Jessica Alba is the cover story for the January issue of Good Housekeeping. In her chat with the magazine, the 36-year-old actress talks about the business she helped create, The Honest Company, which, since its inception in 2012, has offered “natural, safe, beautiful and effective products for the family and home.”
Of course, lots of successful businesses have their hiccups on the road to success, and The Honest Company was hit with two lawsuits. In 2015, a consumer claimed that the company was deceptively labeling some of its products, marketing them as “natural” when they included “unnatural and synthetic” ingredients. This past March, the company was called out in another lawsuit claiming false advertising was used to market some of the brand’s cleaning products. The company has weathered the storm and the company was just awarded four Good Housekeeping seals.
If running a business wasn’t enough, Jessica is also busy raising her daughters, nine-year-old Honor and six-year-old Haven. She’s currently pregnant with her third child with husband Cash Warren, a baby boy. And, after baby boy Warren, Jessica insists there will be no more maternity fashions in her future. She talks to Good Housekeeping about her efforts to maintain a healthy work/life balance, overcoming her legal troubles and more. Here are some highlights:
On her inspiration to create The Honest Company: “I was really sick as a kid. I had severe asthma and allergies, and I spent a lot of time in the hospital. My airways would start to close up if I had an attack—it was really scary… When I had my first child at 26, I wanted this new little person to live a healthy life too. I had a really lonely childhood, and I didn’t have a lot of friends. I didn’t want that for my kids… I wanted Honest to be a brand that put human health and safety first and actually worked.”
On overcoming obstacles The Honest Company has come across: “[Dealing with lawsuits] was stressful, but it was a lesson, and it made us want to better convey our messaging. We are always looking for ways to be innovative, to learn and take it to the next level.”
Jessica’s secret to success: “Nothing is easy. If it’s easy, you should worry. You have to fail a few times to find out what the best path forward is. It’s part of learning.”
On how acting prepared Jessica for the business world: “I’m competitive. Being in acting, you [learn to] persevere. ‘You don’t think a woman of color can be a leading lady? Let me show you.’ The constant rejection in acting prepares you for just about anything, but certainly for business. When people tell me something can’t be done, I see a challenge. Just because it hasn’t been done doesn’t mean it can’t be. I just have to figure it out.”
On balancing motherhood with work: “I feared I would lose my sense of self in becoming a mom, but it’s actually made me more true to who I am. It’s good for my girls to see that I have an opinion…hopefully some of what I’m doing will rub off on them. It’s hard, because they’re growing up with more privilege than I had.”
When asked about her future acting plans, Jessica told the magazine, “I did a role in Ted Melfi’s movie El Camino Christmas, but unless I was in control, [going back] would feel weird.” She went on to add, “If I could develop a film or a series for Netflix, that would be cool. I still have my Dark Angel fans, and Hollywood is finally allowing women to star more in action franchises, which is a passion of mine.”
After seeing Jessica act, I’m kind of all for her focusing on her business. But hey, I am impressed by her work ethic and if I ever win the lottery, maybe I’ll buy some Honest Company products. Until then, it’s whatever is on sale at Walmart for me.
Photos: Justin Coit/Good Housekeeping, WENN.com
Jessica still looks like she’s no more than 25. She and Selena are blessed with the forever looking younger than they are gene pool.
Came here to say the same.
Also, pregnancy looks good on her. shes looks healthy & glowing.
No kid should have to deal with asthma, for me it really led to a crippling fear of loosing my breath. I imagine her company helps her feel more in control about her kids health (and just generally).
Congrats on the success, I haven’t bought any of her products but am a big fan of making my own non-toxic, eco-friendly cleaners (great for gifts too).
I love Jessica and I would love to see her in something like Dark Angel…
The cognitive dissonance with this one… chemicals and toxins, bad, especially for people with breathing issues. But she smokes cigarettes. (Unless she’s quit. Hopefully so.)
I was thinking the same thing! Just like when she was on all the fitness magazine covers after having her second child talking about her healthy eating habits and working out. Meanwhile there were tons of paparazzi shots of her chain smoking.
What? I didn’t know she smoked. She’s just like Good then isn’t she?
I loved Dark Angel and thought she was really cool in the role.
I thought she was so cool in that too. I’d like to watch it again.
She is an inspiration honestly
I’m probably projecting, but I wonder if she didn’t learn that lesson by being naive about a partner’s faithfulness. I am in the midst of learning that lesson, after finding out that my hero/saint husband has been cheating on me since before we were married. It felt so easy, and I should have been worried.
Have there been any rumours about her husband cheating? I haven’t heard any apart from the one about Lindsey Lohan trying to kiss him in a nightclub about 8 or 9 years ago. But allegedly kissing is very different from fully fledge cheating.
I feel like I read something on here about how even Jessica Alba, as beautiful as she is, gets cheated on?? I can’t remember the context.
UnmadeBed, I’m so sorry you’re going through this awful experience. I wish I had some words of wisdom to offer you. I can only wish you happiness in the future.
I don’t know if you’ll see this, but thank you so much for saying something. I was taking the headline out of context and applying it to myself, but, oddly enough, it’s one of the few things I’ve come across over the past couple of weeks that made sense to me.
‘After seeing Jessica act, I’m all for her focusing on her business ‘. Damn,son.
Dark Angel!
Wasn’t a fan of hers until I watched that show.
This might be an incredibly dumb question to ask, but is she really considered to be a woman of colour? I always thought she was of European ancestry.
Looking pale does not equal white. There are plenty of PoC with pale skin and grey, green or blue eyes.
Her racial ambiguity is part of why she had trouble getting roles early on.
Also, I want folding money for every article about Alba that has to randomly mention her “horrible” acting for no real reason: I’d be a millionaire.
“Looking pale does not equal white. ”
That’s not what I meant though. I don’t think she looks WASP. I do think she looks somewhat ethnic. On sight, I would likely guess that she is racially ambiguous based on her physical appearance. She looks more ethnic to me than Gisele Bundchen. But her actual ancestry as listed on various sites have always been European countries. I’ve never seen any kind of ancestry that lists what could be considered non-European. Her father is Mexican, but Mexicans also have European ancestry. She also did a DNA test of some sort on the George Lopez show and they showed that she had predominantly European ancestry.
I don’t think she looks as “white” as someone like Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, but since her ancestry appears to be primarily European, I would consider her a white person even if she does have a slight tan and slightly more ethnic-looking features.
I guess my actual question might be revised to the following: can you still be considered a person of colour even if your ancestry is European?
Short answer: yes, absolutely.
This is getting just as weird as people saying someone’s not bisexual because they haven’t dated enough partners of the same sex.
She identifies as a WoC and her father is Mexican. (She has said if she doesn’t tan she looks more like her mother and her side of the family but that’s it: websites and George Lopez can say what they like.)
I don’t think it’s getting weird. I’m going based off of her DNA test — her DNA test showed her to an extremely high percentage of European.
She herself even said “Alba” comes from Spain, and asked what Spain was considered to be. So, uh, if she herself is wondering, I don’t think it’s that weird that the rest of us would be asking the same question as her (I think of Spain as white).
For a couple of yearsshe was referred to as Jessica ” don’t call me Latina” Alba. I have no idea if that has changed, but she most definitely did not identify as Mexican.
In her earlier interviews it seemed like she didn’t relate too much to her Mexican side, she identified with her mother’s white side more but it also seems like her Mexican heritage was an inescapable fact of her life being that people can see right away that her phenotype is “not white”. I think she had to come to terms with it later, as indicated by the change in her message (she had some derogatory remarks about her Mexican heritage and then later said she was teaching her kids Spanish in a Latina magazine interview). Point being, it depends on how she identifies (has she ever claimed she’s a WoC?) and that yes, I’d argue she is in a way since it’s been an inescapable reality of her life (people never stop asking what she is, she had to “own up” to bring Latina in a way that Cameron Diaz never has had to). I think she’s a WoC in a sense that she’s been pigeonholed into the “racially ambiguous” and “other” category in Hollywood. The average Mexican is of European and Amerindian ancestry on varying levels, and judging by her DNA test her dad fits that category seeing that she’s mostly European but has a notable percentage of Amerindian DNA. At the end of the day she’s whatever she identifies as, whether it’s mixed, multicultural, white or whatever.
I do think she’s been “otherized” in Hollywood because she doesn’t fit what we perceive as a typically Anglo appearance, but I’m not sure how much of her difficulty in getting roles also had to do with not being able to act as well as her peers. She is better as businesswoman than as an actress.
Also, you may want to think about what “white” is besides meaning European ancestry or skin color; whiteness is also a racial idea. Jessica Alba maybe primarily genetically European but is someone like her eligible for joining the KKK based on that? No, they would reject her. I’ve actually seen comments on StormFront (a white supremacist site) that refers to her as “Pocahontas” based off her facial features and refer to her as mestizo (mixed Amerindian/European person), a clear rejection of her as white. Google Jessica Alba mestizo or Amerindian and you might find those posts.
“Jessica Alba maybe primarily genetically European but is someone like her eligible for joining the KKK based on that”
I don’t think most people are though. Natalie Portman is Jewish and would be opposed by the KKK, but she is still referred to as “white.”
Uh, there are plenty of people that are eligible to be in the KKK and Jessica Alba is not one of them. I think you don’t want a complex answer though and just want to erase the reality of what she is, for whatever reason. The reality is that someone might be between social ideas on race and/or color and might actually have a preference to what they consider themselves (I don’t know what she identifies herself as). When I say she was “othered” I mean that people picked up on her ethnicity as “other than white” and she didn’t get to get away from being considered ethnic/exotic and has had to answer questions about her ethnicity, unlike white actresses who aren’t asked such questions. Again, race is a social idea and there are certain people who don’t fit neatly into the little boxes. I’m not going to talk about Jewish people because I’m not Jewish. You should familiarize yourself with the concept of “white passing” and race as a social idea.
Yes, I am aware that race is a social construct and I am aware of what “white passing” is. That’s why I’m fascinated by idea that she wouldn’t be considered white. There is no erasing of what she really is though — she herself has asked what she would be considered as someone of Spanish ancestry.
I do think she has ambiguous looks but that’s all they are — looks. Her actual ancestry is not quite as ambiguous.
How can Jessica be considered a woman of colour? Her skin is pure white! This is why I don’t like this term. It’s become an umbrella for everything.
Stop it. Jessica’s father is Mexican and her mother is white. Her father never taught his children spanish but she and her brother are PoC.
What next? Y’all claiming Keanu Reeves is white?
She could definitely pass for Mexican or for her actual background, half white/half Mexican….no offence, but those saying she looks like she could only be ‘white’ must be bad at guessing ethnicities.
Hispanic people come from all races. For example, my mom is Black Hispanic (Afro-Latina).
Honest makes some really good products. And I have to contrast her business model, which is also predicated on vague wellness and eliminating toxins from your home and body, with Goop’s awful vitamins-and-jade-eggs (should be) criminal and unethical scam. I appreciate the fact that Alba can advocate safer products without telling me to forgo chemotherapy in favor or essential oils and Tracy Anderson food bars.
Props to Alba for her success. She knew how to build this company, and knows how to market it. (And so what if she is a terrible actress? I’d rather be a good businesswoman.)
What about Staples? “That was easy.”
I love Honest’s coastal surf scent. It smells so good.
One of the prettiest faces I ever seen, she always resembled a doll to me. I’m glad she’s doing well with her brand.
I think her husband wanted out when she fell preg with Honor, she seemed to want more commitment but he didn’t. Then they had a shot gun wedding just before Honor was born, got the impression she didn’t want to lose him. He seems so arrogant and douchey. I think he decided to go along for the ride and live off her money because she’s so successful and hot, plus they have kids together, but wouldn’t be surprised if he cheats/ed.
I’ve wondered about this too – I remember that she seemed crazy about him, then after a couple of years they broke up, supposedly because she really wanted a commitment and he didn’t. They got back together and she got pregnant right away, which seems to be why they got married.
In any case, they have been married for a while now, hopefully they’re happy together.