Who’s the boss? Jessica Alba, apparently.
Perhaps not too far off into the future people might think of the 33-year-old as one of the world’s most successful business women, who once upon a time made a few movies.
As the founder of The Honest Company, the actress has created an empire that has an estimated value approaching the billion-dollar mark and hires some 300 employees – figures that have Forbes suggesting Alba “might be Hollywood’s smartest mummy mogul”.
In a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the mum-of-two has opened up about her career change and says it was motherhood that forced her to look for work outside film.
“The most daring thing I ever did was take a step back from my acting career and start this company,” Alba told Harper’s Bazaar.
“It meant cooling off from this business, which was all I had known my entire life.
“I had to peace-out at 28, completely shift my priorities, and not be apologetic and not care about the consequences.”
But it was through her kids that she conceived the idea of Honest.
In a video on the company’s website, Alba explains that she and business partner, Christopher Gavigan began to create a line of non-toxic, eco-friendly products in 2012 when they couldn’t find products for their own young children.
Now the rapidly growing brand has moved off just being e-commerce and is stocked in major retail stores like Target, Costco and Whole Foods.
Alba, who now juggles her family, film career and her growing company, tells Harper’s her journey from movie star to mogul has fundamentally changed her.
“After I turned 30, I became more daring as a woman,” Alba says.
“Having a successful company had a hand in that. I’ve set my priorities in a different place, with my children and my family.
“I dared to look at projects outside of Hollywood, and I’m so happy that I did.”
But Hollywood isn’t short of mummy-moguls who manage to use their celebrity to start a company.
Here are some super rich celebs who balance families with budding lifestyle empires.
Jessica Alba, pictured here with daughter Honor, started The Honest Company in 2012 as an e-commerce business focused on organic baby products. Now the eco-friendly business is worth nearly $1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal with products stocked in retail stores like Target, Costco and Whole Foods.
Jessica Alba launching The Honest Company into Target in June 2014.
Brazilian model and mother-of-two Gisele Bundchen has used her business acumen to pocket more than $386 million throughout her career, raking in $47 million alone in 2014. Not happy to simply sling products for others Bundchen has her own brands like Grendene and Hope, along with skincare company, Sejaa Pure Skincare.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s totally well-adjusted advice (*cough) for mother’s can be found on her website Goop. The movie star and mum-of-two has built an empire that can be seen as the gold standard of celebrity lifestyle brands, and she just has hired a former Martha Stewart exec as her new CEO which made the homemaking mogul none too pleased. Stewart dissed Goopy Gwyn last month when she said: “She just needs to be quiet—she’s a movie star… If she were confident in her acting, she wouldn’t be trying to be Martha Stewart.”
While Reese Witherspoon’s lifestyle brand hasn’t yet launched the website it is likely to be based on her home grown Southern sensibilities. The mother-of-three, who commands $15 million to $20 million per film, does however have a rumoured name for her company, Draper James – a nod to her grandparents and Dixie roots.
Actress Blake Lively’s website Preserve launched in July. She also recently announced, via her company blog, that she’s pregnant with her first child.
