How to Build a Billion Dollar Brand through Honesty with The Honest Company’s Christopher Gavigan

Believe it or not, The Honest Company's Christopher Gavigan doesn’t run a CPG brand.

That’s because the energetic co-founder and chief product officer considers Honest - the makers of beautifully designed, environmentally friendly, and unquestionably safe household products for parents and kids - to be a “portfolio of trust” rather than a typical consumer goods label.

Nomenclature aside, there's no denying that the company has experienced an astounding trajectory. 

Christopher and partners Jessica Alba and Brian Lee launched the company in in  2011 with just 17 products that were all geared toward the young mother. Today, the company sells more than 140 products covering all aspects of the home - all of which are free from toxic ingredients and harsh chemicals.

Meanwhile, the company has grown from three employees to more than 500 in less than four years. Christopher talked to us about what this rocket ship ride has been like, and how they’ve managed to scale so quickly without compromising their culture or core values. 

Key Takeaways

• Christopher tells us how his Master's in psychology helped him build the Honest brand.
• Christopher explains why he believes it’s better to change behavior through knowledge and good news rather than through fear.
• Christopher reveals why he considers The Honest Company to be a “portfolio of trust” rather than a CPG brand.
• Christopher shares the two things that keep him up at night.
• Christopher describes what was like to scale Honest from three to 500 employees in under 4 years, and sheds light on the biggest challenges in that process.
• Christopher explains why he still chooses to take 30-50 customer service calls per week.
• Finally, Christopher tells us why he gets all his work done between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.

Links

• Instagram @christopher_gav
• Twitter @christopher_gav
• Email [e-mail] (note: Christopher enjoys hearing from people and answers all emails personally)
• Healthy Child Healthy World Foundation
• Jeff Dunn, Bolthouse Farms 

Recommended Reading

• Healthy Child Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan
• Christopher’s articles on The Huffington Post 

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