The Body Shop's Anita Roddick Speaks Out
Anita Roddick plays many roles. She is an entrepreneur, a human rights activist, an environmentalist and an animal rights crusader. She is a wife, a mother and grandmother, a philanthropist, an author and, sometimes, an in-your-face rabble-rouser. She is also a businesswoman with a heart -- and glad of it. By Katie Sosnowchik. Read More
Home is where the heart is, runs the adage. But to Anita Roddick, the 58-year-old co-chair of The Body Shop, there is a new bottom line at play, one where the heart belongs equally at work. To prove it, Roddick has spent the past 24 years using the skin and hair care retail business she founded to lead the way in effecting positive social and environmental change on local levels — with global impact.
Roddick is dynamic and candid, a self-proclaimed activist and agitator. Ask her about any number of environmental and social issues, from infants born in Mexico with genetic handicaps as the result of toxic wastes dumped in local streams to the plight of the Ogoni people in Nigeria, and she will provide a unabashed assessment of her beliefs.
Her unrelenting resolve has led her to be inherently identified with the thriving company that she began in 1976. Her single shop in Brighton on the south coast of England sold 25 hand-mixed, naturally inspired products with minimal packaging. With no business training or experience, she recalls that the entrepreneurship was basically all about survival, which in turn nurtured the creative thinking that eventually led The Body Shop to where it is today. The company operates in 48 countries with more than 1,800 outlets spanning 24 languages and 12 time zones. It estimates that between 1998 to 1999, The Body Shop sold a product every 0.4 seconds (from a merchandise mix that now includes more than 600 products and more than 400 accessories) with more than 84 million customer transactions worldwide.
Creative thinking, certainly, has contributed to this growth, but so, too, has Roddick’s unstoppable passion to further her own personal values, values which she says are impossible to separate from the business.
“We are Britain’s largest truly international retailer, and our passion for the human condition is for me the most important collective attribute we have,” Roddick said recently. “Lose it and we lose our identity — we lose ourselves. It is our values that will keep us as a leader in business. Being 20 times bigger is not a goal for me. Being better by being values-led is.”
Roddick emphasizes that The Body Shop is not a one-woman show. In 1998 she relinquished CEO responsibilities to Patrick Gournay, formerly executive vice president of Danone’s North and South American Division. Roddick remains as co-chair alongside her husband, Gordon Roddick, and estimates that she now spends about 90 percent of her time on The Body Shop business, a large part of that traveling the world to source new products.
She readily acknowledges the contributions to the company’s mission made by the thousands of individuals who work together for a common goal. For example, since June 1990, hundreds of The Body Shop volunteers have paid their own way every summer to participate in the work of Children on the Edge, a program of The Body Shop Foundation.
“When you open for business and advertise for staff, you get a shock — because people come instead. It wasn’t so important to motivate your employees in the past, but it’s different now. People dream bigger dreams. They want work to be filled with opportunities for personal growth and discovery. They want to be part of a social experiment, they want to change the way things are, and they want to feel good. In short, they want a 9 to 5 life rather than a 9 to 5 death.”
Roddick began her professional career first as a teacher. She also has managed a restaurant, and then a hotel. She has seen parts of the world most of us will never see; she talks of global crises and triumphs most of us will never experience. She speaks from the heart and of the heart, one she wears proudly on the work sleeves she rolls up daily in her uncompromising campaign for human rights — everywhere.
By Katie Sosnowchik.
Q: You talk about five major principles or issues that you believe in — social responsibility, respect for human rights, the environment, animal protection and an absolute belief in community trade. Can someone care about one without considering the others or is it a total package?
AR: I believe the fundamental issue of the five is human rights. If you are concerned about the quality of life of your fellow human beings, it follows that you are concerned about their physical, social, economic and spiritual environment, so human rights ties the other issues together. But without that fundamental commitment, I guess it’s possible to be committed to animal protection, say, and not feel particularly passionate about community trade.
Q: Do you think consumers consider a company’s social responsibility when choosing goods?
AR: It’s increasingly true that consumers want to make ethical choices, and they can hit the bottom line where it hurts most. According to a survey taken in 21 countries by Price Waterhouse Coopers, four out of 10 consumers around the world responded in some way against actions they thought were unethical during 1999. Shell, Nike and Monsanto famously felt the wrath of the vigilante consumer. I think the movement toward ethical consumerism is an inevitable result of the growing public realization that business has to play the social role that accords with its position in society today.
Q: The Body Shop is a leader in cause-related marketing. Why has it been successful for your company and not for others?
AR: Two words: honesty and integrity. Our principles have never been a market-driven add-on. They are part of our corporate DNA, and our products are a natural reflection of that. Consumers can smell a fake.
Q: What factors led to the decision to produce social and environmental audits?
AR: When you’re attempting to run a double bottom line — profits and principles — life can get pretty hectic. We were attempting to do so many different things that it became critical for us to establish some way to measure our progress, to mark our successes and spotlight our shortfalls. An independent auditing system was an important incentive for us, and a valuable blueprint for other companies if they chose to follow.
Q: The Body Shop’s environmental policy includes a statement about assessing the performance of your suppliers. Has this process been difficult to achieve?
AR: To protect the integrity of the supply chain, we don’t start relationships with new manufacturers unless they undertake a full social, environmental and animal audit. Suppliers are asked to complete a screening questionnaire which tells us all we need to know from the environment, health and safety and quality points of view. The bottom line is this: The Body Shop is a huge client, so suppliers want our business, which means they’ll comply. In the rare instances where we have uncovered irregularities after starting a relationship, it is quickly terminated if the problems aren’t rectified.
Q: In one of the articles we read, you say that you related to the quote, “A woman in advancing old age is unstoppable by any earthly force.” Would you describe yourself as “unstoppable?”
AR: Hmmmm … obviously I would like to think that nothing can come between me and the things I have to do. I feel the steady shedding of self-consciousness that comes with age is very liberating. My mother always told me that women re-invent themselves in their 50s. Now that I’m there, I agree with her. The opportunities for growth and change are just as exciting as they were when I was 20. Of course, “earthly forces” are more in evidence, but I guess I choose to ignore them.
Q: Tell us a little about your experience at the WTO meeting in Seattle. Was it what you expected? What positive things can come out of it?
AR: Tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets … no, I didn’t expect them and I had the most profound sense of shame that the military might of the Seattle police force was being unleashed on a crowd of peaceful protesters, all in the name of the World Trade Organization. Truncheons, police horses, tanks lined up against kids in T-shirts! It was a revelatory, radicalizing moment, experiencing firsthand the real fruits of globalization: paranoia, naked aggression, government-sanctioned violence, social breakdown.
But by the last day, the atmosphere was entirely different. The last public protest was intensely moving. Here were the real voices of dissent — the indigenous peoples, the farmers. The participation of the unions give the protest such gravitas — all these big guys coming in to protect their families and the ordinary people who had turned out to voice their opposition, not only to the WTO but to the things they’d seen in the previous days.
The result of Seattle will be a radicalization of the anti-globalization movement. It wasn’t just the violence. There were also some remarkable teach-ins and debates on issues such as human rights and GMOs. Ralph Nader and Vandana Shiva versus Procter & Gamble? It was no contest. I thought Nader looked amazing. And people were screaming for more information. Even the guests in my hotel, unconnected with the protests, wanted to know more. The secrecy of the WTO completely backfired. Now many more of us know that only one or two percent of trade is the actual exchange of manufactured and marketed goods. The rest is financial speculation. And whose possible good does that represent?
Something else profound happened in Seattle. As people came up to us and thanked us for being there, it became clear to me that The Body Shop has been living a protest against the WTO simply by its absolute belief in community trade. We’ve seen in Nigeria what international corporations have done and we’ve seen in Ghana what community trade does, and we know which works.
So do our customers. And if any of us in business ever think our customers are passive, they are making a big mistake. We’ve got to stop talking about them as consumers and think about them as having a mind and a soul, as well as a body.
Q: What was the impetus for The New Academy of Business program at Bath University?
AR: We founded the NAB in 1994 together with the Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice at Bath University. The idea came about after I was invited to lecture to MBA students at Stanford. I was appalled at how little guidance they were being given on new business thinking, ethics, human rights or corporate codes of conduct. Recognizing the real need for business education to champion values-aware management, we intended to bridge the gap between visionary business leadership and what is being taught in conventional business schools. The NAB is now working with businesses, universities, NGOs, U.N. agencies and other partners, nationally and internationally, to continue to research, explain and articulate a different model for business. We want to help build the next generation of business education on responsibility, accountability and respect for diversity.
Q: What are the qualities needed today by a leader who wants to drive major change in the world?
AR: André Maurois once said, “The most important quality in a leader is being acknowledged as such.” So how do you go about doing that? Communication is the essential tool of any leadership. And it has to incorporate the language and action of social justice. Communication, motivation, delegation, plus an ability to identify and cultivate talent — these are the fundamentals of effective leadership. The leader sells the dream, but he or she can’t impose it. It has to grow organically out of everyone’s combined efforts and talents. So effective leadership is actually quite subtle. It’s influence, as opposed to control.
Q: What were the major influences in your life that helped form and encourage the values you stand for today?
AR: My mother taught me to challenge everything, just as she had always done. She created a world that allowed my spirit to flourish. Every time I did anything kind or loving to anyone, she would delight in it.
My thinking about business was shaped by my experience of my mother’s café. Working there taught me that business wasn’t financial science, it was all about trading, buying and selling. And I learned a different kind of bottom line: you can bring your heart to work.
My moral outrage at injustice was fired up by a book I found when I was 10. It had a picture essay of the Holocaust and it was a revelation to me that human beings were capable of such evil. It kick-started my early conviction that everyone must stand up for something. It also taught me that the job of a good citizen is to speak out. I think it’s important to take injustices personally. Why should the global search for cheap labor exploit little children? Why should animals suffer for human vanity? Why should big business pollute with impunity? As long as questions like these can be asked, I’ll continue to campaign for change.
Q: Who are your mentors? From where do you draw inspiration?
AR: My mother has been a huge influence and an inspiration. The consumer activist Ralph Nader has been a fearless guide. Theologian Matthew Fox has shown me the place and the importance of spirituality in the everyday. And all the grass roots activists I meet inspire me.
Q: You have received numerous awards and honors. Of which ones are you most proud?
AR: The Order of the British Empire was one of the most traditional awards I’ve been given, but in an odd way, that made it even more meaningful. It was actually awarded for my contribution to employment, but at the time I felt it represented the first major public recognition of The Body Shop’s new way of doing business. The ceremony itself was a memorable event. After the Queen had given me the award, it was taken away to be packed up. Naturally, I left it behind. A courtier came tearing after me to hand it over. And if that wasn’t enough to puncture the solemnity of the occasion, my daughter Sam insisted I’d been recognized for Other Buggers’ Efforts.
Q: Tell us about The Body Shop’s Human Rights award.
AR: On June 21, 2000, we presented The Body Shop’s biennial Human Rights Award for the first time. I feel it’s the logical culmination of everything we’ve stood for the past 25 years. The intention is to give special attention to often neglected areas of social, economic and cultural rights, such as education, housing and health. After all, abuse of human rights doesn’t just mean torture or death. Denial of long-term educational and economic opportunity can mean the death of a whole culture.
Every two years, the award will focus on a different emerging human rights theme, selected by an international jury of experts and activists. This year’s theme was child labour. The four groups we honored are typical of the grass roots activists the award is designed to recognize: small-scale initiatives that might fall below the radar of the mainstream media. We are offering not only money but also international exposure. With over 1,800 shops in 48 countries, we can deliver a powerful awareness-raising message.
Q: What are your hopes and goals?
AR: My immediate plan is a personal publishing venture which will offer another way to be heard. I’ll put whatever money I make into supporting grass roots movements. I plan to spend as much time as possible with activists, agitators and rabble-rousers. In the longer term, I nourish professional dreams of seeing free trade replaced by genuinely fair trade, with human rights and animal and environmental protection at the heart of a new economic world order. I hope Seattle was the start of a sea change in public sensibility.
And for women everywhere, I hope that we can go on working on self-esteem so that we won’t always be so vulnerable to the undermining messages of the media. We have to acquire the habit of making the connection between self-esteem and democracy, dignity, political activism and freedom of sexual expression.
On a lighter note, I would be perfectly happy if Pedro Almodovar called me up and offered me a part in his next film.
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Katie Sosnowchik is editorial director of green@work magazine, a GreenBiz News Affiliate. This story appears by permission. Story copyright 2001 Green@Work magazine, all rights reserved.
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