Actress and Honest Company co-founder Jessica Alba shares her secret to success

ABC News(NEW YORK) — Jessica Alba says she always wanted to be an actress but after making her mark on the big screen, Alba began to shift her focus to her growing family and her worries about the ingredients in the products she used every day for her family.

Wanting something with as few added chemicals as possible, she couldn’t find what she was looking for on the market. The Honest Company was born.

“I just felt, wouldn’t it be easier to just have one company that does all the hard work for me, and that I know human health and safety is No. 1 for them?” Alba told Rebecca Jarvis on the ABC Radio podcast “No Limits with Rebecca Jarvis.”

She believes her company is a billion-dollar success because it speaks directly to its community through household products, her book “The Honest Life,” and through social media on the company’s blog.

“It’s more like a friend,” she added. “And the education is accessible and easy to understand and digestible. And then, building a community of like-minded folks – I thought was really important.”

Her take on commanding respect in her latest endeavor?

“I think you have to operate with self-awareness in everything that you do. And I think you have to know your audience. I think it’s how you communicate what you’re trying to get across, whether it’s something someone agrees with or not, if you do it in a tactful way, you will have respect,” Alba says.

The toughest lesson she learned in business is like the toughest lesson she learned in love: being able to grow from your experiences.

“I think the biggest thing is when you do get slighted — it’s sort of like my first boyfriend who really broke my heart. It was hard for me to love again, and I think no one should ever affect you so much, or hurt you so much that they close you off and close your heart off from trusting, or experiencing a real human connection.”

For someone who became an actor to become someone else, Alba’s biggest success may be a more recent achievement, being herself.

“I think you just kind of have to be happy with your journey, and you have to be on your own journey. You have to find joy in small things, and you have to try and live in the moment as much as possible because life is short.”

Listen to the full interview on the podcast, “No Limits With Rebecca Jarvis.”

Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

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