Jessica Alba, showing off a short new hairstyle and wearing a blazer, white top and long flowing skirt, spoke on the Inc. Presents: The Honest Company panel during the 2015 SXSWMusic, Film and Interactive Festival at the Austin Convention Center on Sunday in Austin, Texas.
Alba launched The Honest Company in 2011 under the premise that everything that touches you and your family, everything in your home, needs to be nontoxic, effective, beautiful, and (most importantly) affordable. The only problem was neither potential business partners nor investors were willing to bet on the idea.
Fast forward three years and The Honest Company is cleaning up the competition with its household and baby products and business strategy. Revenues in 2014 are projected to hit $150 million, and the company has raised $122 million in funding–including a $70 million round in last summer that valued The Honest Company at nearly $1 billion dollars.
In this exclusive conversation with Inc. features editor Lindsay Blakely, Alba with co-founder and CEO Brian S. Lee, open up about what it took to win over the early skeptics, how to build a household brand, and how they’ve come so far so quickly.