BlogHer is an annual conference which supports, celebrates and acknowledges women bloggers. Launched in 2005 as a support network for women in digital media, it has since become the kind of starry, annual affair that attracts famous keynote speakers such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay, who both featured on the lineup this past weekend. Here are some of the most memorable takeaways from the event.

Ava DuVernay on equal rights:

‘Women have been trained to ask for what we want instead of taking it. We've been indoctrinated in a culture of permission. It's true for women and it's true for people of colour. But that time has passed.’

Gwyneth Paltrow on media attention/the haters:

‘I've been in the public eye my whole life. It's a bizarre learning curve. You really have to find a way to separate the words of a person you respect … from people who are just in pain and are projecting their own shit on to you.’

Activists Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi on why they started #blacklivesmatter:

‘We created the platform online, but it was really to impact our lives offline.’

Ava DuVernay on forging your career:

"No one has all her eggs in one basket. Diversify, but stay true to your interests. If you really look at the people you admire, they don't all do one thing.’

Gwyneth Paltrow on how she wished she aimed higher when starting GOOP:

“I stupidly didn’t think larger when I was first doing it.”