Celebrity moms have a lot of responsibilities to juggle. They are a mom, a wife, a media presence, yet somehow they still manage to run their own businesses also. Here are the top ten celebrity moms who are running successful businesses at the same time as managing their place in the spotlight, and raising their children.
Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba is a mother to two daughters- Honor and Haven. Alba is an actress and business woman with a net worth of $20 million. Inspired by the birth of her first child Honor in 2008, Alba decided to co-found The Honest Company.
Alba became serious about this business venture when her mother recommended a product for her daughter, a product that resulted in a welt outbreak. The Honest Company creates non-toxic household products and baby products as an alternative to the existing market of products that are allegedly filled with toxins such as petrochemicals and synthetic fragrances.
However, it took Alba three years to find her business partners- Brian Lee, Sean Kane and Christopher Gavigan. The Honest Company launched in 2011, with 11 products. By 2013, sales had reached $50 million. Then, in November 2014, the company had 275 employees and $150 million in sales, with a value of $1 billion. Currently, The Honest Company products are available in the United States and Canada. There was talk about expanding to England and Australia, but that is on hold as they prepare for a launch in China.
I founded The Honest Company on this idea: Everything that touches you and your family--everything in your home--needs to be nontoxic, needs to be effective and beautiful to look at, and needs to be affordable. - Jessica Alba
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani, mother of three, is best known as the front woman of No Doubt and sassy rockstar solo artist. However, she as also created her own very successful clothing line, L.A.M.B - Love Angel Music Baby- which was launched in 2004. L.A.M.B was the name of Stefani's debut solo album.
The line is eccentric and eclectic- taking inspiration from Guatemalan, Jamaican and Japanese fashions. In addition to L.A.M.B, Stefani created a Harajuku Lovers fashion line.
The collection includes a camera, perfume, mobile phone charms and undergarments. There is also a line of L.A.M.B. Fashion dolls, adorned in the costumes worn by Stefani and her Harajuku Girls whilst on tour. Stefani's successful fashion line paved the way for an animated series about her and the Harajuku girls, which features herself and the four girls fighting evil as they strive to pursue their music career.
Stefani is not only a super successful artist, but also a successful clothing line producer. Stefani has sold more than thirty million albums worldwide, was ranked 13th in the 100 greatest women in music, and has a net work of $80 million.
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson, mother of two, originally known for being a singer, has now become a highly successful entrepreneur with her own fashion line, Weight Watchers deal and as a TV host. The Jessica Simpson Collection includes sunglasses, accessories, handbags, shows, clothing and fragrances. The brand was initially launched in 2006 as a shoe collaboration with Vince
Camuto, co-founder of Nine West. The collaboration was such a success that Simpson kept adding to the brand, resulting in the launch of the Jessica Simpson Collection. The year 2008 saw Simpson launch a fragrance line with the fragrance 'Fancy', which eventuated in three more fragrances. In 2009, Jessica Simpson's Intimates began selling in department stores and online shopping sites. In 2011, Simpson launched the e-commerce beauty site BeautyMint. Simpson branched out into bedroom décor in 2013.
The Jessica Simpson Collection alone makes $1 billion in revenue a year, making it the first celebrity owned clothing line ever to earn $1 billion in annual sales. Simpson is currently estimated to have a net worth of $100 million. Of her brand's success, Simpson told New York magazine in February 2011
"When it comes to other celebrity brands, I think a lot of people do a great job, but it can't be all about them. Everybody doesn't want to just look like the celebrity, because they can't. They just want one element of that style."
Kim Kardashian
Kimmy K is never out of the headlines. In addition to being a reality TV star, model, mother of one with one on the way, and wife to superstar Kanye West, Kim is a business woman.
Kim Kardashian does not have just one business that she earns revenue from- she has her fingers in many pies. Kim has been promoting Hype Energy brand overseas for a few years. She also has her own selfie book, titled Selfish. She has her own game available as an app- Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Kim has a self titled perfume and a beauty line. The Kardashian sisters also have their own clothing boutique, DASH, which has stores at four locations in the Unite States.
Kim certainly is a business woman, and she never passes up on an opportunity to make money- her current net worth is $1.2 billion!
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow, mother of two, is an actress turned lifestyle blogger. Paltrow started her website - Goop- back in 2008. Paltrow says that she begun the site as a place to 'Share all of life's positives'. The lifestyle blog runs as a weekly newsletter, and focusing on fashion, interiors, recipe, style advice, events and more.
In addition to her acting career and her blog, Paltrow has also written cookbooks. In October 2007, she was on the PBS television series Spain...On the Road again.
The show showcased the food and culture of Spain. The following year, Paltrow co-wrote a book by the same name with Mario Batali. This inspired her to write her own book in 2011, titled My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family and Togetherness. In the same year Paltrow wrote the book Notes From the Kitchen Table.
Two years later, she published a book called It's All Good: Delicious Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great.
Bethenny Frankel
Bethenny Frankel is known for being one of the wives on the Real Housewives of New York City. However, the mompreneur is much more than this. Frankel has become a talk show host, author and entrepreneur with her business SkinnyGirl Cocktails.
SkinnyGirl Cocktails was founded in 2011. The business provides a range of low-calorie, ready to drink cocktails that have become a staple item for women everywhere. The range includes such drinks as a Margarita and Sangria. The company has been sold to Fortune Brand's Beam Global for $100 million!
Frankel has also penned four self help books. The first was Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting. This was published in March of 2009, quickly followed by The SkinnyGirl Dish: Easy Recipes for Your Naturally Thin Life in December of the same year.
The year 2011 saw Frankel publish another book, A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You want Out of Life, and in 2012, Skinnydipping. Frankel also has one exercise DVD: Body by Bethenny, and one audio book: The Skinnygirl Rules.
Tori Spelling
Tori Spelling loves being a mom. The American Actress known for playing Donna Martin on Beverly Hills 90210 has four children, and is also a blogger and author.
On Tori's website, ediTORIal, she gives out advice and tips on how to handle being a mom. However, it is Spelling's work as an author that has earned her a place on this list of celebrity business moms. Her first book was an autobiography, titled Stori Telling, and was on the top of the New York Times Best Seller list in 2008.
One year later, Spelling was named the best celebrity autobiography of 2009. Spelling's second book came out that year, and was titled Mommywood. She wasted no time in writing a third, uncharted terriTORI, which was released in 2010.
"I love sharing my stories and experiences with people and connecting to them on both a humorous and emotional level. The response to my first two books has been so amazing that I wanted to write a third one for my fans."- Tori Spelling.
Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa, mother to three, is a former soap star who became a talk show host and producer. Kelly Ripa was named one of the Most Powerful People in Media in the year 2012.
Ripa's career began in 1986, when she became a regular dancer on Dancin' On Air'. Her first major acting role came four years later in 1990, as Hayley Vaughan on All My Children.
This gig lasted for 12 years until she left in 2002. Ripa's move into hosting came when Kathie Lee Gifford left the show Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. Regis Philbin began holding auditions for a new co-host, and it was then that the found Ripa. He reflects upon the moment he found Ripa in his autobiography, saying:
There was one guest we'd had on with us a few years before who had [a certain sparkle]. Hers was a natural, quick-witted, unaffected, confident, fun-loving kind of sparkle that both Gelman and I remembered very well. We decided to invite her back, this time to consider her as a possible co-host. So that was when this smiling, petite ball of fire named Kelly Ripa made her return to Live! for a test run at the rotating, up-for-grabs hot seat to my left. And my God, who knew what spontaneous combustion we'd make together?
Ripa was announced as official replacement in the year 2001. Within months, the renamed Live! with Regis and Kelly's young-audience demographics increased by 80 percent with Ripa credited for bringing "a new life to the show." Ten years later, Regis retired and Ripa was made head of the show, which was now retitled Live! With Kelly, until a new co-host was found in 2012 and the show was named Live! With Kelly and Michael!
Ripa has been named one of People's Most Intriguing People. She has been incredibly successful in her role as a talk show host.