A decade after taking a big step away from the entertainment industry, the 'Fantastic Four' star finally reveals the real reason why she switched her career from actress to entrepreneur.
- Mar 26, 2021
AceShowbiz - Contrary to popular belief, media scrutiny did not push Jessica Alba to quit acting while she was at the peak of her career. A little over a decade after taking such a big decision to step away from the spotlight, the "Fantastic Four" actress uncovered the real motivation behind her move in a candid new interview.
In a feature piece published by Romper on Wednesday, March 24, the 39-year-old revealed that her health and first child played bigger parts. "My mother had cancer at a really young age, in her early 20s. I grew up with chronic illness. I had five surgeries before I was 11 years old. I had chronic allergies and I was hospitalized a lot as a child," she began explaining.
"I had this real moment of, I want to live and thrive and spend as much time with this little person that I'm bringing into the world as possible and stay. So, my health matters," she elaborated, adding that she was flooded with concern for her daughter's health. "I want this little person to be healthy. And it's really freaking hard to be happy when you don't have your health. That's really what motivated me."
Spilling more details about her decision, the "L.A.'s Finest" star went on, "My motivation was not like, 'Am I ever going to get hired again?' Frankly, I was at the top of my career." She continued to note everything changed right after she gave birth to her first child. "I couldn't go back to what I was doing before and be authentic. I just couldn't. I didn't care about it the same way," she pointed out.
"It was something bigger. I felt like if I was going to have this platform, then what can I do with it that could be meaningful and make a difference? That just felt so real when I became a mom for the first time," the Honest Beauty founder further told the publication.
Motherhood gave Alba the motivation to switch her focus from being an actress to an entrepreneur. A year after she quit acting, she launched her own company, The Honest. Her brand now has a wide range of products from chemical-free baby products to skincare line.
Running her business for almost a decade, the mother of three admitted that it was not an easy task. She recalled, "Building a brand and building a business is f**king impossible. And to be good at it and for it to thrive and scale, it is really hard. If anything, I was like, 'Do I really want to do this?' "
The mompreneur then remembered how she got "lots of rejection" and moments where she "learnd to build decks." She continued, "In every stage, I'm trying to get better and better as a business person, but it's a totally different skill set than just taking your influence and fame and putting your name on a package and doing a press tour, picking out a couple designs."
