In the years prior to the creation of Burt’s Bees, Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby lived in upbeat cities. Burt worked as a photojournalist in Manhattan, and Roxanne had a careers in arts within the limits of San Francisco. Both left their past lives behind to find peace in the wilderness of Maine. As Burt adapted to his new life, he became known as the bee man after finding a stray beehive and eventually learning to harvest the honey. He started selling the latter, earning him this title. One day, as Burt was driving his yellow pick up truck, he picked up Roxanne, who was hitchhiking at the time. The two quickly hit it off, and as Burt taught Roxanne about his bees, Roxanne found recipes for them to finally put all that beeswax to use. Their first candles were made in 1984, and it wasn’t until 1991 that their infamous lip balms were born.
As their business grew, the couple stayed closely connected to nature by employing a socially and environmentally conscious way of living. Their philosophy revolved around the idea that if they harvested from nature, they should respect it.
Roxanne later sold her share of the company to dedicate all of her time to protecting wild spaces for future generations. Her philanthropic foundation allowed her to donate over 90$ million to charities and to purchase an impressive 87,000 acres of Maine’s woodlands to later donate it to the National Park Service.
Burt spent his last years in his converted 300-square foot turkey coop. The small cabin was huis favorite place to be. After his passing, his cabin was moved from Main to Burt’s Bees’ Durham headquarters, where visitors can experience the freedom which this down-sized life can bring.