A Personal Transgression by Burt Shavitz Fractured His Partnership With Quimby
Roxanne Quimby · Burt's Bees: Roxanne Quimby · Feb 18, 2019 · at 42:21
Roxanne Quimby, co-founder of Burt's Bees, discusses the personal rift that led to her buying out Burt Shavitz's stake in the business in 1999.
0:00 / 0:28exact quote · 28.2s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“Well, it was sort of a personal transgression that was very hurtful to me, and it kind of popped the bubble in a way. I took a lot of inspiration from Bert and his lifestyle and his authenticity and his independence, and I found him to be quite admirable. So after the breakup, I lost a lot of inspiration.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Roxanne Quimby
Quimby: I was more responsible than Burt Shavitz to manage wealth
“I feel that I was the more responsible party for managing wealth. I could do the right thing with it. And I don't know whether Bert would have really used it very productively. He came from a family that had some wealth, and he chose not to use it. He didn't d…”
Quimby Believes She Was More Responsible With Burt's Bees Wealth Than Shavitz
“I feel that I was the more responsible party for managing wealth. I could do the right thing with it. And I don't know whether Bert would have really used it very productively.”
Burt Shavitz was prickly and kept at a distance by colleagues
“He was a prickly kind of guy, you know, he wasn't all warm and fuzzy. So, people, including myself, gave him kind of a wide berth.”
Quimby used Burt Shavitz's face to reject cosmetics industry sexism
“That was a very conscious decision to use Bert's face because I was, I guess, a little resentful of the way women were used to market products. And I saw some of the big cosmetics lines really exploiting the image of women. So it was important for me not to fo…”
A personal transgression by Burt Shavitz destroyed Quimby's inspiration
“Well, it was sort of a personal transgression that was very hurtful to me, and it kind of popped the bubble in a way. I took a lot of inspiration from Bert and his lifestyle and his authenticity and his independence, and I found him to be quite admirable. So a…”
Quimby attributes Burt's Bees' pivotal milestones to luck and timing
“I mean, you certainly have to work hard, but when I look back at some of the critical events that were part of the destiny of this adventure, I certainly couldn't have pulled those off. That had to be luck or Divine intervention, and there's been so many of th…”