Anita Roddick was born to an Italian mother and an American father in a little town by the name of Littlehampton in the United Kingdom on October 23rd, 1942. Her parents, like many immigrants, were hard workers and put her to work at a young age in the cafe they owned. She had little time for leisure and developed a strong work ethic that was to serve her later on in her life.
At the age of 10, Roddick read a book about the holocaust. It is then that she developed a strong sense of concern for the world around her. In 1962 she left England and got a scholarship to study in a kibbutz in Israel. However, a school prank got her expelled. Roddick then returned to England where she held several jobs. After a few months, she saved money and decided to travel through Tahiti, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Australia and on to Johannesburg, her last stop. (She was expelled from South Africa after going to a jazz club on black night, violating apartheid laws.)
When she returned to England, she met Gordon Roddick and the two were married in 1971. The couple owned and ran a restaurant and an eight-room hotel. However, before long they felt overworked and needed a change of direction. With her approval, Gordon went off to ride a horse from Buenos Aires to New York City and Anita was left to support herself and her two children
Anita started a business while her husband was in the United States. She opened a cosmetic shop in Brighton by the name of The Body Shop in order to be able to provide for her two daughters. The shop was painted green and had a strong environmental flavour. It had 15 products that she had made herself, which were based on the cleansing rituals of women that she had observed on her travels. The finance for the shop came from the bank with the hotel as collateral.
By the time her husband returned from his 10-month trek, she had already opened a second store. Family and friends ran the first few shops. However, the demand for her shops and products were great, so they set up a franchise system for The Body Shop even though franchising was a relatively new concept in the UK at the time.
From these humble beginnings, The Body Shop grew and then went public in 1984. Today, The Body Shop has over 1980 stores, more than 77 million customers, in 50 different markets and serving customers in over 25 different languages.
She went on to become one of the most prominent and well respected social entrepreneurs in the world. The Body Shop's Mission Statement sets out a dedication to the pursuit of social and environmental change. The shops and products help communicate human rights and environmental issues. Throughout her career, Roddick continued to campaign tirelessly against environmental and social wrongs around the world.
In 2003, Roddick's achievements were recognized when she was knighted by the Queen, and officially styled as Dame Anita Roddick.
In September 2007, Roddick was taken to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester after complaining of a headache. She suffered a major brain hemorrhage and died soon after.
Roddick used her entrepreneurial abilities to campaign for social and environmental issues while simultaneously bringing sustainable and environmental products to the world market. Her dedication to social cause and her hard work are truly inspiring.
"To succeed you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality."
"I wake up every morning thinking this is my last day. And I jam everything into it. There's no time for mediocrity. This is no damned dress rehearsal."
Anita Roddock
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