‘Mother’ Boyle built gear company into a billion-dollar global business, Columbia Sportswear of Portland, Oregon

Gert "Mother" Boyle has lived her life and built Columbia Sportswear http://www.columbia.com/ into a billion-dollar global business guided by a few simple rules, rugged determination and a playful wit.

"Have I made enemies? I’m sure I have. Some of them I am related to," said the 81-year-old grandmother, interviewed in her suburban headquarters office.

For Boyle, it comes down to people.

"I always feel that I work with people, they don’t work for me. They work with us. I couldn’t do without any of them," she said, then smiled. "Well, one or two of them I could do without."

Since taking over the family business in 1970, she and son Tim have placed Columbia solidly among the world’s top 10 makers of sporting "soft goods," with a 2 percent share of the $44 billion global market and 3 percent share of the $18.2 billion U.S. market, said John Horan, publisher of the industry newsletter Sporting Goods Intelligence.

Associated Press

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