On November 14, Jessica Alba met at Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief, Sally Holmes, for an insightful conversation at MC’s Power Trip 2022 Summit, a networking conference designed to bring together some of the country’s most influential businesswomen to connect, inspire and collaborate.
During the chat, the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of The Honest Company explained to the audience the “really, really not easy” journey of taking her business from the private sector to a publicly traded company in 2021. “This was a really brutal experience. They really try to throw in front of you as many banana peels as humanly possible,” Alba said. “And I would say there’s probably no one better to navigate through the peels. banana than a businesswoman.
“We get these things thrown at us, left, right and center. And it’s about motivating the team to perform and complete as much work as it was. Because it’s a brutal amount of work.
The entrepreneur also spoke about her experience as the youngest Latina to ring the Nasdaq bell, her strategy for guiding a publicly traded company, and more. Read on for highlights from Alba during her chat with Holmes, below.
On Alba’s relationship to her work after more than 10 years:
“I was in parallel with the company, but as I developed over the years my person, my inner self, my connection with my soul, I guess my identity is not as linked to the health of the ‘company. I realize how, however much you want to control everything to the nth degree, when you bring in partners – and certainly when you take other people’s money – it will inevitably take on a life of its own.
She continued, “So it was basically a lesson in partnership with people of such integrity as you are. And I just thought that was interesting. When you think about business or life or anything you want to do where you inevitably have to be in partnership with someone else, even in friendship, you can be all yourself by bringing your authentic self to the table every day. But are they or they? And so I think with me in the business… I was so hard on myself for so long, and then I got to a point where I gave myself some grace. Like, I can’t do much. I cannot make up for the lack of others.
“I was, until not too long ago, extremely uncomfortable with anything good. I felt so unworthy. So I think that’s something else: maybe when there is [are] so few of us at the table in those positions of power, in particular – you know, we represent 50% of the population – but we are so underrepresented in business in many halls of power. You don’t see yourself, you feel like maybe you don’t deserve to be there. And that’s fake news, right? It is the conditioning that we are used to, that we have grown up with, that we have to decompress. …It was an incredible and very rewarding journey. It’s cool. It’s cool how he can take on so many different waves as you grow.
Honest Company Co-Founder Jessica Alba spoke with Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief Sally Holmes at the 6th Annual Power Trip Summit.
(Image credit: Deitch Pham)
On the direction of the strategy of an expanding listed company:
“I guess the strategy as a public company is: what is it in private? In other words, what are the main sectors that affect your health the most? So you look at the market share and you’re like, Is it going to be a $2 million business or is it a $50 million business?”
“And if you’re going to put in the same effort, aim for the $50 million business rather than the $2 million one, because that’s just a better ROI at the end of the day. And then can you really differentiate yourself, can you really compete? Is there a real reason you are there? And can you do it affordably? Because there [are] a lot of things we can do for, like, a million dollars, but if you’re trying to make it accessible, can you scale the idea? And so that’s generally how we approach strategy, and regardless of whether the investor base is public or private [sector]that pretty much gets their buy-in.
What the IPO looked like:
“I would say if you have a peaceful, relaxing life and sleep well at night, don’t take your business public. But who has that? No just kidding. No, it is actually important for us to make our businesses public. It is in fact necessary. Between 2013 and 2020, more than 2,000 companies went public and only 18 of them had female management. It’s wild. … How is it going ? What year is it? What day and what age? What’s going on? How can we overcome this? And [the answer is], Oh wait, because all the power is always where it is. And so the only way to change that is if we’re in those positions of power.
She continued, “You just can’t believe this is how people, companies go public. Because a lot of things really look archaic. … You just need to have really great young people who have the energy to not sleep so much and then you have to have really creative and very smart creative people… I would say it’s probably a handful of people who have really pushed the thing over the edge. But it was, man, it’s really, really not easy. And the process is so wild and hasn’t been updated for too long. It’s a bit like the Electoral College, just obsolete.
On what it feels like to ring the opening bell:
“It’s not where I’m most comfortable,” Alba said of the keynote she gave at the ringing ceremony when The Honest Company celebrated the opening of its initial public offering in 2021. “I love it when someone gives me a few lines. I can remember those lines and use a little emotion to drive it forward. But…I realized in that moment- where [this speech] was like a call to action, but also a way to show up for a community of people who, for the most part, have never been on that stage.
Alba kicked off the lineup at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles on November 14, 2022.
(Image credit: Deitch Pham)
On the future of direct-to-consumer shopping:
“I felt like it was easier to control my destiny by starting a D-to-C brand. And I would say I recommend…having your fundamentals in D-to-C, because that there’s nothing like this property, is there? It’s kind of like the flagship store. Imagine your flagship is online. And so take care of that and no one can take you away that and it’s kind of like your core, so everything else can happen from there.
“But at the end of the day, you have to be where the consumer wants you to be. And so, if the consumer wants you to be in brick and mortar, make sure you have it. If they want you to be in a retail channel, make sure you’re there. Frankly, I don’t think we should be too married to a role model. I think social commerce is actually 10 years behind what it frankly should be. And that’s probably where it’s all going anyway. But when you control the relationship with the consumer, you have so much more power and you can test and learn so much more. You don’t have to rely so much on others for innovation.
On Alba’s advice for leading a predominantly male team:
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a group of men or a group of women, I think it’s hard to get everyone moving in the same direction, period. You have to inspire people to give their best at work every day. And I think micromanagement isn’t great. I’m so guilty of it, [but] then they all kind of load each challenge in front of you and you just keep solving it. And as a founder, you can’t help it, you know? But the more you can afford [your team] learn as you go and not punish them for their mistakes and encourage them to learn from them… I think gender doesn’t matter in these cases.
She continued: “I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not constantly being confronted with manly stuff. Mansplaining and all the stuff…I laugh about it now. I was definitely used to being hurt every time that was happening. And then I was still kind of crazy and then through meditation I found more grace in their experience and knowing that they literally don’t know anything else. They were… they have grew up with machismo or toxic men, you know, men. And that thing was their kind of elevation. And they have relationships with women who for some reason decide not to be equal income in the household. And so they can’t help behaving the way they do. So you don’t have to be so upset every time they do boring things and you just allow it to be what it is. is, but also set firm boundaries.”
How she would look:
“I’m a bad speller. I am an amateur cook. I think I dream big. I’m a dreamer and I believe in people, yes. And I believe in good and I have hope. My job, I think, is probably to unblock as much as possible. Whether it’s storytelling and entertainment or telling stories through products, right? And maybe that’s how I would describe myself. And a very imperfect mom. But my kids always tell me their secrets, so that’s cool.
Alba wowed the crowd with ideas about taking her company public in 2021.
(Image credit: Deitch Pham)
