Twelve years after its formation in 2012, The Honest Company co-founder Jessica Alba is stepping down from a leadership role at the company, Alba announced on Instagram. Her most recent role had been serving the company—which sells baby, skincare, bath, and beauty products—in the role of chief creative officer.
“It is with a grateful heart that, 12 years after founding The Honest Company, I am stepping down from my leadership role as Chief Creative Officer,” she wrote. “However, I will continue to provide strategic advice through my role on the board. While there would never have been an easy time to make this decision, I know we have a leadership team in place with Carla Vernón at the helm to advance our founding vision and strengthen Honest’s legacy as an industry changemaker.”
The company went public in May 2021, and in her Instagram post, Alba wrote that building the business has been a “true labor of love”: “From the first concept book I pitched to my friends in Mommy and Me class, to ringing the bell at Nasdaq with my family by my side—this journey has been the ride of a lifetime, one that only existed in my wildest dreams,” she wrote. She added that she is “forever grateful,” and concluded her post by writing “Thank you for showing me that a girl with an unconventional path in business could help lead a movement for good.”
USA Today reports that Alba is stepping down to “shift her creative energy to new endeavors,” with E! News adding that Alba will redirect her focus to “new projects and passions.” The origins of the company stem from when Alba experienced an allergic reaction to laundry detergent she used to wash baby clothes. (Alba and her husband, Cash Warren, are parents to three kids.) The Honest Company bills itself as “a personal care company dedicated to creating clean- and sustainably-designed products,” and when it went public in 2021, it had an estimated value of $2 billion, according to Reuters.