A crowd of 1,000 turned out to greet Jessica Alba during a Dec. 3 appearance at Nordstrom Ala Moana in support of The Honest Co., which she co-founded in 2011 to offer safe, effective and ecofriendly products for families.
Among the first in line was Jaedon Yoro, 10, with his mom Kathy, who said she relies on The Honest Co.’s shampoo to be gentle on her son’s dry scalp. He cared less about the shampoo and more about the actress, who’s been a heroine of his ever since she starred in “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World,” a 2011 film about a spy-turned-mom who attempts to stop a supervillain from taking over the planet.
In some ways, it could be Alba’s story as well — an actress-turned-mom who took it upon herself to stop harsh chemicals from robbing people of their health and ruining the planet, though in a nonviolent way.
Radiant on screen, Alba, 36, said that was not the case when she was growing up. “I was a sickly kid allergic to everything,” she said.
By the time she was 14 — an age when most girls are beginning to add chemical-laden skincare and makeup to their daily regimens — she said, “I was starting to eliminate synthetic fragrances and harsh chemicals from my life, not to make a statement but just so I could breathe and not sneeze so much.”
About that time, her family moved to Australia, where she became more aware of natural alternatives to synthetic products and “it opened my eyes,” Alba said.
When one product recommended by her mom caused Alba’s infant daughter Honor to break out in welts in 2008, she had a sense of deja vu and felt compelled to take action. Three years later, she launched The Honest Co. with business partner Chris Gavigan. Alba said she realized it wasn’t enough to be a celebrity speaking out about health causes, and that she has worked with many nonprofits and been frustrated by the time spent raising funds before any real work can be done.
“I thought, why not start a for-profit business to do good, and it felt right on so many levels to give people access to healthy, safer products, do good and be sustainable. Ethical consumerism is the direction business is going,” she said.
Today, her billion-dollar business helps to support organizations focused on child health, development and education.
Her celebrity may have brought attention to her brand, but “being in the public eye had nothing to do with being taken seriously,” she said. “I aligned myself with the right business people and they were able to build the business based on my idea of social good. We were the fastest company to become a B Corp,” a certification of social and environmental performance.
Alba’s next role will be executive producer and mentor on Apple TV’s “Planet of the Apps,” a “Shark Tank”-like reality show seeking the next killer app, that will provide marketing, mentoring and funding for promising developers.
