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It feels like Jessica Alba just covered The Edit a few months ago, but I?m probably thinking of her recent Allure cover or something. In the past few years, Alba has been more and more engaged and engaging in the media, but it?s not for any movie role ? it?s always about The Honest Company, Alba?s billion-dollar company. In The Edit, Alba chats with Tory Burch, her friend and a fellow lady CEO. The whole piece is actually pretty interesting ? go here to read. Some highlights.
Alba on whether she was underestimated: ?Certainly people in Hollywood underestimated me. They absolutely, 100 percent thought I was nuts. In Hollywood they don?t really build businesses, so they don?t really understand what I?m doing. It?s hard for people to take you seriously when you?re known for entertaining, because there are preconceived ideas of what it is to be an entertainer. But you have to have a lot of heart [to be an actor], a lot of drive. You face a lot of rejection, too, and it takes a certain kind of person to withstand that.?
Alba isn?t just some actress/model: ?People are used to seeing someone in my position associated with a brand through an endorsement deal: you show up, they give you your talking points, you say those things, maybe you?re on a couple of billboards, that?s it. I am not that person. I think a bunch of actresses feel like, ?Oh, I have this platform and all these people are making money off of me, I should be able to get a piece of that,? and that?s where their intentions are.?
How she deals with criticism: ?It pisses me off! But as a woman, as an actress, I?ve dealt with that before. I?ve dealt with people undermining me; I?ve dealt with people thinking that I would do anything to get ahead and be successful. I was never that girl. I never dated people to be successful, I never compromised myself, or my beliefs, or my values to get ahead. And you know, in a weird way, I liked it when they didn?t believe in me. It fueled me.?
Working motherhood: ?My girls ask why I work, but I think it?s more of a rhetorical question at this point; they just want to spend time with me. Kids don?t want to be understanding. And they shouldn?t be at this age! When they are 18 they will have perspective, but at four and seven they are just living in their own little world, and it?s all immediate gratification. Sometimes I do a better job at turning off, but right now I have just launched Honest Beauty, with 87 products, and I?m not doing a great job at managing my time. I?m traveling too much, I?m staying at the office too late, and I don?t know how to shut off completely when I go home. But it?s challenging to be a working parent, whether you are a woman or a man.
The gendered words, like ?bossy? or ?difficult?: ?I?ve actually felt this more in the entertainment industry. People never say a male actor is difficult, they call him smart, but if a woman did the same thing, she would be considered a bitch? I find it funny when I get called ambitious! I?ve even had my agents do intros and say, ?She?s a very ambitious young lady.? And I?m always like, ?What the f–k does that mean?!?
[From The Edit]
?I?ve dealt with people thinking that I would do anything to get ahead and be successful. I was never that girl. I never dated people to be successful, I never compromised myself, or my beliefs, or my values to get ahead.? Do you believe her? I think I believe her. Before Cash Warren, Alba was never really in showmances (although she was engaged to Michael Weatherly early on) and it definitely felt like she wasn?t parlaying much of her personal life for professional gain. As for gendered words? I agree that ?bossy? is a gendered word, and ?difficult? has a gendered context too. But ?ambitious? to me can go either way. Like, Leonardo DiCaprio is really ambitious this year. It?s his ambition to hustle his way into the Best Actor Oscar. See?
Photos courtesy of The Edit.
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