Jessica Alba isn’t afraid of the direction her life is going in.
Once upon a time, Alba’s face was everywhere you turned when it came to the latest film. She was Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four movies, Nancy in Sin City, and the iconic Max Guevara in Dark Angel. But as time moved on and she grew as an actor, mother, and advocate, her perspective on what she wanted shifted. And that’s exactly what Remezcla talked about when we had a chance to interview her.
Change is hard no matter who you are. But Alba embraced change with everything that she had when she had a sort of awakening in 2021. Now, it didn’t just happen in a bang and all of a sudden and she knew that she wanted to take her life in a different direction. It started in a trickle when she had her daughter Honor in 2008 and she was inspired to create her company Honest, a business that dedicated itself to providing clean products for daily living.
Flash forward to 2021 and Alba was in a place where she realized that this is what she wanted to do. She wanted to change things for herself, for families, but also for others who looked like her. That’s when she decided to take Honest public. According to Alba, “When I took the company public and I was the youngest Latina to take a company public on Nasdaq, I realized how important it is for us to see ourselves in those spaces and how there’s such a lack of diversity of women in leadership across media, government, business.”
Alba wanted to enter those spaces where the power is really held, where she could make change, and where she could show others that they could do the same thing. As Alba explained, “I just feel like the more we can see women in power, black, brown, and any woman of color…I think that we’ll just make more space for diversity and obviously better outcomes for all and more fairness and equality.”
This led her to a new approach for the rest of her life where the work was just beginning for her but she knew that she could do it. For herself, for her family, and for others that look like her. “I always think outside the box, it’s just my nature. And I really kind of had a moment last year and I was like, “Okay, there’s a whole new way, a new lens to approach the rest of my life and thinking about how to make more women, particularly in my community, feel seen, and heard in these spaces that you don’t normally see us.”
That has led her to enter into the financial sector and production side of things and away from acting. She now spends her time investing in women and mentors a lot of entrepreneurs. “It’s about not feeding into the stereotype or the stigma and highlighting different types of stories and different characters.” And her awakening has put her in a position where she feels like “I don’t need to feed into [stereotypes] and I can sort of show that there’s a different way to approach entertainment. That’s my job.”
In a way, it’s kind of like coming full circle for Jessica Alba. Because these pillars of strength that she brings into her work, business, and the change that she wants to create in this world, they started at home. “I would say as a Latina, I grew up in a family where we would take care of people, especially those who are struggling. And always help each other out. And I built my business on those ethos. So I’m going to continue to do that.”
Entering all these new spaces, and being inspired by what her family taught her growing up in combination with her awakening, creates a unique situation with her partner and her children. Because every choice she makes affects them and the world they will inherit. So yes, she’s firmly entrenched in Honest and the many ways that she can inspire her kids to shoot for the stars. But at the end of the day, they’re still kids and she has to keep them active, creative, and going in different ways with partners she trusts. That’s where Nintendo comes in.
“I actually grew up playing Nintendo,” Alba explained, recounting how her dad “never lost his spirit of play and having fun” when her parents had her when they were young. “My dad was in the military. He worked like three jobs. My mom had three jobs. So, you know, it was pretty stressful for my parents. And I would say that one thing that we had and we did consistently as a family was play Nintendo.”
That family time created strong bonds that helped relieve the stresses of the day. And it’s something she’s carried on as a tradition into her own family. And when Nintendo came along to ask if she wanted to partner up with them, she said yes. “It’s something that we do as a family. My dad comes over and we have Sunday dinners and we play as a family. We play Nintendo Switch Sports. It’s super fun and he’s really hilarious. And we’re all competitive so it gets rowdy. But we have a great time.”
With the 2022 World Cup here, Alba is looking forward to playing “soccer”, tennis, and volleyball to get into the spirit of things. (Which, if you’re really into fùtbol, the “soccer” one might be the best bet for you because there’s a leg strap and everything that you put the controller into.) And this honestly goes back to Alba and her switching gears in life to aspects that are more personal and help her connect with others, even if the others she’s thinking about are her family and it’s something as simple as playing a game with each other to help with stress and to reconnect.
There’s no going back to the Jessica Alba that she was before. And that’s not a bad thing. This version of her, like all of us, has learned from her past and gladly taken on a future where every project is important, every voice should be heard, and every moment on this planet is for her, her own family, and the legacy she leaves behind for women like her. And that is worthwhile, every single time, no matter who you are.
