Roots Co-Founders Featured in SIR Magazine
Some of you may have seen the Spring 2009 issue of SIR magazine displayed at Roots counters over Canada, but for those who haven't, you may want to check it out!
SIR magazine is "Canada's Magazine of Stylish Living". The Editor-in-Chief is Canada's own style maverick Jeanne Beker, and the magazine is designed for sophisticated, stylish, and influential men. So it comes with little surprise that the Spring issue featured Roots co-founders Don Green and Michael Budman: influential men of style.
Don Green and Michael Budman served as guest-editors for this issue, and Jeanne Beker had the opportunity to interview them at Budman's Toronto home and got an exclusive peek into Bonita; Budman and Green's Algonquin Park getaway.
In the article "Power Play", Bekker caught up with Budman and Green at Budman's Forest Hill backyard, complete with an ice hockey rink. She asks how they both manage to stay in such great shape while simultaneously running a successful business. Their answer? Playing team sports (like ice hockey) helps them stay active, feel good, and they incorporate those lessons into Roots. It's important for them to stay young, and they both try to work out 5-6 times a week, mixing things up by doing yoga, hockey, swimming, and biking. Clearly the founders of Roots practice what they preach! They recognize the importance of staying active, healthy, and using the outdoors as a way to re-connect with your inner child, which is arguably the key to happiness in life!
Budman and Green also introduced Beker to their rustic getaway in "Park Life". They purchased Bonita--a guesthouse in Algonquin Park-- in 1996, and use it to entertain friends, family, Roots staff, and celebrities. When they first bought the property, it was an "environmental disaster" where all the old refridgerators, motors, and cars had ended up from the camps around it. They spent a tremendous amount of time, energy, and money to restore the site to the beautiful guesthouse it is today.
"Their experience at summer camp has stayed with them all these years,
profoundly affecting everything from their personal lives to the way
they run their business empire," says Beker. Green and Budman wanted to re-create their childhood memories of camp and make Bonita as fun, rustic, and as nature-oriented as possible.
The four bedroom guesthouse is also used as the training ground for kayakers, and during off-season it is occasionally opened up to the school groups and under-privileged children. Both Green and Budman are determined to hang on to the lifestyle of being with family, friends, and nature, without being caught up in the fast-paced world. Budman notes, "It's a very short and fleeting season up in Algonquin Park, but when it's good, it's the best in the world."'
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