Jessica Alba recently opened up to InStyle about how having children changed her career path. Alba was interviewed for the magazine’s 25th anniversary issue, sharing that having kids “propelled me to start my business, The Honest Company, in 2012.”
Alba first appeared on the cover of InStyle in June 2007 at age 26. Of that time she said, “Ninety percent of what people understood about me then came purely from magazine articles, press-tour interviews, and blurbs of gossip.”
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The next time she was on the cover was six years later and, by that point, her life had changed dramatically — she was married to Cash Warren and had two daughters, Honor and Haven. “For the first time in my life I was really embracing my womanhood. I was in my early 30s, and it had taken up until then for me to feel confident in my body,” she told InStyle’s Laura Brown. She and Warren later had a third child, Hayes, 1.
“I have three children,” she added. “They’ve exploded my body, and I’m cool with it. And I know I’m smart. I don’t care what everybody else thinks. I’m good, girl. I’m good.”
When she wanted to launch her business, Alba acknowledged, “It was very ambitious for an actress who didn’t go to college, but I knew I was good at collaborating, brainstorming, and problem-solving. With Honest, I had to learn how to be a boss. And here’s the thing about good bosses: They enjoy managing all types of personalities and helping people develop professionally. I knew I had that in me.”
Alba has very successfully transitioned from full-time actress to mom, business owner, and actress. “I was an actress first, but that didn’t mean I was incapable of other things,” Alba said.
She recently launched Honest Company’s beauty line in Europe, the company’s first international launch.
Today, Alba is perhaps better known for her role with Honest. “Even my kids didn’t know I was in the entertainment industry because I took a step back from it once they could walk, talk, and be in the world,” she said.
Alba continues to balance business and motherhood, as well as acting. She recently filmed a show called L.A.’s Finest with Gabrielle Union, which was just renewed for a second season.