Gwyneth Paltrow Says People Thought She Was ‘Nuts’ When She Started Goop

It hasn't been an easy journey for actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow. Now reflecting on Goop, a brand she started 15 years ago, Paltrow opened up about all the backlash she received in her brand's journey. “Early on people thought we were nuts,” Paltrow tells PEOPLE exclusively. “To me, it’s such a good lesson, just be who you are, stick to your guns, find your resilience, keep going and you can build a brand that's meaningful if you mean it.”

Since its debut, Goop has been embroiled in controversy over a number of its goods, such as the "This Smells Like My Vagina" candle and the Jade Egg, which is supposed to enhance sexual energy when put in the vagina. Nonetheless, the Shakespeare in Love actress responded to early criticism of the health firm by saying, "I very much want Goop to be its stand-alone brand," to Harper's Bazaar UK back in 2011, US Weekly reported.

"There were a couple of times when I thought, 'I'm just gonna stop doing it. People are so mean to me. I don't want to do it,'" Paltrow told the magazine. "But then I was like, 'Who cares what some lame person out there says?' I was in Italy once, and this old man came up to me and said, 'I had the best time in Nashville because of Goop.' And that is so worth it to me."

Paltrow, who commemorated a major milestone for her company a few weeks ago at CFDA awards, received an Innovation Award from Amazon Fashion. She thinks it's all because she stays true to herself and so does her brand. “I think we're clear about our values and it's nice to see that they've resonated more and more over time,” she says.

As she commemorated the company's 15 years, the founder felt it was only fitting to do something really special for herself in addition to accepting the enormous honor. She delivered the sentence well with costs ranging from $19.99 to $39.99, clean goop makes goop skin care, body care, and wellness items much more accessible to the public by bringing them to Target and Amazon.

Paltrow disclosed that the idea behind "good.clean.goop" has been in deliberations for a decade at the Goop offices. She explained, “The idea for good.clean.goop has been kicking around the goop headquarters for a decade. We originally started with the Goop beauty line, and over time, we just felt more and more passionate about creating clean, efficacious products at a more accessible price and for a broader audience." Paltrow explained that the industry term for this is "masstige", adding, "I love that word, between mass and prestige. We set out to create this, and it's been so much fun.”