There are no words that can do the justice of describing how excited I am to share this with you all. It’s such an honor to have been able to connect and speak with one of my favorite people of all time, Gwyneth Paltrow!
I want to thank Gwyneth and her amazing team member Noora- your support and love mean more than you can imagine, thank you for believing in me. Scroll down to read our exclusive interview as we discuss her brand “goop”, her favorite movie roles she’s played, and how she got to that “fuck what people think” stage in her life.
XO Diva D
D: How have you been?
GP: I’ve been incredibly well, extremely busy, and very grateful for this chapter of my life—which is full-time motherhood and full-time entrepreneurship, if you will.
D: You’ve been in the industry for quite some time now and I feel like you do it all. You’re a mother, author, wellness inspiration, own an iconic lifestyle company, and are one of the greatest Hollywood actress’ ever. What made you want to venture out into so many different directions throughout your career?
GP: Well, first of all, thank you David! This is a very interesting question because I think a lot of my drive comes from early pain in life—feeling like I wasn’t good enough and that I had to prove something. That pain has served me very well because it’s made me a hyper-focused person and really underlined the work ethic that my parents instilled in me. The other element to it all is that I’m motivated by challenge—I really like setting challenges for myself. That, plus I have a lot of genuine passions.
D: Two of my favorite films of yours are Country Strong and View from the Top. I know you’ve done so many projects but do you have favorites you’ve worked on so far? Do you have a favorite role you’ve played thus far?
GP: I loved doing Shakespeare in Love from an artistic standpoint—it was such an incredible role. My other favorite was probably playing Margot in The Royal Tenenbaums.
D: I’m obsessed with your goop newsletter, it’s literally the first thing I read every Thursday. What made you want to start the site that turned into one of the most successful lifestyle wellness companies in the U.S?
GP: You’re very sweet to me! Most everything we do at goop comes from a white space that we see in the market, and I think that goop at its inception was trying to aggregate good information that wasn’t necessarily readily available, staying on the cutting edge of everything from wellness to travel to fashion. I was at a point in my life where I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be away from home for long stretches of time because I had children, and goop seemed like a perfect expression of my passions and a way to be inspired creatively while working from home.
D: The goop magazine recently launched, I loved your cover and Q&A. Is there anyone in the industry you’d love to feature for one of the upcoming issues?
GP: It has always been a dream of mine to interview Oprah—that would be pretty fun.
D: Since you’re always on the go and have a family to take care of, do you follow a strict diet? What does a normal day of food look like for you? The tabloids can make up the craziest things, so I never really paid much attention to them when it comes to peoples’ diets or workout routines. They will write anything just to come up with a dumb story.
GP: That is very true. I like delicious food, with a healthy bent. In terms of what I eat every day: I wake up and have coffee with half-and-half every morning. I usually have a smoothie for breakfast, and then lunch is usually my healthiest meal. I eat at my desk and try to keep it to just protein and vegetables—a sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free lunch. Then for dinner, I’ll eat whatever I want.
D: What is the craziest cleanse you’ve tried and is there one you’ve yet to try that you might end up doing?
GP: The craziest cleanse I’ve ever tried was when I only drank goat’s milk—raw, unpasteurized goat’s milk—for eight days. It was certainly unusual but I felt amazing afterwards.
D: I was insanely jealous of the people that attended your wellness summit this past summer. I wanted to go so bad. Keep me in mind for the next one?
GP: You’re invited!
D: Where did you come up with the idea to create one and are you going to have another one next year?
GP: We’re going to have two: one on January 27th in NYC and one mid-June in LA. The idea behind it was to offer a place to the goop community to come together and experience the content in an IRL way.
D: You and your awesome team at goop are going to be sending me some products to try and I cannot contain my excitement. Thank you so much again, G. I used one thing from the skincare line before and loved it. What is your skin care regime and what are your favorite products to use from the line?
GP: I’m pretty much a 100% goop by Juice Beauty skincare girl at this point. That’s what happens when you’re given the license to create your own dream products.
D: Goop has so many different things. Not only is it the best lifestyle-wellness website, but the shop is even better: skincare, vitamins, high-end fashion brands, goop Label, fragrances, candles, etc. Have you thought about making customized phone cases or shirts with the brands logo on it? I feel like that would be so cool.
GP: I have not, but thank you for the suggestion! I will look into it.
D: The shop has cockpit-USA-bomber jackets, those are to-die for and I need one. It is definitely my favorite piece you have in there for clothing. How do you decide what pieces go into the store and which don’t?
GP: Everything that we sell from a fashion perspective, for the most part, fits into the aesthetic of what I would wear, though it’s gotten a little broader. We sort of think of the customer as “the goop girl”—and of course, we have a few fabulous unisex pieces as well.
D: I have two of your books. I think one is from the early 2000’s and the other is from 2011/2012. Those two books helped me to not only cook but also make some of the recipes I know so well. Now I need to get a copy of your most recent one though It’s all Easy. Do you see yourself working on writing more in the future?
GP: I think writing cookbooks has become a pillar of what I do and what we do here at goop. We’re always trying to create new, delicious, healthy, easy recipes for ourselves and our audience—it’s very much in our DNA, so probably more books to come.
D: Like I’ve said before, I feel like you’ve done and continue to do it all. Have you thought about creating a meal-delivery service? I just feel like that would do so well with you.
GP: We definitely have thought about it. From a bandwidth perspective, we’re not ready to delve into food just yet, but look for something in the F&B space in 2019.
D: One thing I admire most about you is how down-to-earth you are. Even when we spoke prior to this Q&A you were so kind to me. There are many people in the industry who aren’t so kind to their fans, or people in general. How do you manage to stay so grounded and loving after being in the industry as long as you have?
GP: I learned from the best, Bruce Paltrow, who always taught me to love and respect everybody equally and that family is everything. You can only determine your wealth based on the quality of your relationships.
D: I think if there is one thing I can take away most from you, it is to never let the opinions of other people tear me down. You’re a big supporter of women’s, LGBTQ, and all human rights and that means so much to me personally, since I’m openly gay. What makes you want to use the platform you have for good like you do and how did you get to the ‘fuck what people think’ point in your life?
GP: I think you get to the fuck-what-people-think point, one, by having had so many arrows slung in your direction, that you ultimately realize that they can’t hurt you. And two, by turning 40—that’s when you really stop giving a fuck.
D: You’ve accomplished so much already but is there anything else you hope to do within the next 5-10 years or so?
GP: My main goal for the next 5-10 years is for my kids to become adults, go to college, and move out. My biggest hope is that I will have helped raise two empathetic, kind, and conscientious human beings who will go out and make the world a better place. Also, channeling the necessary time and energy into goop, so that it really reaches people in every corner of the world.
D: I appreciate you talking with me. You truly are one of a kind. Please never stop doing what you do. You are an inspiration to so many.
GP: You are an inspiration to me as well, David. I admire your bravery, your strength of character, how much you’ve embraced your uniqueness, and I will continue to love you from afar.
XO DIVA D 