'It's a Part of Me': Jessica Alba Says Stepping Down from The Honest Company Was 'Sad'

Jessica Alba's decision to leave her role as The Honest Company's Chief Creative Officer was not an easy one to make

Published Time: 15.06.2024 - 02:31:04 Modified Time: 15.06.2024 - 02:31:04

Jessica Alba's decision to leave her role as The Honest Company's Chief Creative Officer was not an easy one to make.

Two months after announcing that she would be stepping down from her leadership position and over a decade after first launching the company, the multi-hyphenate, 43, is opening up about how she knew it was the right decision.

"I wanted to leave it in a good place," explained Alba on the Wednesday, June 12, episode of the What Now? with Trevor Noahpodcast.

"When I realized that the business really needed the more kind of streamlined flow, and not the visionary flow, I had to start thinking about what that meant for my role, and it took me a hot minute to get there," she said. "I needed to leave it in hands that I knew it would be safe and with the right team."

Alba said that while she finally felt like she could "let my kid go off to college," it was a "sad" decision to make.

"It's sad because, yeah, it's a part of me. It's a child. So I even like thinking about my kids all of my kids' first day of kindergarten, I wept. You know? It's like it's a milestone. I don&# -

39;t think it's ever easy," she said.

The actress expressed that she's learning how to "sit in stillness" after stepping down from her role with the beauty and health products company."It's a weird journey thinking about, I guess, just this idea that I can be worthy of love or kindness or existence without achieving. You know? I remember when I was younger, I was like I just always felt like I needed to have a point," said Alba. "Like, what's my point? Like, why do I exist? Like, why did God put me here?"

"I questioned that since I was probably 3 or 4," she continued. "I would say, 'What's my point?' to my parents? Like, 'What's the point of this?' And I think I've sometimes, maybe my point or our point is to just, I don't know, sit in stillness and, like, breathe. I'm learning how to do that."Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Alba echoed similar sentiments in her announcement in April, expressing that she built the company as a "labor of love." She remains on the company's board of directors.

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