Jessica Alba has been acting since the age of 12 and when her needs as a modern parent and conscious consumer weren’t being met she set out to create a solution. Founder of The Honest Company— a lifestyle brand that started as an online subscription business featuring safe and effective baby, personal care, home care, vitamins and supplements cleaners (10+ products), the line is now sold in over 6,000 locations, including Target and Whole Foods. She also recently launched Honesty Beauty, a comprehensive collection of high-performance skincare and makeup products, backed by the company’s Honestly Free Guarantee that all products are made without questionable or potentially harmful ingredients. She’s on a mission and is the modern version of a multi-hyphenate.
Here are 5 of our favorite lessons from the amazing honestprenuer.
1. WE CALL THEM MOTIV-HATERS
If someone is throwing shade your way because they don’t think you’re experienced enough, or know what you’re doing, use it to your advantage. Listen to Jessica when she says: “It’s hard for people to take anyone seriously who’s never done this before. But that just gave me fire to move forward.” You get to choose whether being underestimated is an obstacle or a motivation.
2. CHANGE BRINGS OPPORTUNITY
Continue to evolve as a brand and a person, it’s something the mom and business woman (and New York Times-bestselling author) knows well: “Every five years I feel like I’m a completely different person.” Most successful entrepreneurs have the ability to be fluid. It’s an attitude that helps them be the change agent from within their organization or business, and out into the world.
3. MANIFEST YOUR OWN SUCCESS
If you want something done, you go out and do it yourself. Even before Honest, Jessica has always been a proponent of creating her career. “I always wanted to be a big action star, to be as relevant as men. I was very aggressive with the vision and manifesting it.” Jessica has told the story many times of how the company got its start. In 2008 she was pregnant with her first child, daughter Honor, looking to find a solution to what she (and many other frustrated parents) saw as a lack in the market. She couldn’t find one brand with all of the safe and effective products she wanted to bring into her home, so she created it.
4. OVERCOMING DOUBT IS PART OF THE WORK
A lot of entrepreneurs talk about blind faith, but even with that faith, their ideas, strategies, and beliefs are tested. And the more successful you become, the more challenges you will face. Belief in your strengths--and knowing your weaknesses--will bolster you when the going really gets tough. Jessica says, “I believed that there was a real opportunity for my idea, but I had to get over my own anxiety about not having the typical business trajectory or schooling and I had to stay focused on the end goal. If you are constantly looking to the left or to the right, you are never going to get to the finish line. Regardless of your obstacles, the challenges you overcame to get to the finish line are going to make you stronger. Find confidence in your journey and don't be held back by your obstacles. And don’t let your failures define you, they actually prepare you for the next step."
"If you are constantly looking to the left or to the right, you are never going to get to the finish line."
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5. WORK HARD, WORK SMART, WORK UNTIL...
We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again. Time spent does not equal success, but successful people put the work in and aren’t afraid to commit to their dream heart and soul. Jessica says, "Don't be afraid to try it. You only have this one life to go out there and do what you can."
Arianna Schioldager is Create & Cultivate's editorial direction. You can find her on IG @ariannawrotethis and more about her on this site she never updates www.ariannawrotethis.com
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