Jessica Alba Considered Leaving Acting After the Success of Her Honest Company
Actor Jessica Alba made a fortune for herself when she launched her Honest company. The organization was such a success that she no longer needed acting anymore, and considered retiring early.
Jessica Alba’s Honest company made leaving acting behind more tempting
Alba launched her Honest company in 2012. Her and Cash Warren’s daughter helped inspire the creation of the company, which was named after her. In a 2017 interview with Teen Vogue, she confided how a negative reaction to a beauty product helped her conceive her multi million dollar empire.
“I got the idea as a first-time parent. I had an allergic reaction to a product and I did research,” Alba said. “I found out there are a lot of potentially harmful chemicals in everyday products, from laundry detergent to beauty products to personal care products. There really wasn’t rigor in the same way around testing products for safety before they’re brought into the marketplace the way there is in Europe. In personal care alone in Europe, there were over 1,200 banned chemicals because they didn’t prove safe. Whereas at the time in the U.S., there were about 9 banned chemicals.”
“I was reading ingredients and trying to figure out the best things. What I found was that the alternatives out there didn’t really work. The packaging was all beige and brown and hemp and that’s not really my steez! I wanted a brand that had safer alternative, an accessible price point, and a beautiful design,” she added.
It took a couple of years for Alba to realize her vision. This was partially due to her lack of experience, as Alba had no background or education in business. Still, her Honest company took on a life of its own after it was established. Honest turned out to be a very lucrative endeavor, at one point reportedly raising Alba’s net worth to $340 million. Although, according to Celebrity Net Worth, this number has decreased to $100 million over the years.
With how much Honest thrived, Alba entertained the idea of leaving Hollywood behind for good.
“It’s tempting to leave acting completely and focus on my company. It’s definitely more fulfilling. And when I put my time into it, I feel like I’m doing something that’s productive and there’s a real outcome,” Alba once told Hello! (via Contact Music). “With entertainment, I feel like you’re just throwing stuff against the wall and you don’t know if anyone’s going to see it.”
Although Alba’s acting career did wind down a bit after Honest, she didn’t completely retire from the film industry. Some of the movies she starred in afterwards were Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Machete Kills and Stretch.
Why Jessica Alba left Honest
After over a decade of helping Honest grow, the Fantastic Four star made the announcement that she’d be leaving Honest earlier this year. According to Us Weekly, she left a message on social media where she publicly said her goodbyes to Honest.
“When I created The Honest Company, I set out to change the consumer product industry and I can proudly say, we did just that,” Alba wrote. “Honest has been a true labor of love for me – one that showed me what’s possible when you infuse purpose into business. While there never would have been an easy time to make this decision, I know we have a leadership team in place to advance my founding vision and protect Honest’s reputation as an industry changemaker.”
But she was also excited about the opportunities leaving Honest would create, which included devoting her attention back into the entertainment industry,
“I think it’s time to get back into entertainment and also think about what else I want to create or do,” Alba said. “I have a movie actually coming out June 21st for Netflix called Trigger Warning. It’s an action movie and I executive produced it. So, I’m excited.”
