It took some time for Jessica Alba to really transform into the person she was meant to be. The stunning actress-turned-business mogul recently opened up about her journey through Hollywood and how having children gave her the confidence to embrace her body for what it truly is.

Looking back on 2007, the 38-year-old beauty candidly admitted that she “was insecure” about her overall image. “I felt like I needed to be someone I wasn’t in order to be accepted. I allowed other people’s ideas of who they thought I should be to define me,” Jessica shared with InStyle for the magazine’s 25th anniversary issue.

Fast-forward to 2019 and nearly everything has changed for the Fantastic Four actress. “Who am I now? I give zero f–ks,” admitted Jess, who is the loving mama of Honor, 11, Haven, 7, and Hayes, 1. “I have three children. They’ve exploded my body, and I’m cool with it. And I know I’m smart. I don’t care what everybody else thinks. I’m good, girl. I’m good.”

Jessica revealed that her confidence skyrocketed after meeting and falling in love with her husband of over 10 years, Cash Warren. “I had gotten married and given birth to my two daughters, Honor and Haven,” she began to explain. “For the first time in my life, I was really embracing my womanhood. I was in my early 30s, and it had taken up until then for me to feel confident in my body.”

The Honest Tea founder further dished that in order to feel more happy about herself, she was forced to break away from unfair societal standards. “I also stopped allowing myself to be objectified in the press through a male’s perspective. Screw that, man. It’s OK to be sexy,” she said with pride. “It’s OK to wear a short skirt or a loud print if I feel like it because I own it in my own way. I can flaunt what I want, cover what I want, and still feel good.”

Reflecting back on her first few years in Hollywood, Jessica confessed that things were much different for her. “My son, Hayes, was just 7 months old when I shot my most recent InStyle cover, last July [2018], and if I had been younger, I probably would have been obsessed with dieting and exercising,” she shared. “But instead I thought, ‘This is where I’m at. This is my life. And this is my body.'”

Jessica is so inspiring!