The Mother Of Reinvention

SHE’S BEEN AN ACTION HERO ON THE BIG SCREEN, BUT JESSICA ALBA’S REAL-LIFE ROLE AS AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MOM IS WHERE SHE REALLY KICKS BUTT.

- Tiffany Blackstone

JESSICA ALBA IS PLAYING HOOKY. Well, she will be after this interview – then, instead of heading to the office, she’ll be o to get a massage. Boy, is it well deserved. ‘I sat in a six-hour meeting yesterday, and my pelvis feels like it’s cracking in half,’ she says. The hint of weariness in her voice might have something to do with the fact that when we spoke, Jessica was just 10 days away from delivering her third child, a son named Hayes, with husband Cash Warren. (Daughters Honor and Haven are 10 and 6.) ‘I’m pretty relentless in everything I do … but I’m learning to be better at not pushing myself too hard. I normally wouldn’t have given myself today o .’ And then with a knowing laugh: ‘But right now my kitchen’s a disaster and my garbage cans are full, so I’ll be thinking about that instead of just relaxing.’ Yeah, like most busy moms, Jessica has work to do on the ‘let it go’ front. But in all other ways, that ferocious drive has served the actress turned-mogul well.

‘I was always in trouble with my parents for speaking up and wanting to be an equal part of the conversation. I started working young so I could get that respect,’ she confesses. As a tweenager, Jessica entered an acting competition – and the rest is IMDB history, from a breakout TV role as a superhuman bad ass in Dark Angel to turns in big-screen blockbusters like Fantastic Four. Then, at 27, the expecting mom totally changed lanes: frustrated at the lack of effective natural baby products, she decided to produce them herself. Launched in 2012, The Honest Company (which also offers cleaning products and a makeup and skincare line) has grown exponentially – reports say the private company’s sales hit $300-million (about R3,7-billion) last year.