Rodale Press' CEO Ardath Rodale (who her 1,400 employees and all children call "Ardie") has doubled the size of Rodale Press since she took over when her husband, Bob, died in 1990. What are health, fitness and inspiration worth? A lot more than the half a billion dollars Rodale Press netted in 1997.

Ardie Rodale is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Rodale Press, Inc., which publishes Prevention Magazine, Menâs Health and a host of other magazines and books. Ardie attributes Rodale Pressâs success to a clear commitment to the companyâs values of health, fitness and inspiration. She says the commitment is balanced with and fueled by the nervous tension needed to generate new ideas and expansion. Her approach is deceptively simple. Rodale Pressâ mission is to make the world better. Every magazine and book helps people take control of their lives. They all say, "You can do it. And her'âs how."

Ardieâs convinced having a woman as CEO was what triggered Rodale Press' explosive growth. ãYou need both the male and female in order to be a whole company,ä she asserts simply.

Leadership is a hallmark of Rodale Press. When the first Rodale -- Ardieâs father-in-law -- started the company in 1942, he knew organic farming could help people create healthy soil in which to grow healthy food for healthy people. But he faced stiff opposition from chemical fertilizer companies. So it is with added pleasure that Ardie describes today's Rodale Institute bringing her father-in-lawâs ideas full circle, training locals in Senegal and Guatemala to teach their own people how to grow healthy food -- organically.

For a CEO, Ardie Rodale finds her inspiration in unexpected places. The Mennonites taught her about the simplicity of life. She built a Pueblo Indian-style kiva in the middle of Rodale Pressâ main office building. Their energy center offers yoga, meditation and inspirational speakers. The companyâs day care center is bursting at the seams. She creates her own quiet times so she can listen to herself. But Ardieâs office door is always open. Men as well as women come by to share their gladness and their sadness, both genders eager for the hugs she offers. This is a CEO who -- quite literally -- stays in touch.

How does CEO Ardie Rodale keep a sunny disposition in the face of unrelenting family tragedies and the pressures of a major corporate enterprise? "That's easy! I have come to realize how precious each day is. I found the joy of being grateful."

Meet one CEO who is NOT resigned to business as usual. And it works!

Everyone, from her 1,400 employees to the neighborhood children, call Ardath Rodale, CEO of Rodale Press, "Ardie." That's the first of many surprises she has for Paula Gordon and Bill Russell. Ardie gives a brief history of Rodale Press, starting in 1942, when her father-in-law founded Rodale Press as an outlet for his interest in organic farming and people's health.

In 1997, Rodale Press' revenues were at half a billion dollars and growing. Thatâs double what it was when Ardieâs husband, Bob, died in an auto accident in 1990. She describes her role as CEO, balancing the nervous tension she thinks necessary for generating new ideas with her commitment to Rodale Press' mission -- to make the world better. Everything grows from Rodale Press' values -- health, fitness and inspiration.

Ardie celebrates the value of the simplicity of life as she describes her Pennsylvania farm and her Mennonite neighbors. She describes the power of working in the garden, whether she is cultivating plants or ideas, her business or her family. She tells how important quiet is to her and how she creates it in her own life. She describes the variety of approaches Rodale Press takes to helping it's 1,400 employees deal with every day stresses, including the (Native American-style) kiva she had built in the center of their corporate headquarters building.

Related Links: A visitor to another page on this site (Jesse Davidson) has pointed out that the links below are no longer active and provided a link to a site giving a short history of why that is the case. This is Wikipedia's version. A quick search shows that at least some of the Rodale Press titles, including Ardie's Gifts of the Spirit, continue to be available from other presses and bookstores.                                                                                                          — sic semper erat [Ardath Rodale's book Gifts of the Spirit is published by Daybreak Books, an imprint of Rodale Books and distributed to the book trade by St. Martin's Press. Information about all the Rodale magazines, books and on-line activities is available at the Rodale website.]