As a child, actress Jessica Alba was plagued with chronic illness. “I was always sick,” the 37-year-old has said. “I had really severe allergies. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized some of that was caused by toxins in things like detergent.” That discovery led to a major change in her life.

In 2007, during her first pregnancy, Jessica felt forced to confront the issue. “I took allergy medicine every single day,” she explained, “but when I got pregnant, I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”
So she cleaned house, tossing all products that contained unhealthy chemicals.

After replacing them with costly, nontoxic versions, she had two realizations. The first, she said, was that “I don’t have to have a sore throat every day.” Then she shifted her concern to others, explaining, “You shouldn’t have to be in a certain tax bracket just to afford safe household cleanser.”

In 2008, the actress began developing an idea for an all-natural household-product line. “Everything that touches you and your family in your home needs to be nontoxic, needs to be effective and beautiful to look at and needs to be affordable,” she decreed. By 2012, Jessica had developed The Honest Company. The brand launched online with
17 products, including personal-care products, cleaning solutions and baby provisions like nontoxic diapers.

Naturally, Jessica knew
she was entering an industry dominated by multibillion-dollar companies. “These companies have been doing the same thing
for decades,” the Sin City star said. “It just needed to be done differently … three years later, they asked if they could invest.”

“If I can prevent my children from getting cancer, I will do absolutely anything,” Jessica said. “If I can keep them healthier by using more natural products, then of course I will, and I’d encourage every parent to do the same.”