RETAIL
Fast Company|Winter 2023-2024
An Honest Effort Amid flagging sales and rising competition, Honest Company CEO Carla Vernon is preparing to reinvent the brand.
AINSLEY HARRIS
RETAIL

HONEST COMPANY CEO CARLA VERNÓN saw her first diaper "cake" at a friend's baby shower in 2017. The Instagram-worthy centerpiece featured tiered stacks of Honest's flagship eco-friendly diapers and infant-care products, such as wipes and baby wash, all wrapped up with a bow.

At the time, Vernón was managing brands like Annie's, Cheerios, and Larabar for General Mills. "I think of myself as a very nerdy consumer products brand builder," says Vernón, who looks the part, wearing lime-green glasses, when we speak via Zoom in late September. The pride of place given to Honest's diaper cake made it clear to her that something about the brand was resonating. She made a mental note: "This generation is picking a different diaper than my parenting generation picked."

In the years since, interest in brands like Honest - which makes eco-friendly, hypoallergenic baby, household, and beauty products including diapers, wipes, lotion, and mascara-has only grown, with smaller brands and consumer packaged goods (CPG) giants alike rolling out similarly "clean" and "natural" products. Spending on wellness products and services hit an estimated $450 billion in the U.S. last year, according to McKinsey & Company. But Honest, a trailblazing company launched by actor Jessica Alba more than a decade ago and once valued at $1.7 billion, has struggled to maintain its early momentum. Dozens of clean startups now compete with Honest for space on retail shelves and in social media feeds. The company, which hit a market cap of $1.44 billion after going public in 2021, is now worth just over $120 million. Revenue dipped in 2022 to $314 million. Management needs to "rebuild credibility," Morgan Stanley analysts wrote last November.

Denne historien er fra Winter 2023-2024-utgaven av Fast Company.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra Winter 2023-2024-utgaven av Fast Company.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA FAST COMPANYSe alt
THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL
Fast Company

THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL

In the era of hybrid teams, everyone is a road warrior-not just sales teams and C-suite execs. It's part of why business travel spending is expected to finally reach, and perhaps surpass, pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, according to Deloitte. But, as with everything, work trips are not what they were in 2019. From airlines to banks, companies are finding new ways to make business travel easier-and even a little fun.

time-read
5 mins  |
Fall 2024
INTELLIGENT IMPACT
Fast Company

INTELLIGENT IMPACT

BUSINESS LUMINARIES SHARE HOW AI CAN INTERSECT WITH SOCIAL MISSION.

time-read
1 min  |
Fall 2024
REDDIT'S REVENGE
Fast Company

REDDIT'S REVENGE

IN AN ERA OF AI UPHEAVAL. THE CACOPHONOUS SOCIAL HUB EMERGES AS THE HUMAN-DRIVEN INTERNET'S LAST GREAT HOPE.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2024
SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE
Fast Company

SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE

In the Ozempic era, Weight-Watchers is remaking itself to be something for everyone meal-plan program and a tele-health prescription service. But have consumers already lost their appetite?

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2024
10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS
Fast Company

10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS

In honor of Fast Company's 10th Innovation Festival in September, we identified 10 industrious leaders whose groundbreaking efforts defined the past decade in business. We spoke to them about their extraordinary achievements in tech, medicine, entertainment, and more. And we explored how the impact of their work has withstood passing fads, various presidential administrations, a pandemic, and many, many quarterly reports.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2024
The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar
Fast Company

The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar

How a beloved 1970s candy got called back up to the major leagues.

time-read
8 mins  |
Fall 2024
Gabriella Khalil
Fast Company

Gabriella Khalil

Gabriella Khalil, creative director, answers our career questionnaire.

time-read
2 mins  |
Fall 2024
The Fast and the Furious
Fast Company

The Fast and the Furious

High prices at McDonald's, Taco Bell, and other chains are sparking consumer revolt.

time-read
6 mins  |
Fall 2024
Lost in Truncation
Fast Company

Lost in Truncation

Lost in Truncation Generative AI was supposed to unleash our creativity. Instead, it became our cultural trash compactor. Welcome to the age of summarization.

time-read
4 mins  |
Fall 2024
Campus Radicals
Fast Company

Campus Radicals

Welcome to UATX, Austin's new well-funded and controversial anti-woke university.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Summer 2024