Jessica Alba — How This Latina Built Her $1.7 Billion Empire
Jessica Alba's four year old consumer-products start-up, Honest Company, has been valued at $1.7 billion certifying her company as a "start-up unicorn" this 2015.
"People doubted me as an actress, and that's something that drove me," Alba said. She also added that she was not just "going to be pegged as an action-comic-book fan girl."
The Honest Company history started when Alba was pregnant with her first daughter. Her friends threw a baby shower and, by then, received a closetful of new baby clothes and accessories. Days after the party she decided to wash her unborn baby's onesies using the detergent her mother had recommended. Something about the detergent caused the clothing to break out in hives which made her hysterical.
Alba became worried of her baby's health especially with what happened to the onesies after she washed it. "I was thinking, what if my baby has a reaction and I don't know? What if her throat is closing? I had all this fear and anxiety because I was always so sick as a child."
According to Vanity Fair, that night she searched the Google for information about the detergent's ingredients and was surprised to discover that there are some toxins that are labeled "fragnance" which can cause harm especially to babies. At that moment, she found her purpose in life. That is to make a "safe and effective consumer products that were beautifully designed, accessibly priced, and easy to get."
She started to make her dream a reality by hiring people who can help her reach her goals. One of them was Christopher Gavigan, the author of Healthy Child Healthy World, as the consultant of her blooming business. Then she started to do more research discovering enough information that could help her improve her business. In 2011, she pleaded the members of the Congress on Capitol Hill to co-sponsor the Safe Chemicals Act.
According to Latin Times, during its first year in 2012, the sales reached $10 million. This year, 2015, sales passed $150 million.
When asked about what she has learned through her experiences in her business, she said, "If it was easy, everyone would do it. You have to be a little bit crazy; you have to have gumption and tenacity. A lot of people give up at the first roadblock. But, for entrepreneurs, if there isn't another road, we create it. We break concrete; we throw dynamite; we figure it out."
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