What It's Like to Be Mentored by Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow has played many public roles -- most notably, of course, first as an actress and now as the creator of . 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 Sylvana Ward Durrett is one of them. She’s a former 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 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 , and