The Natural From the Body Shop's products to world-saving projects, an environmental conscience is second nature to Anita Roddick.

Anita Roddick insists she never went into business to makemillions. She simply wanted to earn a living for her family. Asfounder and chief executive of The Body Shop International Inc.,the 54-year-old BIZ Experiences has done both on a very grandscale.

In two decades, Roddick and her husband, Gordon, have created acosmetic empire of more than 1,400 retail stores selling naturalskin- and hair-care products in 45 countries. Sales last yearreached more than $950 million.

What's more, Roddick has expanded her concept of"family" to include the world's population. Whethershe's using The Body Shop's profits to renovate orphanagesin Romania, develop a domestic-violence helpline in England, orhelp clean up the world's polluted air and water, Roddick isadamant about The Body Shop doing its part to make the world abetter place. For this hippie-activist-turned-entrepreneur,that's exactly what a corporation with a social conscienceshould do. "We work to narrow the gap between principle andpractice," Roddick says, "while making fun, passion andcare part of our daily lives."

Living with the Natives

Roddick's story begins in the sleepy seaside town ofLittlehampton, England, where she often helped out at hermother's cafe, the Clifton. Influenced as a teenager by rebelidol James Dean and the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Roddickdreamed of becoming an actress, but listened to her mother'sadvice and took up teaching instead.

Roddick earned a teaching credential from Newton College, and,in 1962, won a scholarship to Israel for three months to completeher thesis. She enjoyed teaching, but loved hitchhiking throughEurope even more. On one trip, she ended up in Geneva, where shelanded a reseacher's job at the United Nations. She worked inthe department of women's rights at the International LabourOrganization, gathering information about women in Third Worldcountries. A year later, Roddick booked passage for Tahiti, to seefor herself how these native women worked and lived.

After several months there, she made her way to South Africa,where a visit to a nightclub on an all-black patron night resultedin Johannesburg police ordering Roddick to leave the country within24 hours. She was ready for a change, anyway. "I had learnedso much from my experiences, from all the people I had met, that Iwanted to return home and take stock of my life," says Roddickin her autobiography, Body and Soul (Crown Publishers Inc.,$14, 800-726-0600).

Back in Littlehampton, at her mother's new venture--anightclub called El Cubana--Anita met Gordon Roddick. Although afarmer by trade, he preferred writing poetry and short stories.Like Anita, he was an independent thinker and world traveler.He'd marched in demonstrations and supported social causes.Anita had met her soulmate. They married in 1971.

After supporting a family of four on his writing and herteaching, the Roddicks gave commerce a try. In 1971, they bought adecaying residential hotel called St. Winifred's inLittlehampton, and turned it into a bed-and-breakfast inn. When theinn started to show a profit, they borrowed [sterling]10,000 fromthe bank to open a restaurant called Paddington's. Three yearslater, exhausted from working around the clock, the couple sold therestaurant, kept the hotel as their home, and started consideringother income opportunities.

Gordon decided to take a break. He wanted to fulfill a boyhooddream: to ride horseback from Buenos Aires to New York. Somewhatstunned by the notion, Anita nevertheless admired Gordon'sspirit and sense of adventure. While Gordon prepared for his trip,Anita set about creating a livelihood for herself and herfamily.

Roddick wanted a simple little retail shop she could run fromnine to five, in order to be home at night with her children. Whatwould she sell? Roddick, recalling her Third World experiences,remembered seeing Polynesian women rubbing cocoa butter into theirhair to make it shine, and the women of Sri Lanka using a pineapplefacial wash. "The women were polishing, protecting andcleansing their skin and hair perfectly well, all with naturalingredients," says Roddick, who decided she would introducesimilar natural products to women in England.

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Asking the Right Questions

Deciding how she would bottle and present her skin- andhair-care products was all a matter of finding a solution to whatannoyed her most about the cosmetics industry. "Irritation isa great source of energy and creativity," says Roddick."It leads to dissatisfaction, and prompts people like me toask questions," such as, Why should someone have to buy alarge bottle of lotion when a small one would do just fine? Whybother with all that fancy and expensive packaging? She figuredother women felt the same way.

Roddick used cheap plastic bottles, handwrote her productlabels, and sold her products in five different bottle sizes. Whenshe could afford to buy only a limited supply of bottles, Roddickdevised an ingenious plan: She would refill her customers'empty bottles, or encourage them to use their own containers. Thuswas born a recycling program that would later set The Body Shopworlds apart from Estée Lauder, Revlon and other cosmeticgiants.

The stage was set for a totally new BIZ Experiencesial experience."It really gave me a wonderful canvas onto which I could writeeverything I was--an activist, a socialist," Roddick explains."I was bringing all I was to this business."

But social issues don't always translate smoothly to thebusiness world. She had to learn to play the game, at least to getstarted. To raise the [sterling]4,000 she'd need to open hershop, Roddick paid a visit to her local bank, dressed in jeans anda Bob Dylan T-shirt, with her two daughters in tow. The bankmanager quietly listened to her presentation and declined the loan.Anita went home to Gordon absolutely crushed. A week later, she wasback at the bank, this time accompanied by her husband; both werewearing business suits. The bank manager quickly reviewedGordon's prepared presentation. Yes, the bank would lend the[sterling]4,000--with the Roddicks' hotel as collateral.

Playing the Game

Anita was relieved, but angry. Speaking only to Gordon duringthe second interview, the bank manager had cast her "in therole of the little woman who just happened to be along," sheexplains. She learned a critical lesson, though: "There aretimes when you need to be as anonymous as the people who work inbanks, and to play the game entirely by their rules. If they wantloan applicants to come in with shaven heads, you shave your head.And sadly, you will never get a loan if you don't havecollateral."

After locating a chemist to mix her products, Roddick was readyfor business. On March 27, 1976, she opened her 300-square-footBody Shop in Brighton, an area with a strong student culture thatsupported alternative businesses. Passersby were curious about herSeaweed and Birch Shampoo, Avocado Moisture Cream, and otherproducts. By noon, Roddick was so busy that she called Gordon tocome and help. By closing time, the Roddicks had taken in[sterling]130--half of what the couple figured the shop needed toearn each week to cover family expenses. They were thrilled.

The Brighton store was an exemplary cottage industry. Friendshelped write labels and fill bottles in the St. Winifred'skitchen. Roddick created little stories for customers about theorigins of her products, which she wrote on notecards. Sheillustrates with this little ditty: "Don't worry about thehenna shampoo. It might smell like horse manure, but it'swonderful on the hair. Women have used it for centuries." Forthe honey-beeswax-and-almond-oil cleanser that revealed littleblack specs when mixed with rosewater, she wrote: "Don'tworry about the black bits, just scoop them out. They're thedirty footprints of the bees."

Two months later, with Gordon off to South America, Roddickquickly lost track of her nine-to-five workday. She did thebottling, ran the shop, handled the bookkeeping and relied on hermother to watch the children. While her shop's earnings weremeager, Roddick was anxious to open a second store."Obviously, the sensible, pragmatic thing would have been towait for a few years and see how it worked out. I knew allthat," she says. "But I wasn't the sensible,pragmatic type. I just thought, Wouldn't it be great,wouldn't it be cheeky, if I could replicate the Brighton shopsomewhere else?" When the bank denied her request for a secondloan, Roddick borrowed [sterling]4,000 from a friend who took ahalf ownership of the company. Her second shop opened in Chichesterin 1977.

A year later, after covering 2,000 miles and losing a horse inBolivia, Gordon cut his trip short and returned home to find anoperation humming with activity. Anita immediately involved him inthe bottling and labeling of her products. He moved the operationfrom their kitchen to the garage, and took over the payroll andbookkeeping. He also looked for ways to expand, even though thebanks wouldn't lend any more money.

When friends asked about opening their own shops and using TheBody Shop name, Gordon liked what he heard. The Roddicks couldsupply them with all the products they needed. "We were a momand pop organization from a little seaside town, a place where noone ever came. We were so thankful anyone would sell ourproducts," says Anita.

The first franchises were opened in England in 1977. During thenext three years, others were opened in Europe, Canada andAustralia as well. (The first U.S. shop opened in New York City in1988.) The couple eventually formalized their franchise program bycharging a licensing fee, then about [sterling]3,000.

Sales grew steadily and the business continued to operate on ashoestring budget, especially when it came to promotion. Why pay toadvertise, Roddick figured, if she could get free publicity througheditorial coverage in newspapers and magazines?

Opportunities abounded. When Roddick heard that many runners inthe London Marathon complained about sore feet, she had her chemistmix up a lotion that would soothe tired feet and soften hard skin.At the following year's event, Body Shop employees handed outfree samples to runners along the route. The media gave the storyplenty of coverage, and the Peppermint Foot Lotion became one ofThe Body Shop's best-selling products.

Not every product was so well received, however. Their shampoofor greasy hair, simply called a "de-greasant," is oneexample. "It sounded like something you used to clean out anengine, and was a complete failure," Roddick admits.

Mixing Profits with Principles

By 1984, with 38 shops throughout the United Kingdom and another52 abroad, including franchise stores, The Body Shop still faced ahuge problem: convincing commercial landlords and leasing agents togive first-rate retail sites to this hip, yet somewhat funky,operation. A solution appeared when a friend approached theRoddicks with the idea of taking their company public. Initiallyhesitant, the Roddicks considered the potential benefits."Retail trading is all about location," Anita explains."We thought that if we were a public company we would be morerespected, and better placed to get the best locations."

That year The Body Shop went public on the British securitiesmarket. During the next year, 50 new Body Shop stores opened, andprofits more than doubled to [sterling]2.4 million.

The Roddicks formed a powerful team in managing their newcorporation. While Gordon, as chairman, handled finances andnegotiated franchises, Anita developed new sales and marketingprograms and directed research and development activities. Timeswere changing for The Body Shop. "It ceased to exist, at leastin my eyes, as just another trading business," says Anita."It became a force for social change."

Roddick began channeling company profits into a wide range ofcauses, like saving the rain forest and feeding starving earthquakevictims. The Body Shop launched The Big Issue, a newspaperfor the homeless in London, which operates independently today.Roddick established the company's Trade Not Aid initiative, aprogram to provide jobs by directly sourcing ingredients fromtribal councils and villages in Third World countries. The BodyShop's Brazil Nut Conditioner, for example, uses Brazil nut oilfrom the Amazon's Kayupo Indians; jute for its pots andterracotta foot scrub come from the Jute Works, a project toprovide jobs for Bangladesh village women.

Her activist beliefs and well-publicized campaigns have thecosmetic industry buzzing. "We are consistently the topic ofconversation," notes Roddick. "They're probablysaying, `Why are they wasting time on human rights when they oughtto be selling moisture creams?' " Still, she wouldn'thave it any differently. "The biggest confusion with ourcompany is that it reads like a nonprofit organization. Normalcompanies don't spend this amount of time and energy fightingfor human rights or working to protect indigenous groups,"says Roddick. "They don't turn their shops and officesinto centers for action and social change. We do. That's whypeople want to work for us."

With the massive cosmetic empire she and Gordon have built,Roddick still finds her work incomplete. It's not about openingmore stores, selling more franchises, or making more money."We can do that with our eyes closed," she says. It'sabout being a good business citizen, and mixing profits with socialresponsibility. "I'd rather be measured by how I treatpeople than how great my profits are."