The Honest Company’s origin story is the stuff of Silicon Beach legends. It all started when Jessica Alba was seven months pregnant and had an allergic reaction to a chemical-laden laundry detergent. After coming up empty-handed in her search for everyday household products made with clean, safe, and effective ingredients, she decided to take a risk and create products that met her standards without compromising on performance, design, or cost.

It’s safe to say Alba’s risk has paid off, but it certainly hasn’t been easy. In 2015, The Honest Company was a unicorn with a billion-dollar valuation, but the business hit a rough patch after a string of lawsuits and a decline in fundraising. However, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, The Honest Company is bouncing back, reporting over $350 million in sales in 2020 thanks to an omnichannel approach to sales and leaning into the self-care category.

Ahead, Alba tells Create & Cultivate about her journey from entertainer to entrepreneur, including what it takes to push through rejection, how she overcame imposter syndrome, and why she believes building a business that gives back is more important now than ever.

Take us back to the beginning—what was the lightbulb moment for your business and what inspired you to pursue this path?

The moment I found out I was pregnant with my first child, everything changed. I started paying more attention to the ingredients in the products that were around me from beauty products, cleaning products, and everyday household items. Through my own research, I was shocked to find harmful chemicals in the products I used every day. I then began my search for everyday household items that met my standards and discovered if I wanted to have something with safe ingredients, I needed to make compromises on performance or design or cost, or all three.

I knew there had to be another option. And that’s how the idea was born. When I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I realized an entire community of people had the same needs. The market was missing a more modern, more innovative approach and there was whitespace to fill, so after three and a half years of work, I founded The Honest Company, a company that stood for the value that I wanted in my life: transparency and trust in the ingredients found in products that we use every day on ourselves and our families.

The Honest Company is for-profit, but giving back has been at the heart of the business from the beginning. To date, The Honest Company has donated more than 20 million diapers and personal care products. How are you making a difference and pushing your industry forward?

Honest was built around the ethical values of transparency, trust, sustainability, and a deep sense of purpose. More than ever, and especially in the current environment we’re in, we live these values in all that we do. From the very beginning, my goal has been to make an impact on society. I knew that if I had a platform that could give a voice to the voiceless, I needed to use it.

Through Honest, we were able to build a community. Not everyone is born with opportunity or access to basic essentials like clean diapers for their baby. So, when I founded The Honest Company, I wanted to make sure that we were supporting people who are often left out of the conversation.

During COVID-19, these efforts have been focused on our ongoing partnership with Baby2Baby (our primary philanthropic partner), and dozens of other deserving organizations across the country. To help Baby2Baby, we committed to donating 3.5 million products, sponsoring students and children living in poverty to ensure a successful remote learning experience, and supporting families impacted by COVID-19 with monetary support. This summer, we also took action as a company by donating to organizations fighting racial injustice, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative.

This year, we have been able to support so many families in need, which is more important than ever. We know we can and must do more, and we will. This is just the beginning. We will continue to push the industry as a whole to do better by creating a dialogue with other influential people and advocating for change.

At the end of the day, it’s not just about making a good product. It is our responsibility as entrepreneurs to stand for something and make the world a better place, and today’s consumers demand it.

Entrepreneurship is all about taking calculated risks—What’s the most pivotal risk you’ve taken, and how did it change your path?

The most pivotal risk I’ve taken was investing in The Honest Company before I knew whether or not the business would be successful, but I saw the potential so I took the leap. You risk everything by assuming that that potential will succeed, but I firmly believe that the only way to experience growth is to invest in potential.

Every time we see potential in the business or in a new vertical we can enter. Take launching in the beauty category, for example, we invest heavily in both in terms of time and budget. Without that wholehearted initial investment, you can’t get an idea, a project, a business off the ground. It wasn’t easy and it still isn’t easy, but I’m so proud of where we are today.

2020 presented everybody around the globe with new, unprecedented challenges. How did you #FindNewRoads + switch gears towards your new version of success?

Personally, this has been a year of reflection, reevaluating priorities, and adjusting to our new way of life. On the business side, it was a year of listening to our customers and our team and adjusting quickly to meet their needs.

From a product perspective, in 2020 we shifted our innovation strategy to focus on what matters to our consumers. When COVID began, our customers were asking us for disinfecting products that were safe and met the Honest Standard. In response, we launched Disinfecting Spray, an EPA-approved disinfectant made without harsh chemicals or chlorine bleach. We also launched Honest Alcohol Wipes for sanitization on the go.

But to be honest, when the pandemic hit our first instinct was to figure out how to help our community and our team. We made it a priority to connect with our customers online and remind them that taking care of themselves is critical in times of crisis. Our customers told us about their stress and anxiety, their lack of sleep, their concern about the uncertainty of the future, how as parents they were juggling full-time jobs while needing to serve as at-home teachers. This year put so much on their shoulders, and they were burned out. So we tried to help them take care of themselves, because I know I’m a better mom, friend, and wife when I take the time I need.

When you launched The Honest Company, you had other partners, but you were the only woman in the boardroom. In previous interviews, you’ve spoken candidly about how you struggled to assert yourself in the beginning. How did you overcome this and what advice can you share for women on cultivating confidence and going after their dreams?

There are so many challenges that come with starting a business, especially being a minority woman and having no prior business experience. One of the biggest challenges I faced early on was doubting myself, doubting that I could do it if I didn’t have a business degree. But I never gave up and I continued to navigate through the challenges and self-doubt by listening, learning, and trusting myself on what matters most.

I started my journey in this business as the creative visionary, but the more I became involved in every piece of the business—from the financials to the supply chain, manufacturing, etc.—the more I understood every aspect of every stage that goes into delivering the ultimate experience for the consumer, and thus, the more confident I became. So, my advice in gaining confidence is to not be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to learn because, once you truly understand your business top to bottom, you can confidently tackle challenges with your team.

For those who haven’t started a business yet (or are about to), what advice do you have?

Trust your gut, and if you believe in your idea, go for it. Be prepared to work harder than you ever have in your entire life and be prepared for people to reject your ideas at first. You can’t let a few "no" responses deter you from your mission. When founding Honest, I didn’t let the hurdles I faced get in my way. I was committed to my idea and I knew this was a business that had to be created so I pushed through even when people didn’t believe in me and told me to stick to acting.

It’s easy to celebrate the wins, but how do you handle failure or when something hasn’t worked out for you?

I don’t like to use the word failure. I believe that when you go down a path that didn’t work, you have an opportunity to pivot or let the challenge consume you. The choice is yours, and I choose to pivot. Setbacks are bound to happen, but they can help reveal other opportunities that you might not have previously noticed. I think I overcome things that haven’t worked out by always seeing and believing in possibilities. As an entrepreneur, you have to be an enthusiastic optimist; it’s almost a maniacal optimism. Challenges or “failures” (as some call them) are paths that I choose to turn into lessons to guide my path forward.

Although we often highlight the glamorous side of being an entrepreneur, the job is often more challenging (and alienating) than its alluring title lets on, and you’ve opened up about your own experience with feeling alone at the top. What keeps you inspired and motivated to keep going even on your most challenging days?

There’s just so little representation of women in business. There is so much inequality and as a minority woman, it can feel isolating at times. What keeps me inspired and motivated is wanting to show girls all around the world that they can do it too. For my own children, and for all young women, I want them to know that they can be a CEO or a founder. And especially for minority women and people of color, I want them to believe in the power of their dreams and their possibilities. That’s what motivates me.

What's the one productivity tip or work hack that truly changed your life?

Shut the work down on the weekends and don’t underestimate the importance of self-care. Our culture is so focused on work and it’s so easy to experience burnout. Learn to create boundaries, lean on your support system, and invest in your personal time. Keeping that time sacred has contributed to my success over time.

If you could go back to the beginning of your career journey—with the knowledge you have now—what advice would you give yourself?

I would tell myself to trust my gut and own my power. When I was younger, I was insecure about the things I wasn't good at and would let people who didn't necessarily know any more than me to take the power. Now, I'm really transparent about what I don't know, and I'm always asking questions. Sometimes, it's just about running with an idea because you have an instinct or admitting that no one knows the answer but committing to banging your heads together until you figure it out.

Fill in the blanks:

To be successful, you need to be…

Optimistic.

If there were more hours in the day, I would…

Sleep.

Three qualities that got me to where I am today are…