Actor Jessica Alba transitioned from actor to business mogul when she founded her Honest company. But although she was used to playing many roles throughout her career, she initially felt ill-suited for her real-life role as a company executive.
Jessica Alba felt imposter syndrome when she founded her Honest Company
Jessica Alba | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
At one point in time, even Alba wouldn’t have predicted she’d find herself running an entire company. According to her interview with Forbes, she formed Honest company after her first pregnancy. Her difficulty finding necessary and healthy baby products for her firstborn inspired her to develop the organization .When her skin developed a bad reaction to a product she was recommended, Alba started looking for much safer alternatives. Then she considered providing safer alternatives for other parents who were in similar situations.
“Frustrated about the lack of healthy options that performed and were accessible, I saw a void that needed to be filled,” Alba said. “I wanted to make it easier for myself—and for all families—to have safe, beautifully designed, affordable products that actually worked. As I did due diligence in the ‘Eco’ marketplace, I saw there was a social injustice that the average family couldn’t easily find or purchase healthy products. So, I created Honest.com because, as a mom, I needed it, wanted it, and believed we could make the world a better place for my children and families everywhere.”
Her company grew from an online retailer to a global phenomenon. But before its evolution, Alba asserted that running a company took some getting used to. It reminded her of the same insecurities she had when she started acting.
“I kind of felt like an imposter,” Alba said according to Pop Sugar. “Like, they’re going to catch onto the fact that I didn’t go to theater school, or that I don’t have a background like other people whose parents are in the business. And so I always kind of felt like they were going to find out, and I don’t belong here.”
It didn’t help that Alba had plenty of critics feeding her doubts.
“When I first started, they were like, ‘You’re an actress. What do you know about business? There’s no way you can start a company. Go be a face of something,’” she said. “‘Why don’t you just do licensing?’ I felt like, ‘I should have gone to business school. I should have gone to college and I need to have a different kind of background than what I have.’”
But in the end, Alba realized there was a lot of power in determination.
“And what I learned is, if you are curious and you are determined, you can do it. It is possible, especially in this country. If you want to create a different reality, it’s possible,” she said.
Jessica Alba took a similar strategic approach to business that she did with acting
Alba pulled from her own experiences in the acting industry to succeed with Honest. Unlike …read more
Source:: Showbiz Cheat Sheet
