Anita Roddick, entrepreneur, Body shop

Extract

[...] Anita worked hard to help them by taking orders, clearing tables and buttering slices of bread. Her father died when she was ten. Her mother, who was 39, took over the full-time running of the café and raised 4 kids by herself. Anita began to work harder in the café for the survival of the family. In the sixties, Anita's mother sold the café and bought a nightclub. Anita learned that both style and music are important for creating an atmosphere. [...]

[...] The façade was green and it became the colour of The Body Shop. However, it was just a necessity choice because it was the only colour she could find to cover the damp, mouldy walls of her first shop. In this shop, Anita Roddick offered 25 products of 5 sizes, so it looked like she had 120 products. It was a great idea because it gave people choices. Moreover, Anita could not offer enough of the cheap bottle. She turned it into a survivor's option: customers pick up the size they wanted and came back to refill. [...]

[...] Appendix: Anita Roddick in brief[4] • Born: Oct • Married: T. Gordon Roddick • Children: Justine 1969, Samantha 1971 • Grandchildren: Maiya Hopi 1994, Atticus-Finch 1998, O'sha Sophia Bluebell 1998 • Education: Maude Allen Secondary Modern School for Girls, Littlehampton Newton Park, College of Higher Education, Bath Career 1962-76 • Worked in Library of International Herald Tribune, Paris • Teacher of English and History, England • Worked in Women's Rights Dept. of International Labor Organization based at UN in Geneva • Owner and manager of restaurant and hotel in Littlehampton • Opened The Body Shop (Int. [...]

[...] After a few years of teaching, Anita decided to travel across the world. Firstly, she went to Greece and Switzerland, where she worked in the women's rights department at the International labour organisation. She did research on women in the third world, and it is still one of her hobbyhorse. After that, she continued to travel to Tahiti, Madagascar, Mauritius and South Africa. During her travels, Anita had a lot of what she calls “life experiences”, which formed her character. In an interview, she said, “travelling is like university without walls. [...]

[...] Activism Anita Roddick describes herself as an activist and a campaigner since the age of 10, when she read a book about the holocaust. We know that she started The Body Shop simply as a way to create a livelihood for her family. But with the success of her business, she realised that she had the power and the potential to do good, to make a difference in the world and to contribute to society. She could achieve this through her business. [...]