Gwyneth Paltrow said she had to ‘Google acronyms under the table’ at Goop business meetings when she started the company

Though Goop has become a household name in recent years, the Academy Award winner told Forbes she struggled when she first started the company because she didn’t have a business background.

“As we monetized and as we got into e-commerce, I didn’t understand anything,” she said. “I didn’t finish college. I didn’t go to business school. I didn’t go up through a corporate environment.”

“I used to Google the acronyms under the table, and I was like, ‘Everyone’s gonna think I’m an idiot,'” Paltrow said. “And then I was like, ‘Fuck it. I’m actually really smart. I just haven’t learned this yet.'”

Paltrow said she became more successful when she let go of her “shame” about what she didn’t know.

“I don’t know why we have this shame around not knowing something,” she said. “I don’t know if you guys feel that, but I felt that so much, like I’m supposed to know. How am I supposed to know? Nobody’s taught me.”

“I decided I was going to be really brave around asking questions and that there’s a difference between intelligence and just not having learned something yet,” Paltrow continued. “So I empowered myself. Sometimes it was embarrassing. And then a lot of times people would be like, ‘Thank you so much for asking that question.'”

Paltrow said she could have saved herself time by being more direct about what she did not know immediately.

“If you don’t know something, ask it,” she said. “I could have truncated my timeline in the beginning a lot if I had done that.”

Goop in transition

PitchBook valued Goop at $433 million in 2020, though the company has experienced some upheaval in recent years. In 2021, Business Insider reported that over 140 employees left the company between 2019 to 2021, with some saying they felt underpaid and overworked.

And on September 5, Women’s Wear Daily reported that Goop laid off 18% of its workforce amid a strategy pivot. Moving forward, the brand will prioritize food, fashion, and beauty and move away from sexual health, wellness, home, and travel, a marked shift for the company.

In her conversation with Forbes, Paltrow touched on the brand’s ever-evolving strategy, saying that “intention” keeps Goop centered.

“We’ve been through a lot,” Paltrow said. “Some years, we’ve doubled in growth. Some years, we are flat. Some years, we’re down, then we’re back up.”

“We have a lot of intention around what we’re doing, and I’m proud that we’re still alive and kicking,” she added.