How I Did It: Gert Boyle,
Thomas Sabo 0358 Sunglasses Charm, chairman, Columbia Sportswear
As told to Stephanie Clifford
Gert Boyle's family fled Nazi Germany when she was 13--reason enough for her to hope her path as an adult would be smooth. For a time it was: She raised her three children while her husband, Neal, ran Columbia Sportswear in Portland, Oregon. But when Neal died in 1970 at age 47, Gert had to take over. She knew nothing about business, and the records were in shambles. A calm life was not in the cards.
Gert took Neal's Columbia, whose core customers were serious outdoorspeople, and made it a company for anyone who fancies a fleece vest: students, suburbanites, babies. The message has been carried since 1984 by Columbia's "tough mother" advertising campaign, whose highlights have included Gert forcing her son Tim--now the company's CEO--through a car wash to test a parka. Her little family business is now a $1.2 billion public company.
My father had a wholesale shirt factory in Augsburg, Germany. I used to go there and play with little pieces of material. I was in middle school when Hitler gained power. It was a lot of mass hatred. We were Jewish--we are Jewish--and we weren't allowed to go to the regular store, not allowed to go swimming.
My father came over here on an exploratory trip in 1936, to visit his brother in Portland, and then came back to get us. As a 13-year-old, what an experience. Your parents say, you're gonna move to a new country. Good enough! I loved going.
As told to Stephanie Clifford
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