Gwyneth Paltrow feels her celebrity status hinders her Goop business.
The ‘Mortdecai’ star sees her fame as a bit of an "obstacle" at times because she wants to make the brand bigger than herself.
She said: "It makes it much more difficult. For the business I’m creating, it’s an obstacle I always have to overcome. For example, Reese [Witherspoon], who is a dear friend, has this quickly growing Draper James [clothing] business, and she leverages her celebrity in a great way for her brand. But for this model – where I’m trying to make Goop bigger than me and its own brand – you become inextricably linked. I’m a target in a way most entrepreneurs are not."
However, the 44-year-old actress agrees that it is a "blessing" that her celebrity status helps to "open doors".
She added to The Hollywood Reporter magazine: "When I interview someone for a position, it takes them a while before I’m not Gwyneth Paltrow. It’s just an obstacle and then it’s OK. But it’s also a blessing when we need to leverage my celebrity – it opens doors. I don’t know many young entrepreneurs who can call [Disney CEO] Bob Iger, [Facebook COO] Sheryl Sandberg or [Airbnb founder] Brian Chesky, and they are kind enough to waste a little bit of their day to help me. So in that respect, my celebrity has been a huge asset."
Meanwhile, Gwyneth previously revealed she felt like an "imposter" when she first launched Goop.
She explained: "I felt more like an imposter when I was starting my business, Goop. Having grown up, like, on the floor watching, you know, this Broadway star sing around the piano and this actor come for dinner and being always around actors – it was who I was. I never felt as an actor like an imposter. I definitely felt insecure and I definitely felt like I don’t know where I’m going with this. But I never felt like a fish out of water or I don’t belong here because I really had come from it but I definitely felt like an imposter when I was setting up my business and first monetising it."
Gwyneth Paltrow: My celebrity status hinders Goop
