Gwyneth Paltrow sweats Goop’s success

The Future. Even though Gwyneth Paltrow retired from acting in 2019, she’s arguably been giving the best performance of her life ever since — the unflappable face of Goop. The unwieldy company has cemented itself as a name in culture… but maybe one that’s too intertwined with that of its celebrity founder and CEO. With the clock clicking on making Goop’s investors some money, the company may need to prepare for the future by either crafting an identity outside of Paltrow or thinking about selling its disparate divisions so they can each soar.

E-evolution
Puck’s Lauren Sherman breaks down what makes the future of Goop such a tough nut to crack.

• Founded in 2008 by Paltrow, Goop has evolved over the years, starting from a product recommendation newsletter to a full-fledged lifestyle brand that makes its own products.
• The company now encompasses several verticals, like a skin care line, a fashion brand (G. Label), and a ghost kitchen, with five brick-and-mortar stores.
• The brand makes $100 million in sales annually — 64% from the skin care line — which is solid but not enough to make the company profitable.
• And therein lies the dilemma — backed by VCs like Greycroft and Lightspeed, the company will either need to sell or go public to give them an exit (and there’s no plan for that yet this long in the game).

But here’s the big issue for Goop’s prospects: the brand has become interchangeable with Paltrow’s public persona — she’s profiled constantly on the site, and she funnels any relevant personal brand endorsements through Goop as opposed to herself. (Funnily enough, she only became its CEO in 2017.)

Paltrow is what they call “the key man” — a personality great for the brand right now but could imperil it if she steps away. That’s going to require another evolution from Goop, which is reportedly trying to downplay Paltrow in marketing, hoping to give the brand an identity all its own.