From Gwyneth Paltrow to the Duchess of Sussex, the girlboss is back. In this economy, who can blame them?

From Paltrow talking about KPIs to Meghan waxing lyrical about entrepreneurship, it’s not surprising famous women are cashing in on the world’s obsession with their brands

I expect certain things from a Gwyneth Paltrow interview. Breathless outfit details. Her cooking something unexpectedly indulgent for the interviewer, or appearing more laid-back than her image suggests. Spacey pronouncements. What I don’t expect to read is: “I need to optimize EBITDA” (that’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, for the non-business-speaking people) or “impacting my P&L” (profit and loss). These quotes come from Paltrow’s recent Vanity Fair profile, in which she also referred to recent layoffs from her wellness empire, Goop, as a “reorg” and described its sexual wellness clients as: “Not the best customers from an LTV perspective,” which I learn means “lifetime value” – having bought the notorious vagina egg for a laugh, they don’t come back for cashmere and casserole dishes.

Tempting as it is to linger in the Goop-verse – so fragrant, so self-actualised – I’m mostly interested in Paltrow’s uninhibited adoption of biz-speak. It was unexpected in a glossy feature with her looking a billion dollars, accessorised with two equally fabulous borzois. Normally, if I wanted to hear someone talk about EBITDA, I’d turn off my noise-cancelling headphones and eavesdrop on my husband’s work calls. But Paltrow has always had a shrewd eye for the zeitgeist, so I’m wondering: does this herald the second coming of the out-and-proud girlboss?

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