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What It's Like to Be Mentored by Gwyneth Paltrow The actress and CEO chats with her mentee, the cofounder of Maisonette, about finding support as an entrepreneur.

By Stephanie Schomer

This story appears in the July 2019 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

Courtesy of Goop

Gwyneth Paltrow has played many public roles -- most notably, of course, first as an actress and now as the creator of Goop. Her lifestyle business and content platform launched in 2008 and has grown to a $250 million company by selling Paltrow-endorsed health-and-wellness products that shoppers swear by (even when the medical community cries foul). But here's a role she's less well-known for: Behind the scenes, she mentors female entrepreneurs. Sylvana Ward Durrett is one of them. She's a former Vogue staffer who for years produced the annual Costume Institute benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then went on to cofound the children's e-commerce site Maisonette in 2017. Today, Maisonette is a fast-growing business with more than $18 million in funding, and Ward Durrett often leans on Paltrow for advice. Here, the women chat about the value of mentorship, what it's like to be a woman running an early-stage startup, and texting during board meetings.

Related: How Sheryl Sandberg Inspired These Fashion Founders to Ditch Their Corporate Jobs and Launch a Startup

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