Bob Phillips Named to VermontBiz's 91 Influencers of 2026

Our co-founder Bob Phillips was recently named one of VermontBiz's 91 Influencers of 2026, an honor recognizing the leaders shaping business across the state. The list, now in its second year, included names like Grace Potter and Olympic athlete Ilona Maher alongside executives, founders, and directors from across Vermont's business landscape. We celebrated the recognition at an event in Burlington on August 6th. 

Bob's path to Vermont wasn't a short one. Before co-founding Ballou Family Apothecary, he spent decades in senior leadership at Elizabeth Arden, Chesebrough-Pond's, and Unilever's prestige portfolio, brands that shaped how much of the world thinks about skincare and personal care. That experience now shows up in the standards behind every jar we make: how we source, how we test, how we hold ourselves accountable to claims we can actually stand behind. Bob currently serves as Executive-in-Residence at the University of Vermont's SI-MBA program, mentoring the next generation of business leaders while continuing to guide Ballou's growth here at home.

For a Vermont-made brand built on trust and transparency, that kind of pedigree matters. It's one thing to say a product is made with care. It's another to have someone who spent a career at the highest levels of the beauty industry choose to bring that experience to a small operation in Vermont, formulating alongside co-founder Dawn Lancaster and building something rooted in community rather than scale.

Bob is quick to point out that the honor reflects Vermont's business community as a whole, not any one person's résumé. It's a state where, as VermontBiz noted, an unusually high number of influential people call home given the population. We'd simply add that we're grateful he chose to spend this chapter of his career here, building a brand meant to give back as much as it gives.

Congratulations to Bob, and to every leader recognized alongside him this year.