Horst Rechelbacher

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Horst M. Rechelbacher (born 1941) is the founder of the Aveda Corporation, a beauty company. He was awarded the NAHA (North American Hairstyling Awards) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. [1]

1 Early life
2 Ayurvedic influence and the foundation of Aveda
3 Other projects
4 Personal life
5 Books
6 References

[edit] Early life

Rechelbacher was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, the youngest of three brothers. His mother was an herbalist and his father was a shoemaker by trade. As a young boy he remembered peering out of the window of his home onto a beauty salon across the street. Aged fourteen, he had to decide whether to continue with his education or pursue a trade apprenticeship. He chose an apprenticeship in the beauty salon trade and, at seventeen, went to work in a fashionable salon in Italy. He won numerous European hairstyling competitions.

In 1964, Rechelbacher attended a hair show and competition in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was hit by a drunk driver. The accident sent him to the hospital for six months and left him $20,000 in debt. He decided to stay in Minneapolis to earn money pay off his medical bills, opening his first salon, "Horst & Friends", in 1965. The salon was a success and, in 1970, ill from overwork, he went to Tibet and then to India to study meditation.

[edit] Ayurvedic influence and the foundation of Aveda

When Rechelbacher returned from India he started making plant-based beauty products at home and sold them at his salons under the label "Horst." The first product was a brown "Clove Shampoo", intended to enhance the color of brown and honey gold hair. On returning from another trip to India in 1978, he founded Aveda to sell his natural beauty products more widely. The company name is associated with ayurvedic medicine and means "all knowledge" or "knowledge of nature" in Sanskrit. The company was a great success, with its products sold in salons and stores throughout the world.

Rechelbacher sold Aveda to Estee Lauder in 1997 for $300 million.

[edit] Other projects

Rechelbacher owns several other businesses, including Intelligent Nutrients, a company that sells wellness products online and through salons and retailers that resonate with his green philosophy; and HMR Enterprises d/b/a Horst Galleries, involved in trading art and antiques as well as in film production. He was one of the founders of the non-profit organization "Business for Social Responsibility" and was the producer of 1999 film Hidden Medicine.

[edit] Personal life

Rechelbacher is divorced and has two children, a son Peter and a daughter Nicole. Nicole is a fashion and jewelry designer and a mother of three. Peter is married and has a son.

Rechelbacher maintains homes in Osceola, Wisconsin and in New York and lives with his long-time companion, former model Kiran Stordalen.

He was the executive producer on Hidden Medicine, a film that premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. He is also currently doing his own organic farming, cultivating and preserving endangered plant species.

[edit] Books

Rejuvenation: a wellness guide for women and men. Published 1987, Harper & Row. (ISBN 0-7225-1072-1)
Aveda Rituals: a daily guide to natural health and beauty. Published 1999, Henry Holt. (ISBN 0-8050-5800-1)
Alivelihood: The Art of Sustainable Success. Published 2006, HMR Publishing. (ISBN 0-9772677-0-9)