The New CEO Playbook: Bob Phillips Of Ballou Family Apothecary On Balancing Purpose, Profit, and Personal Brand
Leadership is the daily practice of aligning what you believe, what you build, and how you show up for others … especially when no one is keeping score.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Phillips.
Bob Phillips is the co-founder of Ballou Family Apothecary, a Vermont-based lifestyle brand that blends ultra-clean, certified-organic skincare and wellness products with a mission to “Happify” lives and uplift communities. He is a retired Unilever director and former global CPG leader, who rose from middle-class beginnings and helped shape iconic brands like Dove, Ponds, Axe, and White Diamonds before refocusing his energy on mission-driven, small-batch wellness products in partnership with Dawn Lancaster. Today, in addition to stewarding Ballou Family Apothecary and its Foundation for accessible childcare, he serves as Executive in Residence at the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business, mentoring the next generation of purpose-led leaders.
Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and path to leadership?
I grew up in a middle-class family where faith, service, and hard work were not abstract ideals; they were expectations. That grounding took me from modest beginnings to a multi-decade career leading and transforming global consumer brands, learning firsthand how products, stories, and trust can change the trajectory of a business and the lives of the people it serves.
Over 40 years, I helped build and scale global brands like Dove, Ponds, Axe, and White Diamonds, which taught me the discipline of strategy, the importance of understanding people, and the weight of leading at scale. Later in my life, personal loss — including my daughter Lora’s battle with an autoimmune disease — sharpened my focus on ingredients, safety, and what “care” really means, eventually pulling me toward a very different kind of leadership: business for good.
Partnering with Dawn Lancaster and experiencing the purity and performance of her plant-based formulations gave me the bridge between my heritage and my expertise. Ballou Family Apothecary became the vehicle to turn a 150-year-old family legacy of love and care into a modern, mission-led brand that could meaningfully impact families today.
What is the “why” behind your work?
My “why” is simple: to turn love and care into something tangible, something you can hold in your hand, put on your skin, and feel in your life. The Ballou family story, from Hosea Ballou’s philosophy of a loving Creator to Major Sullivan Ballou’s famous letter to his wife, and the example of my grandmother, Lora “Gam” Eberly Ballou, for whom my late daughter Lora was named, gave me a blueprint for a life centered on joy, responsibility, and devotion.
As the business has grown, my purpose has evolved from building big brands to building a meaningful legacy. Today, that means three things: creating exceptionally safe, effective products; “Happifying” lives through everyday rituals of self-care; and using our success to expand access to childcare so families can thrive, not just get by.
Why do purpose, profit, and personal brand all matter for a CEO?
Purpose matters because it answers the question: “Why should anyone care if this brand exists?” Earnings matter because without them, purpose is just sentiment; you cannot fund innovation, pay great people, or support community initiatives like accessible childcare at scale. Who is behind the product matters because people invest in people; they want to know who is behind the bottle, what they stand for, and whether they can be trusted.
These three priorities can pull against each other. Investing in eco-conscious packaging, certified-organic ingredients, and community impact can compress margins in the short term, especially for a small Vermont-based company.
There was a moment, early on, when we could have chosen cheaper packaging and conventional ingredients. Doing so would have undermined my promise to my daughter Lora, to Dawn’s mom, and to the families we serve, so we chose to accept slimmer early margins to earn long-term trust.
Many CEOs hesitate to invest in their personal brand. What are your thoughts on this?
Many CEOs are comfortable talking about EBITDA and market share but uncomfortable talking about themselves because profit, not service, is their only measure of success. The irony is that in a world saturated with products and content, the human story is often the only true differentiator.
What works best is not self-promotion; it is service. When I step into a classroom at UVM or into an interview like this, my goal is to give away as much hard-earned learning as possible, and that mindset builds more empathy than any carefully scripted “ego campaign” ever could.
What are some common misconceptions about personal branding in the C-suite?
One misconception is that a personal brand is a vanity project. In reality, a well-stewarded personal brand is an asset for your organization, especially when it reinforces your mission and values rather than your ego.
Another misconception is that personal brands must be loud or performative. Some of the most powerful leadership brands are quiet, consistent, and deeply values-driven: the executive who always shows up for their team, champions a cause like childcare accessibility, or stands by ingredient safety even when no one is watching.
Can you share an example of when your personal brand or visibility directly helped your organization?
A recent example is a regional feature that told the story of how Dawn and I came together, why we care so deeply about non-toxic care, and how Ballou Family Apothecary connects to my family legacy and to childcare access. Following that visibility, we saw a measurable uptick in web traffic, direct-to-consumer orders, and inbound interest from people who resonated with our mission of “Happifying” lives.
More importantly, that coverage opened conversations with local partners around supporting childcare through our Foundation, leading to early-stage collaborations and commitments that would not have materialized without a human story attached. That is how we knew it worked: not just in sales metrics, but in the quality and alignment of the opportunities that arrived.
How do you navigate conflicts between profit and purpose?
When profit and purpose seem to be at odds, a few practices guide me:
- Clarify the non-negotiables.
For us, that includes ingredient integrity, cruelty-free formulations, and eco-conscious packaging. We simply do not compromise those to chase margin.
- Think in decades, not quarters.
Coming from a world driven by quarterly earnings, I now ask, “What decision will I be proud of ten years from now, when my grandchildren look at this brand?”
- Tie impact to a real P&L.
Purpose is not off to the side; our childcare Foundation and community commitments are built into how we grow, so we can sustain them rather than treating them as occasional philanthropy.
Can you share a time when your values and mission created a breakthrough?
Aligning our personal values with our mission unlocked a major shift when we formally committed to supporting accessible childcare through the Ballou Family Apothecary Foundation. Instead of treating social impact as a “nice to have,” we made it part of the narrative, the packaging story, and our conversations with partners and customers.
That clarity attracted collaborators who care deeply about families and working parents, leading to partnerships that strengthened both brand reach and community impact. It also galvanized our internal team, who could see that every jar and bottle sold was directly tied to something bigger than revenue.
How do leaders transition from simply running a company to building a movement?
Leaders who simply run a company manage resources; leaders who build a movement steward meaning. A movement starts when your message gives people language for something they already feel but have not yet articulated. In our case, that self-care should be clean, joyful, and connected to the well-being of families and communities.
A movement-building leader invites participation rather than compliance. Instead of saying, “Here is our brand,” the invitation is: “Here is a story of love and care that you can join, whether you are a customer, collaborator, employee, or partner in childcare.”
How important is storytelling in your leadership?
Internally, storytelling is how I translate decades of global CPG experience into practical lessons for a small, mission-driven team. I often share stories of past product launches, brand turnarounds, and mistakes I have made so that our team can see both the stakes and the possibilities without having to live all of those failures themselves.
Externally, storytelling is how we connect the dots between a jar of our life-changing magnesium cream, my Ballou ancestors, Lora’s journey, Dawn’s story, and a childcare slot for a Vermont family. When people understand that arc, they are no longer just buying skincare; they are participating in a legacy.
Can you share an instance where taking a public stand helped earn credibility?
Speaking openly about age, and launching a new brand and new chapter of leadership in my mid-80s, was a public stand I did not initially plan to take. Yet, embracing that narrative resonated deeply with students, founders, and seasoned leaders who felt “it might be too late” for their next big chapter, and it reframed age from a limitation into a leadership asset.
Similarly, being candid about our non-negotiable stance on ingredient safety and choosing essential oils over synthetic fragrance for people with sensitivities has sometimes meant turning down shortcuts. That transparency has strengthened credibility with customers, partners, and healthcare professionals who recognize that we are serious about doing what we say.
What are your Top 5 principles for balancing purpose, profit, and visibility?
1. Lead with a real promise, not a slogan.
Our promise of “Happifying” lives is anchored in the stories of Hosea and Sullivan Ballou, my Lora, and Dawn’s mom. It’s rooted in real people, not a tagline.
This week, try: Write down the one sentence you want people to associate with you and your company, then ask three team members if that matches what they see and feel.
2. Make your P&L reflect your values.
Choosing certified-organic ingredients, eco-conscious packaging, and cruelty-free standards affects our cost structure, but it also differentiates us and builds long-term trust.
This week: Identify one line item in your budget where you could better align spending with your values (for example, packaging, benefits, or community support) and make a small but concrete change.
3. Turn your personal story into a shared asset.
My history building global brands and my family legacy are not side notes; they shape how we position Ballou Family Apothecary, mentor founders, and design our Foundation’s focus on childcare.
This week: Choose one element of your personal story and share it with your team in your next meeting, explicitly connecting it to a current strategic priority.
4. Show up where you can serve, not just where you can be seen.
Teaching at UVM, mentoring founders, and participating in interviews that focus on actionable lessons, not just brand promotion, have created far more authentic visibility than any paid campaign.
This week: Say yes to one opportunity where you can teach, mentor, or share expertise (even informally) without any direct commercial benefit.
5. Measure success in both numbers and narratives.
After media features and storytelling moments, we look at traffic, sales, and partnerships, but we also listen to the emails, comments, and conversations from people who see themselves in our story.
This week: Track one quantitative metric for a new intiative (like leads or revenue) and one qualitative metric (like testimonials or employee stories) and review them side by side.
Do you have a one-sentence leadership philosophy?
Leadership is the daily practice of aligning what you believe, what you build, and how you show up for others … especially when no one is keeping score.
How can our readers follow you and your work?
Readers can follow Ballou Family Apothecary and our work in skincare, wellness, and childcare impact through our website and social channels.
- Website: Ballou Family Apothecary balloufamilyapothecary
- Products and offerings: Online shop balloufamilyapothecary
- Personal brand and mission stories: Bob Phillips Linkedin
Thank you for sharing these inspiring insights!
The New CEO Playbook: Bob Phillips Of Ballou Family Apothecary On Balancing Purpose, Profit, and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.