Body and Soul: Profits with Principles--The Amazing Success Story of Anita Roddick & The Body S hop [Paperback]

Anita Roddick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 1994

Controversial businesswoman and environmentalist Roddick, creator of The Body Shop (located in England, America, and 36 other countries), tells her amazing success story and explains her philosophy of commerce with a conscience. Essential reading for a new generation of entrepreneurs and for all who want to help create a better world. Photos.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-- The fascinating story of an entrepreneur who, with little more than an idea and lots of determination, built a financial empire of over 600 cosmetic stores in 38 countries. Roddick, owner and chairman of the board for The Body Shop, has a strong business sense combined with a solid commitment to social justice. Besides selling natural cosmetics made from plants collected from all over the world, the stores and their staffs are dedicated to environmental and social activism. Roddick's company has worked to protect the rain forests of South America, helped orphans in Romania, and employed poverty-stricken youth in India. This story will appeal to YAs because of its unconventional view of business; they will appreciate the energy and philosophy this good-humored and perceptive woman. The illustrations are almost surrealistic and the photos and drawings are artistically placed throughout. --Deanna Kuhn, Thomas Jefferson Sci-Tech, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In 1976, Roddick needed to support her two children while her husband rode a horse from Buenos Aires to New York. So in Brighton, England, she opened a small shop that sold cosmetics made only from natural ingredients. Despite protests from the neighboring funeral parlor, she called it The Body Shop. Today, Roddick heads a public company with a chain of more than 600 shops and a successful international franchising system. As she writes in her introduction, this book is not a conventional autobiography or business book; rather, it's the story of her personal vision of what business should be. Roddick intersperses autobiographical details with criticisms of the cosmetics industry. Espousing principles of social and environmental responsibility, she describes The Body Shop's Trade Not Aid program in the Third World and its campaign to save the Amazon rainforest. At times, Roddick's lecturing becomes tedious, and some of her ideas, while well-intended (giving the Amazon Indians video cameras to record their culture), are questionable. Still, her passion amd her infectious enthusiasm make her book a cut above the usual gray "How I Succeeded" tomes. Recommended for popular business collections.
- Wilda Williams, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (January 25, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517881349
• ISBN-13: 978-0517881347
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A unique approach to business/A good book!, November 9, 1997

By 

Paul Martin (Waukesha, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body and Soul: Profits with Principles--The Amazing Success Story of Anita Roddick & The Body S hop (Paperback)

This is the noteworthy story about Anita Roddick and her founding, and leadership role at The Body Shop. More than any single point, she stresses the importance of PASSION (in what you do) with religious zeal.

You'll enjoy reading about the life of this fascinating entrepreneur, and the loyal and dedicated people that helped elevate The Body Shop into the international success that it is today.

This is not a conventional business book. Just thumbing through, you'll notice page-after-page of illustrations, photographs and an inspiring and unique way of looking at the world--both in a business sense and a humanitarian sense. I was so inspired after reading this story, that I felt compelled to visit The Body Shop nearest my home.

Anita Roddick isn't afraid to tell you how she feels. I wish I could've been there when she delivered her speech to an audience of advertising executives and their clients on, "Why I would never use an advertising agency."

Funniest Line in the Book: "I'll never hire anybody from Harvard Business School." You've got to read the book to appreciate it.

She wants her stores to be clean, exciting, and the people who work there to be passionate about their work. This book should be recommended reading for WAL-MART executives, and there employees.

Actually, it's a good book for anyone interested in business, the environment or serving as a didactic for what women can achieve in this world. I plan on encouraging my daughter to read it when she grows up. Good work Anita!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring story of a vionary woman talking common sense, August 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Body and Soul: Profits with Principles--The Amazing Success Story of Anita Roddick & The Body S hop (Paperback)

I loved it.

Anita Roddick exposes the myths about mangement. She illustrates pefectly that to be successful we need a vision. Her vision was simple. Employ people who care, employ people who are proud, employ people who will question, employ people who will rattle the cage from within. She perfectly illustrates, in her story about borrowing money, how fickle the typical bank manager was in the 1970's - how we would like to think things have changed.

She is also a realist - she pulls no punches she says.... "Im in this for me!" - yes sure she has an ego to satisfy .... dont we all? - her great quality is that she admits it. Most people do not have the honesty to say it.

I just love how she roots her beleifs about business success in common sense ...... like welcoming new ideas and original thought, trusting your staff and listening to your customers - and then change things.

She also has values that are explicit and wants people who work with her to! also work from a values base

Thank you Anita for a wonderful read - here's to the next edition!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profit DOES go with true liberal business ideals., March 15, 1998

By 

rickvid (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body and Soul: Profits with Principles--The Amazing Success Story of Anita Roddick & The Body S hop (Paperback)

Interesting to note how few reviews there are of this book. The Body Shop does not kiss the ring of greed and avarice, but shows how holding true liberal priciples of social justice, economic growth through trade, local effort, AND profit go together. Given the lack of female role models in the business world, I would have Body and Soul as a part of any business curriculum. In fact, I am going to do that in my own company's internal training work.