11 Child Stars Who Started Their Own Brand
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The list of stars who have helped to create their very own brands is constantly growing, with A-listers doing everything from heading up alcohol companies to designing clothes outside of their main trade like acting or singing. There are plenty of current and former child stars who have started their own brands as well. We might forever think of them as their younger selves or characters they played, but these celebrities have grown up since then. Now, they're running businesses and juggling several different jobs at once.
These celebrity-run businesses include makeup brands, clothing labels, and food and beverage products, and they're all pretty successful (it doesn't hurt to have the name of a popular star attached). Some are newer, while others have been around for quite a while now, and there will definitely be more coming down the line.
Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba founded The Honest Company in 2011, and it started out as a baby product company. After Alba gave birth to her first child in 2008, she was inspired to start a company that sold baby products made without potentially harmful ingredients and fragrances. In 2015, Alba told Forbes, "I felt like my needs weren't being met as a modern person. I want beautiful design like everybody else. But it shouldn't be premium-priced, and it should, of course, be safe."
Since then, the company has expanded into Honest Beauty, selling a variety of different makeup, body care, hair care, and skincare products along with their baby and diaper products.
Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore launched Flower Beauty in 2013, a highly successful beauty brand that sells makeup, skincare, and hair products. With experience as the co-creative director of her own Cover Girl campaign, Barrymore had the beauty experience under her belt and wanted to start her own company that was affordable and fun to use.
But that's not all she's done. In 2019, Barrymore expanded the company into home decor with Flower Home. And in 2021, Barrymore also partnered with Made by Gather to create a kitchenware line exclusive to Walmart. Barrymore has continued to have a focus on putting out accessible and affordable options in all of her brands.
Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez effortlessly went from acting, to singing, to starting up her own company. In 2020, she launched Rare BeautyRare Beauty, a makeup line that has been incredibly popular from almost the moment it began. With all products retailing for $30 and under, the brand is meant to be more wallet-friendly, and even the pros rave at how great the products are.
It's also meant to be as inclusive as possible. In a 2022 interview with People, Gomez talked a little bit about starting her company. "What I'm most proud of is the conversation that we've created in the beauty space," she said. "I feel like we were challenging the norms and I really wanted to create a brand that was for everyone."
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Veteran actresses from when they were just babies playing the same character on Full House, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen changed up their career paths in 2006 when they launched their fashion label The Row. What started as a small, 7-piece collection grew into a luxury brand that has shows during fashion week, sells in high-end stores all over, and is a huge player in the fashion world. In 2021, The Row launched a children's collection as well.
In one interview, the twins opened up about how they never wanted the focus of The Row to be on them. "We didn't want to be in front of it, we didn't necessarily even want to let people know it was us," Ashley said. "It was really about the product, to the point where we were like: Who could we get to front this so that we don't have to?"
Millie Bobby Brown
At 17-years-old, Millie Bobby Brown branched out from acting and created Florence by Mills, a beauty brand aimed at Gen Z. The brand sells makeup, skincare, hair products, and accessories, all at affordable price points, made with clean and natural ingredients. The brand was named after Brown's great-grandmother Florence and was inspired by watching her grandmother's love of beauty growing up.
"[Florence by Mills] really started to develop in late 2017, early 2018," Brown told Allure in 2022. "I was on a [long] plane ride and I brought makeup to keep me busy. I realized that I found so much comfort in doing makeup. I loved not the idea of covering up who I was, but of creating different versions of me."
Justin Bieber
Many people don't know that Justin Bieber co-founded Drew House, a unisex Gen Z streetwear brand, with Ryan Good a few years back. Bieber never really spoke about it to anyone. "Drew" is Bieber's middle name. Other than that, the brand is pretty mysterious. The entire "about us" section on their website sums it up succintly: "drew house is a community, a place where you can be yourself and loved, encouraged, safe and valued."
Ariana Grande
In 2021, Ariana Grande started cosmetics brand r.e.m. beauty, which was immediately successful. The cruelty-free products were officially PETA-approved in 2023.
In a 2021 interview with ELLE, Grande said she was "nervous" to start the company, saying she doesn't "ever want to just jump into something that is popular." She went on, "It has to feel super intentional and super fueled by passion. It has to feel super authentic to me. So let’s experiment, let’s dig in, and let’s play with some products. There are so many different versions to tell this makeup story and these formulas are so inspiring. We can bring our own version of this into the beauty space and I’m so excited."
Kylie Jenner
In 2014, Kylie Jenner founded Kylie Cosmetics alongside her mom, Kris Jenner. The company started with just the launch of the Kylie Lip Kits, but quickly grew into a larger cosmetics brand. Today, she heads up Kylie Cosmetics for makeup products, Kylie Skin for skincare, and Kylie Baby for baby products. In 2020, Forbes famously named Kylie the world's youngest "self-made" billionaire in large part due to the success of Kylie Cosmetics.
"I don’t really do it to make money or think that far into the future if this is going to be super-successful," Kylie told ELLE in 2019. "I just knew my talents and was passionate about make-up and lips and lipsticks."It’s been a real love of mine for as long as I can remember. I never even knew that you can really turn your passion into a business, you know. I just followed my heart and went with how I felt. Now I just feel so blessed every day to wake up, have fun doing what I love and make a career out of it. It’s amazing!”
Kendall Jenner
In 2021, Kendall Jenner announced that she had become the latest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan to create a company, and had launched her own tequila brand, 818 Tequila. Although the brand was immediately fraught with controversy, with many calling it a case of cultural appropriation, it appeared to be fairly successful.
"I named this brand 818 as a representation of my hometown in California and the feeling of sharing special moments over tequila with loved ones," Kendall told Entrepreneur in 2023. "The 818 may be my home, but the planet is home to all of us, so we feel a responsibility at 818 to do our best to be as sustainable as possible in all that we do.
Vanessa Hudgens
Caliwater, a California cactus water beverage, was started by Vanessa Hudgens and Oliver Trevena in 2021. The two share a passion for eco-friendly activism. Trevena actually first launched Caliwater in 2014, but it was relaunched with Hudson later on.
"This is a product that I want to share with everyone because it really feels like a passion project that allows my creative juices to flow, and I have so much fun building the brand with Ollie," Hudgens told Forbes after the launch.
Shay Mitchell
Actress Shay Michell travels often, dealing with the same packing problems as anyone else. So, in 2018, she created Beis, a more accessible line of luggage, bags, and other accessories. "I was always feeling like I had to pick between beautiful bags that looked chic and were super-expensive or ugly bags that were super functional and more affordable," Mitchell told InStyle. "I didn’t want to have to compromise on one or the other, and I didn’t feel anyone else should have to, either.
Beis products are incredibly functional, and also very in demand. In April 2023, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the brand was on its way to making $200 million in profitable gross revenue.
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