team goop

A day at goop headquarters.

Hello My Friends,

Ok so in business the Rule of 7 or Effective Frequency speak to the number of touches it takes before a call of action is heard and acted upon.

To that end, this is touch #3, cheeky me </fingers crossed you will get the app, get the app, get the app> reminding you that reading me and others is really great on the Substack app! So I am inviting you to take just a moment to sign up (it’s free). I have included an easy little button below to get you on your way.

Once you are on the app, then we can interact and sincerely engage via comments, notes and subscriber chats, like the one in which I will be soliciting (and rewarding because who doesn’t enjoy a little swag) your brilliant suggestions on naming this writing space of mine (still searching for the best fit).

Also, I bet once you join you will find some of your absolute favorite reading there. Topics including, but not limited to, news, fashion, business, finance, food, parenting, entertainment, bitcoin, and travel written by people you know and love and those you don’t know with whom you will fall in love. I pretty much promise! So trust me and give it a try.

xoxo - WRW

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Dear Circle,

I have been a loyal and involved supporter of goop since its humble origins in 2008 when goop was “nothing more” than a newsletter Gwyneth Paltrow sent out from the kitchen in her London flat. A newsletter based on places, experiences and things she was enjoying, interested in, and exploring.

15 years later, goop is a fully formed lifestyle and wellness brand providing digital content and commerce valued at over $250mm. It offers a tight curation of products and content where readers can find suggestions and information from a trusted “friend”, not from an anonymous, crowd-sourced recommendation engine. Some of the content includes where to shop, eat, and stay, clean beauty, fashion and recipes plus health, relationship and career wisdom from highly credentialed experts in their field.

A value proposition goop has always offered in my opinion, is access to information that most can not afford the experience to gain themselves. But wealthy, successful, celebrity Gwyneth could, did and then gave us the inside scoop. Couple this with her interest in much, much more than the typical luxury trappings found in, say the Robb Report, and goop was not only unique in 2008 but ahead of its time.

So, yes, on one hand goop is aspirational, but also it is informational. Information that one can learn practical and valuable insights on all kinds of topics to then incorporate into one’s own life. Topics such as the impact of using toxic, unclean makeup, perfumes and bath products for decades that are disrupting our hormones, hurting our fertility, and causing real dis-ease that over time can lead to disease.

Over the years I have been in the room with GP and members of her team discussing the brand, business model, leadership tenets and dreams of the future. And over those same years, I have simultaneously watched and read the vitriol levied at her and her company for being true to one of the company’s goals which is to explore with curiosity what has been ignored, overlooked and taboo. Topics such as divorcing nicer which crashed goop’s site when she and Chris Martin announced that they were consciously uncoupling as well as “unmentionable” topics such as the vaginal microbiome and women’s sexuality. I have witnessed a flavor of hate that stinks of aggression and jealousy because she is 1. a woman, beautiful to boot, 2. a successful actress therefore couldn’t possibly be a smart business person and 3. born with a leg up. A flavor of the underlying incredulous accusation of “Who does she think she is?”

“Disbelief and criticism [sic] has helped me to learn one of my most profound lessons as a founder: to give up against-ness. It is easier to react to something than to think deeply about it.” ~ Gwyneth Paltrow, Founder & CEO, goop

And the “hate” comes from both men and women alike, which I find to be a shame. Patriarchy, well not a surprise. But women, come on. If we see one of us succeed in something then it means the potential exists for us too. The pie expands, not cannibalizes from each other. Women need to lift up other women.

What I have found during my personal interactions with GP is a humble, hard working, smart, curious and funny entrepreneur who is a deep listener and values straight talk even when that talk may be critical feedback. A founder who has been brave enough to step into the arena, earn her place, incorporate lessons learned all while being a trailblazer, shifting narratives and actually making a positive difference.

goop Tenets Adapted from The Collaborative Way
Speak straight (a culture where people feel safe to say what needs to be said)
Listen generously (don’t get triggered)
Acknowledge (what has been said and each other)
Find alignment

It takes maturity and gumption to lean in, be curious and course correct especially with the glaring light of the public eye hyper focused on you due to your celebrity, just waiting to pounce on the inevitable mistakes (mistakes sure to happen in any business). The team at goop has learned that this relationship is no longer only an email amongst “friends”. Goop has grown up. And along the way the company has evolved from a startup to a leader in the wellness space because it has learned and incorporated valuable lessons, therefore earned trust, thereby making it a better company for its customers. The Yoni egg is old news. It is time to move on from it being a constant footnote.

One thing most notably that I admire, taking a look holistically, is how GP does not separate being a woman with being an entrepreneur, a business leader. She marries her personal values based on who she is - a woman, wife and mother - with her professional role as an entrepreneur and CEO in how she builds her business and in how she leads authentically. The days of women trying to mold into the masculine archetype when at work or in the boardroom is not only misguided but leaves all of the uniquely feminine archetypal qualities, characteristics and gifts on the table. Not only is GP not making this mistake but she is leaning into the feminine and modeling the same for us.

“Hire quality people at every stage, don’t compromise there ever. And quality of conversation that you have with those people including transparency, candor, kindness, and alignment on the bullseye is critical.” ~ Gwyneth Paltrow

Last week I spent a day at goop’s headquarters for a wellness gathering. A much more intimate event than years past. I was in the company of incredible leaders including venture capitalist Amy Griffin, the most decorated American track and field athlete of all time with 11 Olympic medals (plus kicker of Nike’s ass) Allyson Felix, author, minister, psychologist, TED talker, 2023 American Psychological Association president and fellow Duke University graduate school alumna Thema Bryant plus Tibetan Buddhist meditation entrepreneur Kim Little, to name just a few.

I am including below some of the rough cut and “cleaned up for clarity” pieces of wisdom, questions to ponder, and bits and bobs from our time together that I found inspiring, including a spoken word piece performed by Thema Simone Bryant that kind of changed my life.

“Joy is the missing ingredient in our food.”

“What makes it easy for us to abandon ourselves? To break our commitment to ourselves and not stick with our goal/our protocol?”

“How can we stop putting ourself in situations of harm?” (i.e. not taking the best care of ourself via skipping bedtime, meditation, movement, et al.)

“Good for you, not for me.” A beautiful refrain to celebrate others while doing your own thing.

“We are constantly in a state of shame because of the impossible attenuation — knowing what we know today at 50, with all of our experiences, but not in the 20 year old body anymore.”

“Daye is a UK B Corporation that is using diagnostic tampons to understand our gynecological health telling what microbiome strains are in our vagina so that we can supplement what we need individually, amongst other things.”

“Colonics. How healthy, how often? What is your why to getting it? Who is your provider? How do you feel after getting one? Can shifting your food provide same feeling? Can an enema play a role? Only use a provider who really knows lower GI.”

“What caused us to check out? What does checked out look like? How has my disconnection showed up?”

“We learn to tuck ourselves in, to endure, to be muted in a particular space.”

“If we are in a state of perpetual boredom, then we have checked out because we are not boring.”

“If we are in a state of perpetual irritability, then we have checked out. Irritability comes out in an explosion or displacement. (ie taking stuff out on the wrong person.)”

“Acting as a controlling person. Controlling people try to control because we’ve been in situations where we didn’t have control and it did not go well. Control though is an illusion.”

“Workaholic. Busy is not healed. Stillness or silence is too scary. Perpetual motion is not the same as connection at home. Living with someone but you can still be lonely. Do they see me, get me, appreciate me?”

“Feeling unloved due to not feeling safe to show up honestly, authentically and not be rejected for it.”

“This is an appetite problem not a time problem. If you have an appetite for something you make the time. Time is part of the story but not the whole story. It’s a worthiness problem. Somewhere we believe we are not worthy of making the time.”

“I am not just a tool or instrument for other people’s care. I am deserving of care too and not just when in crisis mode.”

“Your worthiness does not require perfection. Let me say that again, your worthiness does not require perfection. So it’s ok to be imperfect.”

“So I want to invite you to think about your upbeat song based on your identity. There are plenty of downbeat songs, down notes. But I am invested in the singing of an upbeat song that is in this identity, in this body.”

“To reclaim myself is a lifestyle not a crisis moment.”

“I can hold space for you without abandoning myself.”

“What relationships caused me to mute myself?”

“What have we done to create the dynamic where we do everything? If it wasn’t for me…”

“We wear our superwoman cape but it is time to step back and let someone else step up. If no one steps up then maybe whatever no one claimed to step up for, is supposed to fall. We have to show up differently to shift the dynamic.”

“I am deserving of spaces where I can unfold! Where we don’t have to go into public relations mode. Where we can let it all hang out.” I love that bit - where we don’t have to go into public relations mode.

“Purpose and intentionality is what keeps us showing up when things around us are so hard. There is reason and meaning in my life. My life makes a difference in their life. And sometimes we don’t even know who our presence is meaningful to. We can make a personal impact in another person’s life.”

“How to master your energy? Boundaries and schedule. The yeses are killing us. Schedule time out for ourselves and say no more!”

“How to define power? Power is what people do behind the scenes. Navigating life’s storms is at the core of what power is. Power comes from within. It is resilience. Our power tank gets filled as we build resilience and vulnerability. Resilience and vulnerability, they touch each other.” And I love this too — resilience and vulnerability touch each other!

Thank you for joining me again this week.

Until next time, xoxo, WRW

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