One of the most intriguing things in management and in business is the role of storytelling - people need the anecdotes to do the work that they do.

People don't want simply to buy the product, they want to have sympathy with the company too.

At The Body Shop we had always been measured by how many jobs we had created, and I got a major award from the Queen on that.

You have to look at leadership through the eyes of the followers and you have to live the message.

I think the leadership of a company should encourage the next generation not just to follow, but to overtake.

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.

Be daring. Be first. Be different.