Profiles in Hustle: Jessica Alba

Why be a humble pitchwoman when you can run a $1 billion company instead?

From the moment she burst onto the scene in TV’s Dark Angel in 2000, Jessica Alba won over the hearts (and everything else) of every American male. But acting was only one phase in the Alba-nization of the United States. After appearances in Sin City, Fantastic Four, and Machete, Alba founded the Honest Company in 2011, which produces non-toxic products for children. But this wasn’t just a vanity project—this was to become her most successful career move yet.

The Honest Company had $150 million in 2014 sales and now carries a valuation of $1 billion – which, when the company goes public, will net the already successful actress quite a pretty penny. Alba was able to take a niche product and expand it into a huge company through hustle and determination – when advisers told her to think small, she went big. Now she has the massive start-up office space to prove the haters wrong. And who wouldn’t want Jessica Alba as a boss?