Gwyneth Paltrow kicked off her 11th In Goop Health Summit April 19-21 at an upscale establishment. Park Hyatt Aviara Resort Golf Club & Spa in Carlsbad, where a Miraval Life in Balance Spa Aviara was unveiled in September as the final phase of a $60 million resort-wide renovation. Guests paid $1,200 for a one-day Summit Pass or $4,000 for a Weekender Pass, which included a two-night stay at the resort, a welcome dinner and brunch.
As usual, there was a range of feel-good experiences and thought leaders. The keynote featured Justina Blakeney, founder of interior design brand Jungalow, and powerhouse entrepreneur Emma Grede, co-founder of Khloé Kardashian’s denim brand. Good American in 2016, co-founded Skimmed shapewear with husband Jens Gredes and Kim Kardashian in 2019, and launched Kris Jenner’s natural cleaning brand Safely in 2021 and Kylie Jenner’s fashion brand Khy in October 2023.
Tapping into Grede’s savvy when it comes to business strategy, Paltrow asked her, “You have these super famous sisters who are incredible in their understanding of the consumer.” Is there a risk there? I think about it for myself. For example, how can I make Goop not dependent on me? What do you think of Skims without Kim? Your marketing is the best in the world. Whatever is out there in the ether, suddenly you are there. It’s so awesome. Is this designed to somehow distribute the blame to Kim?
Justina Blakeney, Emma Grede and Gwyneth Paltrow on stage at the In Goop Health Summit
Courtesy of Kyle Espeleta
In response to her friend, Grede said: “You can’t anchor a business around one personality if you want to be a lasting brand, can you? Because we all know celebrity money goes up and down. You are like a bad movie, song, moment, boyfriend, whatever, born of disaster. … You have to have a mission, a vision, values, like any brand needs. I come from a product background and I think what we’ve done, time and time again, is create best-in-class products, where talent is acceleration. No one comes back to buy a product from someone they love if the product is bad.
Grede continued: “Like The Rock has this amazing tequila, Teremana. You can’t spend $200 million to get the recognition you get on his Instagram. But ultimately, you have to drink the tequila. The tequila has to be good; it has to taste good; it has to do the work of the tequila, and then we’re all lit and it’s great! To achieve this, you must put innovation at the heart of what you do. You must have incredible pricing structures. …It’s about meaning something to customers at a particular moment in popular culture. …I’m always looking for white space opportunities. Often, with brands, there is a generational change, right? It’s like everyone is buying their panties…
