Why Jessica Alba?
I have wanted to interview Jessica Alba and Christopher Gavigan since the Honest Company came out last year. I have a cover letter on my computer that, for whatever reason, I hesitate to print out and send in the mail.
I chose Jessica Alba as my eco-hero because she shows that being environmentally friendly can be fun and stylish. I may not be a mother, but I am fully appreciative that someone is looking out for the well-being of our nation’s children. If we look back on Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff, it is during infancy that humans receive the highest concentration of toxic chemicals. Alba and Gavigan have impacted a major step in child development by making sure children’s futures are not impaired, because of unhealthy products. Think about how many children suffer from cancer. Some people may think that being eco-conscious means sacrificing a lot of conventional comforts, but what Alba does is create products that people will love because they are both healthy and practical.
| Media Credit: thestar.com |
Jessica Alba
Actress,
Co-Founder of The
Honest Company
Most
people recognize Jessica Alba as an actress from Sin City (2005), Fantastic
Four (2005), and a number of Hollywood rom-coms, including The Love Guru (2008) and Little Fockers (2010). Alba, 31, has
also earned recognition for her effortless style in several fashion and beauty
magazines, including InStyle, People StyleWatch, and Self.
Within
the past few years, Alba has also taken on three other roles: wife, mom and
entrepreneur.
In
May 2008, Alba married film producer Cash Warren, 33, and welcomed their first
daughter, Honor Marie, 4, soon after. Alba, also mother to newborn daughter Haven
Garner, 1, claims that motherhood has made her become the person that she
“always should have been.” She is proud to say “being a mom is the most
profound experience” she has ever had.
When
Alba was seven months pregnant with Haven, she was shocked to learn the amount of toxic
chemicals found in baby products. After doing some research and reading
environmental research by author Christopher Galvin, Alba
“hounded” Galvin for a year about how to create a healthier
approach to infant products. In 2011, Alba and Galvin founded the Honest
Company, which is dedicated to helping mothers use healthy products for their
babies.
The
Honest Company provides a monthly subscription service
which provides different baby essentials, depending on which subscription
package the mother chooses. Each product available on the Honest Company
website—diapers, household cleaners, baby wipes, etc.—is environmentally
friendly and non-toxic.
Questions
Did you have any experience in business and entrepreneurship prior to the
Honest Company? How did you approach making your aspirations for better
baby-care a reality?
(From
what I can tell, I don’t think Alba had experience prior to Honest)
Alba
was determined to meet the needs of her children and their health.She did a
ton of research:
“Alba had read the work
of environmentalist Christopher Gavigan and, seven months into her pregnancy,
met him at a book party for his Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a
Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home (Penguin/Dutton). The two clicked and decided to
become partners in The Honest Company (www.honest.com), which markets
plant-based, eco-friendly home cleaning products, diapers and wipes, in
addition to other personal care items.
Alba is a hands-on
partner, Gavigan says, and a stickler not only for ensuring that products are
free of harsh chemicals but that they perform as well or better than their mass
market counterparts. And as a creative personality, Alba has a strong hand in
ensuring that the company’s products steer way clear of the drab army greens
and bland, empty beiges that are the hallmarks of many eco-friendly goods. “She
loves things that are bright and beautiful, multicultural and have a lot of
different influences,” Gavigan says of Alba.
Alba, known for movies
such as “Sin City,” “Honey” and “Into the Blue,” says she relishes the bookish
research that went into getting her company’s products off the ground. “I love
science, so I got excited about learning about the hormone disruptors and the
endocrine disruptors,” Alba says.”
“That’s exciting to me
but not to your average mom. And frankly having that information wasn’t that
exciting to me when I was 9½ months pregnant. But moms shouldn’t have to be
scientists or even love or appreciate science in order to understand what it is
they’re trying to avoid. I wanted to break it down in layman’s terms and make
it easy and digestible. I wanted to show, ‘Here’s what you can do, and here’s
an alternative.’” --EnergyTimes
What advice would you give to future entrepreneurs?
“What are your top 3
pieces of career advice for young women?
It took me three years
to see The Honest Company come to life and, based on the lessons I’ve learned
during this time, my top three pieces of advice for young entrepreneurs are:
Understand
the marketplace for your business—it’s key.
Have realistic business
expectations and come to terms with the fact that it may be too much of a lofty
dream and tailor your business plan appropriately.
Stick to your guns—if
someone can persuade you to depart from your idea, it’s a sign that the
business might not be the right fit for you.”- Forbes
Why is sustainability important to the integrity of the Honest Company?
“Without our health,
without our planet – we have nothing. It's serious business and we're in the
business of making it better. Since our inception we've tried to re-think how
to create a business that promotes health and sustainability. It's definitely a
work in progress. There are many great models that we've followed and in some
cases we've pioneered new solutions, but there is always room for improvement
and we will always try to improve.”—Honest.com
What are your favorite products from the Honest Company?
(Jessica Alba really
likes advertising the
diapers. It’s a trend I’ve seen in most of the photos she
takes for the company. The diapers are not only biodegradable, but they’re also
pretty cute.)
What are the plans for the Honest Company in the future?
(The Honest Company
hopes to build upon their sustainability efforts and continue receiving
feedback from customers via social media. Jessica Alba told Forbes that Honest
has created 13 new products because of this engagement.)
“Honest Goals
It may be a bit
unconventional to include goals directly in our business standards, but we
never intended on being conventional. Listing our goals here serves three
purposes: 1) It lets you know more about where we're headed; 2) Gives you an
opportunity to dream with us (really, we'd love to hear your ideas); 3) And –
honestly – when you make your goals public, you're much more likely to reach
them.
Let's be better by
trying to:
·
Because we love plants and because of
their renewable & sustainable reality (not being a non renewable fossil
fuel), have all our product, and our packaging, made entirely (yes – 100%) of
plant-based materials
Today, the message of sustainability and environmental consciousness is
rising among college students. What green practices would you advise college
students to follow? What are three products from the Honest Company you could recommend
to college students? Why?
This is a really
specific question. Although no answers for this really exist, Whole Living did
an article which included the fact the Honest Company does a “family
essentials” package.
Sources:
More info/press about
Jessica Alba and The Honest Company can be found in the company’s Media Pantry
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