CEO Is 'One Tough Mother'

The title of Gert Boyle's autobiography says it all: she's "One Tough Mother" and is still going strong at 81 years young. The Early Show national correspondent Hattie Kauffman has a profile of a CEO and mom who is young at heart and tough as nails.

Boyle stars in her company's commercials as the woman who'll do anything to prove her Columbia sportswear can take a beating.

She's developed jackets that stand up to everything mother nature can throw. But it's her son, Tim, who bears the brunt of her management style.

Talk about one tough mother! With that reputation, just meeting her can be intimidating.

"I'm actually a lot nicer than you think," she said.

Is she really that tough?

"Uh, between 8 AM and 5 PM, yes. Because you know what? You don't want to have people leave tire tracks on your back!" she said.

In one commercial, Boyle drives a Zamboni over her son, Tim, who is frozen in the ice.

At 81, Boyle is the CEO and Tim is the company president. He's suffered a few bumps and bruises along the way. "I broke a rib on the last commercial we did," he recalls.

Do people really think that he has a mean mother?

Boyle says 'Yes,' but Tim says, "Anybody who sees the advertising — we often times say, 'You know, she's not really that mean. She's worse!'"

It was Boyle's toughness that saved Columbia. Her husband had built a modest hunting & sportswear business in Portland, Oregon. When he died suddenly in 1970, Boyle and their son took over.

There was a time when she thought she'd lose the company.

"Came this close to it," Boyle said. "Things were really bad."

Then came the insult: A prospective buyer offered her $1,400 for the company.

"I told him for $1,400 I'll run it into the ground by myself. It wasn't gonna be enough money anyway," she said.

That lowball offer put the fire in her belly and it was the last time anyone would underestimate Gert Boyle.

Columbia soon began showing a profit and became the first manufacturer to widely use Gore-Tex waterproofing in its products. Boyle became the face of the company, appearing in humourous print ads and outrageous commercials.

As Tim puts it, "The typical way to promote an outdoor company's products would be to have really attractive, athletic young people, and we use Gert!"

It seems to be working. Columbia is now a billion-dollar company. Boyle still reviews every expense form and signs the checks.

When told there are probably machines that could do it for her, Gert replies: "I know, but then machines don't know if they're right or not."

Boyle's employees recently gave her a birthday party. When asked about the possibility of retiring, Gert says "absolutely not."

Boyle drives herself to work every day, and when she arrives, there is no mistaking who's in charge.

All proceeds from the sale of Boyle's book, "One Tough Mother" goes to charity.