Burt’s Bees Celebrates 40th Bee-Day By Giving Back
By Gabi Laurent, Brand Engagement Manager
Culture Day at Burt’s Bees this year was even buzzier than usual as we marked our 40th birthday by reflecting on our roots and our brand’s legacy. The celebration featured co-founder Roxanne Quimby as a special guest speaker along with a day of community service and employee connection.
Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby met after each abandoned city life to settle in the remote wilderness of Maine. Eking out a living as a local beekeeper, Burt’s picked up a hitchhiking Roxanne in his schoolbus-yellow pickup truck, and the two hit it off. He taught her about his bees, and she found a book of recipes they used to turn surplus beeswax into things like candles (in 1984) and lip balm (in 1991 — which turned out to be a keeper).
Culture Day 2024 brought our teammates together to not only celebrate our past but to continue our tradition of giving back to our communities. This annual tradition reinforces the Burt’s Bees brand purpose — by nature, for nature. for all.
3 ways we emerged stronger after Culture Day:
- To support food security where we live, teammates participated in service activities at Rise Against Hunger and the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.
- Some of us attended a presentation to learn how to support bees, and others became one with nature through a local hike.
- Summer camp games from ladder toss to corn hole offered a way for us to have fun and reconnect with each other.
Roxanne used to say that since we take from nature, we must respect and preserve it. This celebration was a way to carry on her and Burt’s legacy of respecting nature so we can all live well.
“No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”
Roxanne Quimby
