyneth laughs] And having to got to know you
a little bit, you're also sort of
surprisingly normal. [audience and Gwyneth laugh] And fun. But, I wanna, I guess,
go back a bit, to the beginning with Goop,
where you were kind of just putting out an email. And a lot of it, I think, was
from research that you'd done when you were on films,
and you'd ask the crew where they like to go
shop or eat. Did you have any idea that this
was gonna be a thing? - Not really.
- Kristin: But kinda. I mean, to be totally honest,
I was sort of having an early midlife crisis, and I had this
career that was amazing, and it was taking me all over
the world, and I think looked, from the
outside, super desirable. And I had a little bit of
a crisis because I felt like I'm not really doing what
I wanna be doing. And so it took quite a lot of--
I mean I was so trepidatious about even saying out loud like, "I would love to somehow do
something "in the internet space." And, you know, my passions
really were food, and travel, and wellness, and discovering
cool shit and connecting people
to interesting things and-- Sorry, I curse sometimes, and it
happens without me realizing it, so I apologize in advance. -You're forgiven.
-It might happen again. [audience laughs] And I thought, “My god, I have
no authority to do this, "I have no-- I didn't go to
business school,” so I just started very,
very gently with a little bit of content. But yeah, I definitely secretly
harbored this hope that I could someday create
a business. At what point did you know
it was really a thing? That this wasn't just a hobby,
this was gonna become a real company,
with real investors, and ultimately what it became? I think that we started to get
feedback from businesses that we were talking about
on Goop. That really quantifiable
feedback that we were amplifying
their businesses. There's this one small
female-founded business that she was like, "I did
my whole quarter in one day "after I was on Goop." And so I thought, “My gosh,
there's something here, "I think it's potentially bigger
than what I'm expecting. "But how will I go about
monetizing it?” And it was like the days
of the flash sale, and the shoe subscription box, and I didn't necessarily want
to build a media business. So, it took me a long time
to think my way through it, and to sort of even give
myself permission to think my way through it. What's interesting, we've talked
a lot today about the need to empower yourselves,
empower each other. And what's interesting is Goop
is really ahead of the curve around self-care, and women
realizing it was time to take care of ourselves,
and not just take care of everybody else. You were really at the forefront
of that. And now mindfulness and organic
eating and all of these things are sort of mainstream. But did you do this
intentionally? Did you know you were ahead
of the curve? Or how did you get this insight that self-care was gonna become
a thing? I just felt a need for it,
myself. I saw it in my friends, I saw,
you know, this incredible over-
responsibility that women felt. And I also thought it was really
interesting sociologically what was happening. It was like we were coming into
a time as women where we were delicately starting to give ourselves
permission to be more than one thing. And we were saying like, "No,
we can be really intelligent, "and have careers,
and be maternal, "and be sexual, and be fun. "We don't have to be one
archetype that the culture, "up and to this point, has cast
us in." And I think that's beautiful,
but at the same time I do think we felt, “Okay how are we gonna
be all these things, "and we have to be all these
things to all these people.” And I felt like what I was
seeing was from this over-responsibility, was on
the one hand a kind of freedom, and on the other hand
a total exhaustion. And also that, particularly
women, weren't being met with the kind of attention or
specificity around their health when they were going--
when they were seeking their regular M.D.’s. So people were like, “Well if I
try yoga, might I feel better? "Or if I try speaking really
straight to my husband "about what I need, will I feel
better? "Or if I try walking to work...” It was like people were--
I could feel, even for myself, I could feel that women were
ready to have autonomy over their lives. - Do you feel like they needed
permission to? - I think that one of the things
I feel proud about Goop, and where we've come, is that we
started having these more difficult
conversations. And what that did was sometimes
it was shocking, but what we were able to do
was really start to help people eliminate shame around
asking the questions. I think that that's something
we're very committed to. We're committed to having
a place where we can talk about things that might be
difficult to think about or even hear about. - Talk a little bit about
your business model, because it's an interesting mix
of e-commerce, both recommended products and
your own products, content, and a lot of people have
struggled making content a real business model. And when a lot of people
are getting out of retail or closing retail stores,
you're opening them. But you've got an interesting
mix of pop-up and permanent stores, and
experiences, and is this the new way to build
a lifestyle brand? And did you fumble your way
into it, or you just, "Yeah!" Instinctively knew what your
readers would want? - I pretty much-- I pretty much
fumbled my way into it. [Gwyneth laughs] And it was very organic how
it all unfolded. We started-- the first business
model was partnerships, very gently. We always had strong values
around aligning with partners that we felt true alignment
with. And then a little bit of
e-commerce, multi-brand collaborations, then our own,
and then the retail. And I think, I do think
it's important these days to have a really omni-channel
way to touch consumers, and to bring meaning
into their lives, and to really bring
something to their lives. I think the days of opening
a retail store and expecting people to come in
might be waning. But if you're trying to bring
something, if you're trying to add value
to their lives through those experiences,
or help them complete the loop of the digital experience
in real life I think it's meaningful
to people, especially if they really
connect with you and your values, and what
you're trying to say. For us, it's worked pretty well
so far. - And how do you decide
your partners? 'Cause we did a partnership
with you, the Sapphire Card that was
super successful, where we did a Valentine's Day
partnership and we targeted it to men. If you wanted dummy-proof
Valentine's Day, you should follow
the Goop guide. [Gwyneth laughs] It was a wholly collaborative
experience. How do you decide which brands
are on-brand or off-brand? And do you reject people? Which is unusual in a time
where people are interested in advertising. - Yeah, we actually do reject
a lot of partners because it's really hard
to build a brand, and it's really easy
to wreck it. And I think our reader
and consumer has really high standards. I think that resonance with
our values is what makes them keep coming back to the brand. And so, we look for brands who
are trying to do something good in the world in one way
or another. - Including help men figure out
Valentine's Day? - Well that's very important.
- It is. [Kristen laughs] So we've talked a lot about
sisterhood. And you and I talked
about this before when people were coming up
in the business. I know when I was coming up
in this business, that wasn't a thing like it is
today. Have you experienced that? Are there women who've helped
you out? And how? And who are the women
you're helping out? - Yeah. You know it's funny,
when I was starting, I reached out to aggregate
a group of mentors. It was a little bit
disheartening that when I realized all of
the people that I wanted to talk to
who were expertees either in e-commerce or
performance marketing, who had founded businesses
that were scaling quickly and doing something really
disruptive, were all men. Which is great, we love men,
and men are great. [audience and Kristin laugh] But I felt like where
is the-- like, “Who can I call who's a woman?” I had some women in my life that
I did call, of course. But the people that
I was getting the most hardcore advice from
were men. That's why I think, when I got
to a certain point, I really opened up my phone
lines to women who are starting e-commerce
businesses, or contextual commerce
businesses, and I speak to a lot of women
now. I just want them to learn
from my mistakes. I made so many mistakes. When I look back, I cringe
at what it cost me in terms of time and money,
and I would love for other women to be able to avoid
those things. I think it's super important. Women, we're so smart,
and we care so much, and when we come together
to help each other, I think we are expotentially
more successful. Kristin: I'm giving you cheers
to that. [Gwyneth and audience clap] - It's true though. - So we have a number of our
clients, actually, who joined us, many of whom
are female founders. Is there one of those mistakes
or pieces of advice that you've passed on to the
women who you mentor now that you could share? - I would say maybe two things. I would say, first of all, do
not be afraid to ask questions and to appear ignorant. When I started, I had
so much shame around not knowing
certain things. And I would be in meetings,
and I would be googling like, "What is a SaaS Business?"
under the table. [Kristin laughs] Or like "What is the difference
between 'AOV and AUR?'" And like, "What? Oh yeah!" And then I was like,
“You know what? "This is ridiculous. "I don't know the answer,
I can't be expected "to know the answers,
I'm a first-time founder.” And I think when I gave myself
permission to feel vulnerable and work through that initial
embarrassment, I ended up learning so quickly. And I think I also garnered
respect from people who are like, “Wow, you're not
afraid to ask questions.” There's all this weird feeling
around us asking questions. And I really wanted-- I made
the decision to dispel that. I think that's really key. I also think, sometimes
as women, we're like, “Uh, this guy is gonna think I'm
an idiot if I don't know this.” So I think that's
the first thing. And then I think the second
thing is to just be ruthlessly true to yourself
and your word. Because, we've all been taught, maybe not some of the millennial
women and the Gen-Z women like my daughter, who's
certainly speaks her mind. -Yeah, mine too. - But I think our generation of
women, we were taught to be nice, and smooth things
over, and sublimate our feelings
around when we thought something didn't feel right. I just think it's critical to be
true to yourself and to say it. You can speak really straight
in a way that is kind, and not charged,
and not gonna piss somebody off. But I think it's critical,
especially when you're trying to create something and put
something into the world. I think it's a new way of
women operating in business. And that's what I try to embody
every day. - As far as women have come, still only 2% of venture capital
funding goes to female-founded firms. - Yup.
- And I've talked to a number of female founders and they have
horror stories from just out-right harassment,
to just more the micro-inequity of having to explain for 15
minutes why a woman would want to rent a dress or some other
type of business model that these guys couldn't
understand. Did you have those
same experiences as other female founders
when you went out to raise? Or was it different because
you were Gwyneth Paltrow? Or harder or easier? And what's the way out of this? Yeah, I mean can you imagine me
going into a room and explaining why a woman might need
a Yoni egg? [Kristin and the audience laugh] I'm kidding, I never did that. Yeah, I think that [laughs] [audience and Kristin laugh] The closed caption can't figure
out what you were saying. [Kristin and the audience laugh] They censored you. [laughs] - That might be better
for all of us. [Kristin and the audience laugh] No, I think that it was really
hard for me to raise money in the beginning. Not from women, I raised like
a seed round fairly easily 'cause people loved Goop, and
they saw it, and they believed in what I was doing. It's this amazing group of women
who gave me my seed funding. And then, in the Series A, it
was really, a lot of people took the meeting because
I was Gwyneth Paltrow, but then they would sort of
be like, "Oh, I love The Royal
Tenenbaums” and-- [Kristen laughs] “Can I have a selfie
for my wife?” And then they'd be like, “Yeah we're not gonna give you
any money.” I think at a certain point, when
your unit economics are great, and you’re doing much better,
it's easier. But I think that it's-- I see it
changing, but I also worry that certain VCs or certain
private equity firms are sort of doing it 'cause
it's the right thing to do, which sort of bothers me. But in the same way, I'm like, “Well, if women-- if that means
that women are getting "VC funding, then that's great.” But I think we just-- I think
we're on the cusp of seeing the change. I think the more that we
can create businesses that are successful, and we can
move the needle, the more the funding
will be there. But there is more resistance
than I expected. - One of my favorite quotes
from you, "My life is good because I am
not passive about it." And we talked a lot about the
need to sort of write your own story and create
your own change. What do you do to maintain
an active, or not passive life? What advice would you have
for people? I think that for me, it's been
critical to be very active around trying to become
a better person and optimize all aspects of my life. I really feel like we're here
one time, and it's my responsibility to be
the best mother I can, not pass on trans-generational
trauma by not addressing it
or talking about it. By not being conscious about how
to be a good leader, to take the best care of my body
as I can. And that's my choice, and I
don't judge anybody for not doing that. But I feel like, when I say
my life is good, it doesn't mean that I don't suffer, and I haven't
had heartbreak, and loss, and that I don't have incredible
challenge all the time. But I think, at a certain point,
I learned that how you relate to what's in front
of you is the issue. There's no issue, it's how
you're relating to it and that we all have the power
to relate to something in a way where we can actively change
it and transmute it. It can become a lesson, or it can become
a learning opportunity. So you know, it's probably due
to my personal damage but I just try really hard.
[laughs] I don't know. - Well, I find so much of it is a function of how you spend
your time. How you spend your time becomes
your output, and that's really hard to become
disciplined about, when you're trying to stay in
shape, and do a job, and be a mother. Do you have the same struggles
as everyone else? - Yeah, of course.
- Or do you have a system for being intentional
with your time? - I try to be really intentional
with my time. I wouldn't say I have a system, 'cause life throws so many
monkey wrenches in all the time. But I do try and be very
structured about my day. I have-- I get up early, I have
reading time in the morning, then I have breakfast time,
I take my kids to school, I go to the gym for an hour,
I go to the office. And then, I think one of
the things that I do, I try to leave my office
by about 4:30 and do the last couple of hours
of work remotely from home, so I can be there for homework
questions and I can be there. - I can't do the homework
anymore. You're better than I am.
[laughs] - I mean I'm not smart enough
to do the homework, I'm just saying I like to be
there when they're-- [audience laughs] --doing the homework. Man, their homework
is freakin' hard. - 7th grade. I lost it at
the 7th grade. - I know. I'm gettin' my money's
worth at this school here. [Kristin and the audience laugh] - All right I'm gonna do a quick
lightning round, but before that, we're here in
10 years, we're still doing this event, it's still sold out,
what does Goop look like then? - Wow. Gosh, you know, it's hard
for me to answer the question, because I feel like everyday
I have so much in front of me. I guess I would really just love
to keep building the brand, and scaling it, and hopefully
impacting people's lives in a great way, and making
incredible, clean, efficacious product that
is valuable for women, and the few men that appreciate
our face rub. Also I'd love to figure out ways
to create more community with our readers as well, as we
continue to grow the brand. - All right, quick lightning
round. - First thing that comes
to your head. So first thing you read
in the morning? - My emails, just to make sure there's no disaster that's
happened overnight. - That's true.
- And then news after. - I know. That's mine too.
- That's the truth. - Favorite guilty pleasure?
- Sun tanning. - I thought you were gonna say
Bolognese. [Kristen and Gwyneth laugh] Kristin: Favorite place
you've ever traveled? - Oh my gosh, that's
really difficult. Maybe Indonesia. - That's a great place. Favorite movie you've seen
this year? - Oh my gosh, this documentary called "The Biggest Little
Farm." I don't know if anyone's
seen it, but I highly, highly
recommend it. If you wanna see the most
beautiful metaphor for the positive outcome
for true diversity and the beauty and power
of nature, and sob. Kristen: Is it called "The
Biggest Little Farm?" - The Biggest Little Farm.
-OK. Business you wish you were
running, if it wasn't Goop? Ooh, gosh, maybe just something
a lot more doable, and small, like a restaurant, or something? [audience and Kristen laugh] - And best piece of advice
you ever got? I think probably the best piece
of advice I ever got that might be the most helpful to share was
to really forgive myself and let go of all the old
misconceptions I had about who I was. I think if we all could do that
everyday, when we start to hear, “Ah I did this” or “I did
this wrong” or “I wish I hadn't made
that mistake” or “I've transgressed in
some way” just to be like, “You know what? "I forgive myself.” - That's an ongoing thing
though? -Yeah.
-Great. Anyway, let's give it up big for Gwyneth Paltrow.
- Thank you for having me. -It's so good to have see you. - Thank you.
- Thank you. - Thank you so much. [audience applauses] - That was great!
- Thanks.
