How Jessica Alba Proved Her Doubters Wrong
Even movie stars have to stare down skeptics when they're launching a company and seeking funding. Here's how Jessica Alba persevered--and wound up with a company valued at nearly $1 billion.
When actress Jessica Alba first conceived her idea to launch a line of nontoxic household and baby products in 2008, skeptics tried to push her toward the same tried and true starlet formula: Why not just be the face of a new perfume? A few years later, she has a pretty good answer. The Honest Company is expected to pull in more than $150 million in revenue in 2014, has a reported $1 billion valuation, and is poised to go public. Take that, Hollywood.
As told to Lindsay Blakely.
I founded The Honest Company on this idea: Everything that touches you and your family--everything in your home--needs to be nontoxic, needs to be effective and beautiful to look at, and needs to be affordable. I really wanted it to have an e-commerce model. What are the things that all parents need? Diapers and wipes, for sure. And then a mix of cleaning and personal care products. Wouldn't it be great if you could pick five things and get them delivered through a monthly subscription?
Everyone I approached was skeptical. There wasn't one person who said, "Yeah, that can happen." I heard "Just do one thing really well and then you can expand" a lot. But I wanted this to be a whole lifestyle brand. Everyone I talked with in Hollywood could not wrap their heads around the idea. Whenever I tried to sit down with them about it, they would just get this glazed look on their faces. Entertainment is a totally different business. It's like, how do you squeeze the most out of a person for five seconds, and then you move on to the next one. It's hard for people to take anyone seriously who's never done this before. They see you only as something else. But all that just gave me fire to move forward.
I approached this guy who built the top-selling accessories brand at Macy's. We're friends, and he was trying to help me figure out how to execute on this idea. But he built his brand off of one item and then expanded. He found traditional retail partners and then opened his own stores. He didn't understand how to build this thing from scratch. Friends want to help you, but they're also going to be the most critical. We launched with 17 products. Even my husband, Cash, thought the idea was too big.
