Jessica Alba and her Honest Company are being sued for $5 million for the company’s seemingly defective products, plus there are claims that the products are not as “all natural” and “chemical free” as Alba claims. I’ve been surprised to see Alba fighting back against the claims and the lawsuit, and she’s even been doubling down on The Honest Company’s products and its expansion. Alba’s Self Magazine cover story doesn’t mention the lawsuit, likely by design. The gist of the write-up is that no one can stop The Honest Company (now worth $1.7 billion) and the company is even expanding in Asia. Here are some highlights from the piece:
Her business acumen: “I’ve always been business-minded. I approached Hollywood like a business. I was very calculated. I wanted to be treated like a guy; I wanted to put asses in seats. I saved my money, invested wisely and marketed myself. I’ve been building my own personal brand over time.”
Why she made The Honest Company: “I was horrified by the realities around the use of chemicals, and also the link that these chemicals have to a lot of illnesses, from obesity to lung disease to cancer, allergies, eczema—all of it. I was bringing this little person into the world and I thought, I want her to be healthy. It was challenging to find products that were accessibly priced and effective. I was like, ‘It’s just gotta be easier for people.’”
Imposter Syndrome: “For a long time, I didn’t think I was smart. I felt like an impostor. It’s not until you feel whole in yourself that you fit in anywhere. And it took me becoming a mom to actually feel that way.”
Part of me doesn’t like the “treat me like a guy” or “I approach things like a man” argument. That being said, I’ve been accused of approaching life like a dude as well, so maybe I’m not the one to speak on that. Good for her for saving her money and investing wisely and all of that, but let’s be real – her “brand” as an actress was never that great. Her brand was “pretty actress with a hot body” and “actress who doesn’t see the point of screenwriters.” I think she did the right thing by focusing her energy on The Honest Company rather than her action career, is what I’m saying.
Photos courtesy of Self.
yeah, she doesn’t need to attribute her tendencies to masculinity. But she’s been in the industry since she was a kid, and that sorta sexism would probably frame her point of reference. Especially since she’s an actress is constantly sexualized. Good on her on finding a way to make some serious cash though, most of these actresses aren’t doing as well with the whole lifestyle branding thing.
oh please, she sexualizes herself. No one forced her to do all the sexy photoshoots she’s done.
Exactly. Seems sort of inconsistent to say that you wanted to be treated like a guy, but she is usually in a bikini or something in movies and photo shoots.
I guess she’s saying that she wanted to put asses in the seats by constantly showing off her body?
As a female who works in a male dominated industry (Construction) I can totally understand and relate to what she is saying.
It has nothing to do with attributing anything to masculine tendencies and everything to do with age old entrenched sexism where you are not expected to be able to preform your job well/have any real knowledge/valuable experience etc simply because you are a female.
I can see how that would translate in old sexism Hollywood where the pretty starlets are supposed to just shut up and look pretty.
So in that case.. yes, treat me like I am a man because I, gender not -with-standing, am extremely capable at my job and don’t need to be “thought of” any differently simple because of my genitalia.
“Put asses in seats” phrase is a bit too honest. It is what they all do, but saying it out loud might hurt some people’s feelings.
Even people who get into acting for the love of art (and it is majority of actors I think) have to be profitable, if they want to keep working and getting parts.
Other than that, I have no problem with what she says.
In business everyone should be treated the same, judged on their ability and commitment.
It should not even matter if you are a man or a woman. I think this is what she means. If that means “acting as a guy” so be it.
Did she ever actually “put a$$es in seats”? She’s been successful with her company, but I never thought of her as someone who actually pulled in money at the box-office. I don’t begrudge her her current success, though.
What on earth is she wearing?
I have to admit I don’t get the swimsuit shoot while she’s promoting herself as a CEO. Do you get treated like a guy when you simultaneously promote yourself as a sex symbol while talking about your company? Oh well, I suppose everyone is allowed their contradictions.
She is using the age old trick – to make people listen to you make them attracted to you first.
But yeah, this is something you shouldn’t do in serious business, but in entertainment I see it every day.
I’ve liked her ever since she called Bill O’Reilly “kind of an a**hole.”
All I got is that she looks about 20 in those pics. I know there is a bit of photoshop and make-up involved but she is stunning.
She looks very young for her age. She doesn’t look botoxy either…just natural and young.
She is absolutely gorgeous.
It really offends me. It heavily implies business is for men and commercial awareness is a male skill. This is dangerous and stupid. Especially when combined with the lack of females CEOs and in high power what kind of message is that to give to people that could really make a difference? Just feeds the stereotypes. This really irritated me!
I said this above.. but I am also going to put this here because I think it’s EXTREMELY relevant to your comment too.
I understand completely what you are saying, and agree … but ….
As a female who works in a male dominated industry (Construction) I can totally understand and relate to what she is saying.
It has nothing to do with attributing anything to masculine tendencies (male skills are better etc) and everything to do with age old entrenched sexism where I am simply not expected to be able to perform my job well / have any real knowledge (comments/input etc are valued less) / my overall experience is looked as less etc simply because you are a female.
So in that case.. yes, treat me like I am a man because I, gender not -with-standing, am extremely capable at my job and don’t need to be “thought of” any differently simple because of my genitalia.
Meh. I don’t care what she has to say. She’s like a blank white envelope to me. But I want to know what she eats, uses on her skin because she looks very good.
Her company just expanded to include beauty products. Though I do think she’s always had good skin due more to genetics and healthy eating.
@saywhatwhen LOL! I concur! On all points
Why her and Jessica Simpson surprisingly have these businesses , Alba seems way more involved and has actually impressed me with her tenacity, where Simpson just got lucky and got her name attached to some goods.
Yeah I feel that way too. Jessica Simpson doesn’t seem to have a hand in any of her clothing/shoe lines and seems to just put her name and face to it. Ask her how that company is run and she probably wouldn’t know a thing. Alba on the other hand seems very involved in her company and can probably list all the ins and outs of owning your own business. Mind you, Alba knew her acting career was going no where, she needed something else. Same with Simpson, though I think Simpson just hired good people and sat and relaxed. I don’t know I could be wrong but that’s how it seems.
A little bit of a tangent and putting on my flame suit, just in case, but “being treated like a guy” in my mind translates into “being treated like an older, wealthy white male who has had a built-in audience his entire life because of his privilege.” It’s not Jessica Alba’s fault, mind you; I understand what she’s trying to say. I wish that she had said something closer to “I wanted to be treated like a person and recognized for my ideas, my creativity and my hard work.” Many of you know that I’m a gay pastor who works at a nonprofit that helps at-risk youth; I doubt that a lot of people are wishing to be treated the same way that I might be in a board room.
Does she mean: “I was very ‘calculating?’
Water is a chemical. Oxygen is a chemical. Sugars and carbohydrates and proteins are all chemicals. We are chemicals.
I really wish society as a whole would step away from this “chemicals are bad” attitude. It just makes those saying it sound ignorant.
Be specific about what you think is harming people!
Synthetics
Synthetic isn’t necessarily bad and natural isn’t necessarily good. Poison ivy is natural. The polio vaccine is synthetic.
“Calculated?” Isn’t that a grammatical error. I think Jessica got lucky with her company. She was able to leverage her profile to give the startup the bit of media coverage it needed. And her marketing was on point: she’s marketing to parents and children specifically. The truth is, there are thousands and thousands of these low-chem companies around the world, a lot of them with exceptional products. Some of them have been around since the ’70s. None I’ve heard of have become billion-dollar co’s overnight though.
Oh FFS. There’s no such thing as “chemical-free.” Even pure water is 100% chemicals.