Anita Roddick
by Radiyah Shakur
Anita Roddick is a philanthropist, activist, and entrepreneur.
The daughter of Italian immigrants, she founded The
Body Shop, a cosmetics company dedicated to producing
and retailing ethical beauty products.
 Anita
was exposed to various natural beauty practices and
secrets during
her extensive travel after college and with a previous
position with the United Nations. Opening her first
shop in her birthplace of Littlehampton, England in
1976, the shop carried only 15 product lines. Roddick’s
first shop was opened as a way to provide income for
her and her two daughters, while her husband was exploring
the Americas.
Roddick opened her second shop six months later; and
upon her husband Gordon’s return he joined the
company. Over the decades The Body Shop has gained
world wide recognition and financial success- growing
to over 300 product lines, 2,000 outlets in 50 countries.
It was voted the second most trusted brand in the UK
in 2004. In 2002, however, Anita stepped down as co-chairperson
and now spends 80 days a years as a consultant for
The Body Shop. In 2003, Anita was knighted by the Queen
for "services to retailing, the environment and
charity," and became known as Dame Anita Roddick.
Since stepping down Dame Roddick has become heavily
engaged in environmental, fair-trade, social-justice
and human-rights issues. She also become involved in
high-profile campaigns, like in 1993 when Anita took
on the cause of the Ogoni tribespeople in Nigeria who
were seeking justice and reparations against Shell
for devastating their lands caused by oil exploration.
She recalls the challenge of the multi-national company
Shell as one of the most courageous things The Body
Shop ever did.
If you visit Dame Anita Roddick’s website www.anitaroddick.com,
you will not find nothing self-glorifying about it,
but rather a site entirely dedicated to social protest,
awareness, and action. Her website gives voice to people
and to issues that become marginalized and need representation.
It advocates against everything from penny-wages and
sweatshop labour to produce cheap clothing for the
West, to helping auction money to save Borneo’s
forest and wildlife.
In 2005 Dame Anita announced her most radical idea
of all, which is to give away her £51million
fortune. In a December 2005 interview with the British
newspaper the Telegraph, Roddick asserts, "I don't
want to die rich. Money does not mean anything to me.
The worst thing is greed - the accumulation of money.
I don't know why people who are extraordinarily wealthy
are not more generous." She has already begun
fulfilling her goal and in February, both her and business
partner husband sold £4million Body Shop shares,
raising £7.4million. A large sum went to charity, £1million
to Amnesty International, and an additional £500,000
to support Greenpeace's charitable works.
Business As Unusual: My Entrepreneurial Journey
(Published in 2005) By Anita Roddick
Troubled Water: Saints, Sinners, Truth & Lies
About the Global Water Crisis
(Published in 2004) By Anita Roddick with Brooke Shelby Biggs
Numbers
(Published in 2004) By David Boyle and Anita Roddick
A Revolution In Kindness
(Published in 2003) Edited By Anita Roddick
Brave Hearts, Rebel Spirits:
A Spiritual Activists Handbook
(Published in 2003) Written by Brooke Shelby Biggs Conceived by Anita Roddick
Take it Personally (UK Edition):
How to Make Conscious Choices to Change the World
(Published in 2001) By Anita Roddick
Business as Unusual:
The Triumph of Anita Roddick
(Published in 2000) By Anita Roddick
Body And Soul:
Profits with Principles - The Amazing Success Story
of Anita Roddick and The Body Shop
(Published in 1991) By Anita Roddick
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