Hollywood hotshot
Jessica’s a billiondollar mama
From the outside, Jessica Alba is unstoppable. She raises three well-rounded kids, runs a billion-dollar company and continues to shine onscreen.
Her secret weapon in juggling it all? The actress/entrepreneur has a loyal team of miniature assistants. While daughter Honor, 10, helps care for baby brother Hayes, 10 months, her sister Haven, seven, likes to lend a hand in the kitchen, whipping up pancakes and eggs for the family.
“It’s just nice for the kids to feel involved and feel like they’re participating,” Jessica says. “As they grow and mature, they get to do more and more things.”
Jessica, 37, the queen of multitasking, knows all too well about
having a full plate, having built her line of eco-friendly baby products into The Honest Company, an empire of beauty, skincare and cleaning supplies.
Her advice to busy working mums? “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re not going to be perfect. You’re going to make mistakes. Try to learn from them. At the end of the day, if you’re doing your best, that’s all you can really do.”
In her case, Jessica learned to thrive by asking for help. The businesswoman, who is married to filmmaker Cash Warren, admits, “I have a great support system, a great husband and a great team at Honest.”
Like a boss!
The key to balancing her family and career, the actress tells, is living in the moment. “At work, I feel responsible for over 350 people, so I feel a lot of pressure in trying to make the right decision and choices.”
If Jessica starts to feel overwhelmed, she takes a moment to regroup. “I listen to a meditation podcast,” reveals the SinCity beauty. “Each one is literally just three minutes long, so I can go into a bathroom stall or do it in my car.”
To further reduce tension, four days per week, she dedicates an hour to working out, alternating cardio and cycling with strength training and yoga.
Her longtime personal trainer Ramona Braganza tells us, “You have a lot of energy in your mid-30s, enough to work, work out and have a family. I’m really proud of what she’s accomplished because she manages her stress with workouts.”
More importantly, perhaps, Jessica doesn’t stress over her diet. When she needs to slim down, she says, “I try to stick to a diet that’s low in sugar and carbs, and high in protein and vegetables.”
But the mum-of-three also indulges at times, admitting, “Life’s too short to deprive yourself!”
It’s a lesson she hopes her kids pick up on. The Fantastic
Four star felt “ashamed” of her body after developing her famous curves early in life, but when she became a mother, Jessica says, “I felt more comfortable in my own skin. If I want them to be happy with their bodies, I need to walk the walk.”
She’s so fine
The actress recently had to amp up her fitness regimen when she began filming the upcoming police drama LA’s
Finest, for which she is also an executive producer, just four months after Hayes was born.
“Acting is my first love,” admits Jessica, adding that she’s been “semiretired” for the past 10 years and was pleasantly surprised to find the industry has changed following the #MeToo movement.
“There’s a new awareness of how important it is for women to be paid well, and to be represented in front of
and behind the camera. For LA’s Finest, I didn’t even think about what a man would be paid. I said, ‘This is what I’m worth.’”
Jessica also believes it’s important for her daughters to see their mother on the job. “I can’t be at every school drop-off and pick-up,” she says, “but I’m showing them my time is valuable and that they have value to me.”
Which is why from the moment she steps into her seven-bedroom Beverly Hills pad, Jessica makes it a point to put down her phone for the night and turn her attention to her children.
“I try to be completely present with them,” she tells us. “I want to make the time I spend with them quality.”
The same goes for the rare alone moments she gets with Cash, 39, who spends more time pitching in at Honest than on film sets these days.
Jessica smiles, “It’s nice to have someone who can just listen, be there for you and cuddle.”