Over the past decades...while many businesses have pursued what I call 'business as usual', I have been part of a different, smaller business movement, one that tried to put idealism back on the agenda.

If you pretend that business is beyond morality, that's the kind of morality you get.

A woman in advancing old age is unstoppable by any earthly force. I love it.

I want to work for a company that contributes to and is part of the community. I want something not just to invest in. I want something to believe in.

Be daring. Be first. Be different.

I started The Body Shop in 1976 simply to create a livelihood for myself and my two daughters, while my husband, Gordon, was trekking across the Americas. I had no training or experience and my only business acumen was Gordon's advice to take sales of £300 a week. Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.

You persuade people with passion, so you've got to have a product or service you feel emotionally charged about. Then you can tell stories about it that will inspire others.