Current:Home > InvestHow Jessica Alba's Mexican Heritage Has Inspired Her Approach to Parenting-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
How Jessica Alba's Mexican Heritage Has Inspired Her Approach to Parenting
View Date:2024-12-23 19:29:38
While everyone's getting hyped for spooky season by snapping up Halloween costumes and pumpkin-scented everything, Jessica Alba is busy crafting plans for her family's ofrenda.
With Día de Muertos coming up Nov. 1 and 2, "We celebrate everyone who's passed," the actress explained of the tradition in an exclusive interview with E! News' Francesca Amiker. "I also have a wall in my house with all of our family members, our ancestors."
Among the photos hanging in the Los Angeles-area home she shares with husband Cash Warren, 44, and their kids Honor, 15, Haven, 12, and Hayes, 5: Great-grandfather Daniel Martinez, who had grown frustrated by having to send his darker-skinned children to Mexican schools "while those with light skin and blonde or red hair were allowed to attend schools with white students," Alba outlined in a 2016 PopSugar essay, and decided to open his own East Barrio School for Latinos in Claremont, Calif.
Then there's her grandfather José Alba, who practiced traditional Mexican dance and became a classical guitarist and her grandmother Isabel Martinez who deftly earned her GED, helped support the family while her husband was in school and "raised generations of family in their home," shared the 42-year-old. "She's my icon of resourcefulness, determination, and drive. Basically, she's the ultimate boss."
And, yes, if Alba's being, um, honest, she knows she owes a piece of her billion-dollar brand to all the bosses who came before her.
"I stand on the shoulders of giants who sacrificed so much for me to be here," The Honest Company cofounder, who largely grew up in her grandmother's California home, told E! News. "And it's an honor that I get to be here and live out this reality because my grandparents sacrificed so much for my father and his siblings and then for me to be here."
It's particularly meaningful when she considers the "wild racism" they had to contend with (as a kid, her grandfather couldn't swim in a public pool without first showing a certificate of vaccination). "So for them to come out head high and pushing through," said Alba, it makes everything that she's been able to accomplish feel that much more poignant.
So, yes, while she'll be enjoying her share of pan dulce cookies this Hispanic Heritage Month (both the conchas and menudo were on the menu at her family's Sunday dinners), "Celebrating our culture and our family is an everyday thing," Alba explained, "because that's who we are. We're always surrounded by our culture and our community and the family and the traditions."
For the actress, that means never missing a moment to highlight Latinx entrepreneurs and other small businesses (among her faves: La Monarca Bakery, apparel brand Viva La Bonita and Chicago gift shop Colores Mexicanos). It's a mission that led to Honest's recent collaboration with bilingual board book brand Lil' Libros, their sugar skull-adorned diapers just one of many offerings on display at BabyList's new experiential shopping space in L.A.
"I would say the ethics and values I embedded in Honest—that family being there for people no matter what, especially when they're down—that's very Mexican or how I grew up Mexican," Alba explained, adding she's "very proud" to have grown her brand in that vision.
That mindset is also something she's working to instill in her children, Alba sharing how she's impressed upon them, "You always help out your neighbor, you always try and put yourself in their shoes."
And she never misses an opportunity to remind her crew of the hard work that went into affording their fancy kicks.
"I have been fortunate enough that I've been able to actually bring a kid along on business trips," Alba explained. "I actually like my kids to see me working and I want them to see what it's like." And while that might mean, say, a trip to Paris filled with top-notch room service, sightseeing and watching the French Open, she noted, "sometimes they'll sit in the corner and I'm doing a boring meeting."
The goal, she continued, is "getting them outside of that everyday routine and having them see your life isn't free. There's a cost. There's things that we have to do as parents in order for you to have what you have."
Because Alba was brought up in the same neighborhood where her great-grandfather opened a school that proudly taught Mexican history—both an hour east and a world away from where she and Warren are raising their brood.
"I didn't grow up with this," she acknowledged, referencing the red carpet events, vacations and Beyoncé concerts her kids get to enjoy. "I had to create this for myself and my husband had to create this for himself. And I think it's good for your kids to connect with what that means. Because our kids are living a very different life than how we grew up."
Thankfully, the rich history remains.
veryGood! (861)
Related
- 2 weeks after Peanut the Squirrel's euthanasia, owner is seeking answers, justice
- Saddle up Cowgirl! These Are the Best Western Belts You’ll Want to Pair With Everything
- Target's car seat trade-in event kicks off April 14. Here's what to know.
- Ka-ching! Taylor Swift lands on Forbes' World's Billionaires list with $1.1B net worth
- Wendi McLendon-Covey talks NBC sitcom 'St. Denis Medical' and hospital humor
- Mayor shot dead while at restaurant with his 14-year-old son in Mexico
- Wisconsin Gov. Evers vetoes transgender high school athletics ban, decries radical policies targeting LGBTQ
- Man arrested after allegedly filming his brother strangling their sister to death in honor killing in Pakistan
- Army veteran reunites with his K9 companion, who served with him in Afghanistan
- Forbes has released its list of the world's billionaires. There are more than ever before — and they're wealthier.
Ranking
- UConn, Kansas State among five women's college basketball games to watch this weekend
- 'Freaks and Geeks' star Joe Flaherty dies at 82, co-stars react: 'Gone too soon'
- Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg announces new rule to bolster rail safety
- Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg announces new rule to bolster rail safety
- Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
- Man arrested after allegedly filming his brother strangling their sister to death in honor killing in Pakistan
- Kansas City Chiefs’ Rashee Rice leased Lamborghini involved in Dallas crash, company’s attorney says
- Iran vows deadly suspected Israeli airstrike on its consulate in Damascus will not go unanswered
Recommendation
-
Why Suits' Gabriel Macht Needed Time Away From Harvey Specter After Finale
-
New England braces for major spring snowstorm as severe weather continues to sock US
-
Students with disabilities more likely to be snared by subjective school discipline rules
-
'Euphoria' star Hunter Schafer is 'happy to share' that she and singer Rosalía previously dated
-
Travis Kelce's and Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Houses Burglarized
-
Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg announces new rule to bolster rail safety
-
Tennessee governor accepts resignation of Memphis judge indicted on coercion, harassment charges
-
King Charles greets spectators at Easter service, in first major public outing since his cancer diagnosis