Elise Loehnen felt as if she was going to die. Every day her chest would become tight and her breathing shallow, not able to get enough air. She was in extreme panic — diagnosed as an anxiety disorder — and it was terrifying. In late 2019 she hyperventilated for an entire month. She often ended up in A&E.
At the time Loehnen, 43, was working as chief content officer at the most well-known wellness brand in the world, Goop, as Gwyneth Paltrow’s right-hand woman. Working out of its beige, light-filled office in Santa Monica, the company sold vaginal “jade eggs” ($65) and a candle that “smells like my vagina” ($72). It had powders to boost metabolism, for morning skin, to detox; weighted wrist bangles, infrared sauna blankets with crystals, yoga leggings; and produced branded podcasts, newsletters, cruises, lectures, pop-up shops and Netflix specials. Feeling Zen? Feeling “well”? Feeling relaxed?
