How actress-turned-lifestyle guru Jessica Alba created a billion-dollar brand

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Jessica Alba wasn't content to rest on her acting-career laurels for long. In show business since the age of 13, the California-born beauty has been on a healthy-lifestyle mission since the birth of her first child in 2008. Three years later, she met Christopher Gavigan, author of Healthy Child, Healthy World: Creating a Greener, Cleaner, Safer Home, and together they launched The Honest Company, an enterprise that last year was valued at $1.7-billion. The lifestyle brand, which focuses on non-toxic household, baby and beauty products, has made a major foray into Canada this year (the line became available in 700 stores across the country, including Loblaws, Indigo and Canadian Tire). In June, Alba was in Toronto to celebrate this expansion and help spread the word. I spoke with the 35-year-old mother of two girls (Honor, 8 and Haven, 5) about her commitment to bringing safer products to the world, and the joys and challenges of trying to have it all.

This company was born from a realization when you had your first daughter, Honor. How did your passion for this movement start?

I had an allergic reaction to a laundry detergent my mother used on me when I was a baby. She had told me to use it on my kids' clothes, but I did some research and tried to figure out why I had an allergic reaction and I learned all about these potentially harmful chemicals that are in everyday products. I just trusted that if I could buy it, it was going to be safe and good for me. But that's not always the case. So I tried to find products that had safer, healthier ingredients and it was really challenging. After reading Christopher Gavigan's book that linked all of these chemicals to health issues – cancers and learning disabilities, allergies, asthma, skin rashes and sensitivities – I asked him what I could buy, but he said there wasn't one company [making safe products]. So I said, "Well, let's create that company!"

Calling a company Honest is a lot to live up to. How do you do it?

We're transparent about the ingredients in the products. We use very safe but effective ingredients and we're affordably priced, because I grew up in a working-class family and it's important that the products are within reach. And then the packaging is beautifully designed because millennials care about things being pretty and if these products are going to be out on your countertop, they should look cute and fit into your home decor. It's about the lifestyle. It's not an extreme version of healthy living. It's balanced, it's practical, it's doable and little things matter.

Besides putting these products out there, how much are you doing to try to push the envelope with government legislation?

The first time I lobbied for chemical reform in the United States was when I was pregnant with my second kid, Haven. That was before we launched the company. It was a very interesting but frustrating process, just navigating how laws are made and how reform happens. Then I went back about a year and a half ago and lobbied again for TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) reform, and it actually just got passed. So there now is better regulation on chemicals and a fast track to testing the most harmful chemicals to make sure that only the safest ones are used in products.

Are you conscious of being a role model, not only to your daughters, but to other young women who want to have it all?

I think having it all just means being happy and being authentic and living the life that's right for you. I don't know what my kids will ever want to do with their lives. I just want them to be happy, to feel like they have purpose, and to be fulfilled and have empathy. That, at the end of the day, is the goal.

You have shown enormous amounts of confidence from the get-go. Was that how you felt, or was it a case of fake it till you make it?

A lot of fake it till you make it! When you start from the bottom and people have no expectations of you, you can only go up.

Not many people are able to walk that line between business and creativity. Is it ever a struggle?

I find that when I'm overly creative, it feels really self-indulgent, and when I'm overly analytical, it feels like I'm a robot. So that mix of being analytical and strategic, and creative, open and in the moment is how I've always lived my life. And it works in business.

You have one foot in a world that's about gloss and appearance, yet your heart is in something more meaningful. How do you reconcile Hollywood and those deeper values?

In Hollywood, it is about telling stories and being able to entertain. Not everyone works at a job they love. Not everyone is living the life they want to. So to be able to give them an escape, so they can disappear for 90 minutes with popcorn and a drink and have a good time, there's no better feeling than that. I have a fun action movie with Jason Statham coming out that was shot in Thailand. I play someone who has a military background, so I got to kick some butt. And it's fun to be able to do that and tell those types of stories, but then also have The Honest Company and do something so completely different.

What, to you, is true beauty all about?

It's about confidence. I feel like the fashion industry is even tougher [than the movie industry] and the music industry is even tougher than that. Any industry where there's a high turnover, those are tough to be in. Entertainment is one of them. So at the end of the day, you have to be true to yourself and tell the stories you feel good about telling. And you have to be part of things you can stand behind.

Have you found that having a strong sense of self gets easier with age?

In terms of fashion, I become more adventurous the older I get. I was much more conservative and shy about fashion, but now I do like to play and have fun with it.

Are you as fearless as it appears when it comes to your various pursuits?

I think so. If you are bogged down in "what ifs?" then you never really get anything done. I like to put it out there, see if it sticks, see what needs to be worked or reworked and then go from there. But I

would kick myself if I never tried anything.

What is the hardest part of this juggling act and keeping it all in sync?

Time management and trying to figure out how much time I need to spend on me, on my husband, my kids, my friends, my parents, my co-workers. I feel like I'm pulled in so many different directions and there are so many people that need so much of me all the time. It can be hard to manage.

What advice do you give to other women who aspire to be great moms and creative artists and also to have lucrative businesses?

You can't be short-sighted with your goals. You have to think long-term as a parent, as a businessperson, as a friend – about whatever it is in life you want. It helps relieve a lot of the pressure of trying to be everything to everyone in every moment.

This interview has been condensed and edited.