The Next Time You Go Shopping Demand More Change!
I don’t really think there has been an entrepreneur quite like Anita Roddick. Her wicked sense of humour, her relentless pursuit of positive change and her upfront honesty influenced The Body Shop culture in enduring way.
She was a trailblazer for banning animal testing in the cosmetics industry, she lead the way as the first company to challenge and campaign against another company and she was banging on about community trade long before the Fair Trade promotions of today.
When the company was challenged by serial anti The Body Shop campaigner Jon Entine Anita said ‘bring it on’. If the company (#The Body Shop), is not living up to it’s values then we should know about it so we can do something about it.
She new that if you ‘stick her head about the precipice you can expect to be a target. She didn’t mind being that target or targeting others if they needed to be held to account.
A lot can be learned from Anita’s approach to business and campaigning even in today’s context. With more recent reports (the ones we hear about) of factory disasters in developing countries it’s time we raised our voices. We no longer have Anita to profile the outrage we all must feel over these tragedies so we need to rally together under a different umbrella.
If you are a business make sure the products you are buying come from a source where you know there is safe working conditions for workers, if you are a coffee drinker or a chocolate eater make the switch to Fair Trade. If you are campaigner, check out #Oxfam or #Fair Trade Australia.
So in whatever way you can, use your buying power to demand more change.