Egide cites a milestone birthday and the
birth of her first grandson, Peyton, as seeds
that planted the idea of starting a green
business with the capacity to give back.
"It was 2010, and the economy was
seeing glimmers of hope," reflects
Egide. "I felt ready for a new challenge
and looked for an opportunity to make
a difference."
Egide found her answer in a familiar
place—the personal care department of
her local health food store. When she
couldn't find a sustainably-made moisturizer to meet her needs, she proposed a
new line of products to Nathalie Bohn
and Alissa Berihu, who had helped build
the Avalon brands. "I thought it might
take some convincing, but they were absolutely fearless," Egide remembers. "Both
healthy products for our family and for
stockpot. They've grown EO steadily so
our community and thought it would be
that now it's a more than $10 million com-
included Egide's husband, Mark, and their
great if we could make a living at it."
pany with 40 employees and about 250
son Loren, released its first products eight
Susan and Brad started handcraft-
skin- and hair-care products, including
months later with an unprecedented glob-
ing liquid soap, a batch a day, in a Corte
al launch at Whole Foods Market. Today
Madera Laundromat with one, 10-gallon
were ready to take a chance with me."
Andalou's start-up team, which also
their signature soap.
2012 was a particularly exciting year.
the company provides jobs to 17 full time
employees and supports its own philanthropic organization, A Force of Nature,
funded through sales of its hand creams.
Stacey beams when she talks about
what she and her staff have accomplished
so far—and what's yet to come.
"The word andalou means 'path of
light,' she says. "It's such a gift to be
walking this path with the people I trust
and love."
EO Products: Living right and
living beautifully
Co-CEOs Susan Griffin-Black and Brad
Black founded San Rafael-based EO Products in 1995 as an experiment in right
livelihood—the idea that you can make
money and make a difference and do
something you enjoy.
"We had a conversation about not waiting until retirement to live fully," says
Brad. "That catalyzed us to think about
who we are and how we wanted to spend
our time."
Adds Susan, "We wanted to create
FALL 2013 • FLOURISH
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