For Jessica Alba, taking a step back from Hollywood meant having the opportunity to focus on other things. And aside from raising her young family with her husband Cash Warren, that also meant launching a business that had nothing to do with TV or film production. Instead, Alba founded The Honest Company, which aims to provide health and wellness products that are both clean and sustainable.Since then, The Honest Company has grown into a billion-dollar business. And if anyone asks Alba, growing and managing it is almost comparable to raising her own kids.
Jessica Alba Founded The Honest Company After A Bad Experience
A lot of business ideas often emerge from a personal need, and Alba’s case was no different. “When I was pregnant, my mom recommended a baby detergent that made me break out in a rash when I tested it,” the actress/entrepreneur recalled.
“My mom used this product when I was a kid, but I realized that if I had this reaction, then how could it be safe for my baby?”
And when she started looking for presumably better products, Alba also made a surprising discovery. “The more I looked into eco-friendly family products, the more “greenwashing” I discovered,” she explained.
“Packaging and promises implied they were non-toxic and natural, but they used fragrance and ingredients that were anything but.” That’s when Alba decided to take matters into her own hands. She started The Honest Company in 2012 and launched 17 products.
Moreover, Alba also explains that there is a special reason why she decided to call her business honest.
“At the company, we like to say we’re honest, not perfect,” she explained. “We really listen to our customers and our internal teams to pivot as quickly as possible when it comes to addressing any challenges.”
This is exactly what they did with their wipes, which have since become one of The Honest Company’s bestsellers.
For Jessica Alba, Building The Honest Company ‘Reminds Me A Lot Of Raising Kids’
After years of running The Honest Company, Alba knows that much like raising children, one can’t manage a successful enterprise all on their own.
As the famous saying goes, it takes a village.
“I had to release my need to control the process,” she explained. “I’ve learned a lot about the power of teamwork, and being able to support other people and the greater good — having the nugget of the idea and the vision be really clear, but [knowing that] how you get there is going to be different every time.”
And while planning for the future is always a good thing, Alba also learned that in business, one must also expect the unexpected.
“It actually reminds me a lot of raising kids,” she remarked. “When you think you’ve got it figured out, a whole other thing [happens], and you’re like, ‘Whoa, OK, here we go.’”
How Is Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company Doing Today?
Years after starting the business, The Honest Company has grown extensively, expanding its line to include more home, baby, bath, and beauty products. It also decided to go public back in 2021, trading in Nasdaq with the ticker symbol HNST. At the time that the company IPO’d, its share price went up to as much as $23.
Since then, however, the company’s stock price has gone down due to market volatility. In its earnings report for 2021, Nick Vlahos, The Honest Company’s CEO, acknowledged that business has been challenged by both “inflation and supply chain headwinds,” like others in the industry.
Nonetheless, the company still managed to enjoy revenue growth that was mainly led by its Diapers and Wipes and Skin and Personal Care segments.
Meanwhile, the company has also released its second-quarter earnings for 2022 recently and things continue to look up. Recently, The Honest Company has had modest revenue growth of five percent, mainly due to a 9 percent growth in its Diaper and Wipes segment.
“The Honest brand continues to resonate with today’s conscious consumer, as reflected in our strong consumption trends, healthy growth in our digital channel, and continued new distribution wins,” Vlahos also said in a statement.
“We are maintaining our revenue growth outlook in the second half of the year. Given cost pressures that continue to impact the industry and Honest, we have put plans in place to mitigate the impact of inflation, including pricing, margin-accretive innovation, and cost savings, which we’re confident will drive long-term gross margin improvement.”
That said, the company also maintains that it expects its 2022 revenue to be “flat” compared to 2021. “We continue to employ cost mitigation initiatives to address cost pressures, including price increases and productivity improvements, as well as recognizing the benefit of a growing revenue base,” it said in its report.
Meanwhile, as of writing, The Honest Company’s stock is now up by 3.02 percent with a price of $3.41 per share.
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