Beate Hjeltnes of Norwex: Sustainable Living Requires Eliminating Everyday Toxins and Investing in High Quality Products That Last a Lifetime

As a part of our series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Beate Hjeltnes.

Beate Hjeltnes is the Global Chief Executive Officer of Norwex, an industry leader in reducing harmful chemicals in everyday lives. As the daughter of Norwex Founder, Bjorn Nicolaisen, Beate continues the family legacy in the role of Chairperson of the Global Board of Directors and brings a strong background in financial and strategic management to her position. She is passionately committed to the success of the Companies’ Consultants and supports the Company’s global Mission to share a cleaner, safer, better way of living.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

Thank you for having me! My name is Beate Hjeltnes, and I am the Global Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Global Board of Directors at Norwex, an industry leader in reducing harmful chemicals in everyday lives. I’m the daughter of Norwex Founder, Bjorn Nicolaisen, so it’s an honor for me to continue the family legacy to share a cleaner, safer, better way of living. I’ve been involved with Norwex as a family business since the beginning in 1994. I can personally tell you that I have a white microfiber cloth that I’ve used for more than 20 years, and I’m the one who convinced my mom that Norwex products are superior with a cleaning contest, soap versus microfiber. Today, I’m a wife and mother of three active children, and I coach a youth handball team while working full-time. I live a busy, full life! As a believer in the Norwegian lifestyle and a current resident of Norway myself, I’m passionately committed to sharing the “Norwegian Experience” with millions around the globe to deliver safer, healthier and more sustainable cleaning and personal care solutions.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

Almost at the same time I got pregnant with my second child, I started to get infections on my skin, or so my doctor thought. And like most of us, all I wanted to do was protect my baby growing inside me. After four rounds of antibiotics, several years and a newborn baby later, the doctors still couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. At this point, I had two small kids, and I had started to get worried that something was very wrong with my skin. A few months went by, and the doctors told me it’s nothing dangerous at all — that it was an autoimmune illness. Now, my skin looks bad from time to time, I cannot always wear makeup on my skin, and the scars are visible all over my body. I will never know why I got it, but I quickly learned that I needed to be more careful with my skin. I quickly learned that I want products with clean ingredients that will be kind to my skin and my body over time. It is hard to find high quality products that are clean and sustainable, but we shouldn’t have to compromise the quality for the luxury of clean ingredients. Experiencing those feeling and emotions I went through throughout those years, I knew if I could prevent someone else from experiencing the same, I would. Which is why at Norwex our global Mission is to share a cleaner, safer way of living by reducing harmful chemicals in everyday lives. And now that also includes on our skin! We just recently launched our new skin care line with ultra-hydrating ingredients and exclusive formulations that stays true to our values of sharing a cleaner, safer way of living. I knew I wanted to create a line that was simple but also sustainable, with clean ingredients perfect for any skin type. Which is exactly what we did!

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Like any organization, we’ve made lots of mistakes at Norwex throughout the past 30 years. It’s hard to just choose one. Mistakes are just as important as successes because that is where you learn, grow, develop and find new solutions. If you don’t make mistakes, you are probably not in a place where you can grow. It’s easy to not make mistakes, because that means you are not doing anything!

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

If I was able to educate everyone about reducing harmful chemicals, I truly believe people would make the change. I actually don’t mind if a person were to select another brand that sells similar products as long as that person makes the change to a cleaner, safer way — the mission itself is more important than simply buying our products. At Norwex, we believe our responsibility goes far beyond creating safer, healthier products for you and your family. Guided by our core values of Integrity, Trust, Respect, and Kindness, we’re devoted to creating a better future through caring for our communities and the good stewardship of our amazing planet. Many of our microfiber products are made from 50% — 91% recycled microfiber yarn — we have repurposed over half a million plastic bottles. And, instead of throwing microfiber at the end of its life into landfills, we offer the option to convert it into renewable energy through our Microfiber Recycling Program. In addition, our plastic is sourced from qualified suppliers who actually remove plastic from the waste stream before it can enter the ocean. Regular on-site inspections verify the sources of all raw materials.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

To me, the most significant lifestyle tweak that will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing is to simply shift your way of living to reduce harmful chemicals in your everyday life. Sustainability is something very often discussed at Norwex. What is sustainability and what does it mean? What is a sustainable product? To me, sustainability is more than just products. It’s a way of living. It’s quality. Sustainability is buying something that lasts for a lifetime and that you can reuse. There is less shopping when you buy high quality, think of how our grandparents used to live, they were not shopping all the time. They bought it once and it lasted a lifetime — it’s that simple way of living. Many products these days simply are not made to last! For example, our skincare bottles are high quality and refillable, and our microfiber can last a lifetime when cared for properly! It’s a mindset shift and a true lifestyle. In Norway, it is a completely different way of life. I recently traveled to the United States with my kids, and they were fascinated by the plastic straws — you simply can’t get them in Norway!

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I believe that our movement has already begun, and that’s to share a cleaner, safer way of living. Effective, safe and sustainable, our products deliver solutions for healthier homes, healthier families and a healthier world, and our goal is to continue sharing those solutions and products with the world so that we can educate and inspire to eventually change real behaviors, thus creating a better future. We want to give people a choice for cleaner products, and we believe education surrounding why reducing harmful chemicals in our everyday lives is so important will be the key to our success.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

It’s difficult because Norwex has been around since I was a teenager, but if I had to share five things I wish someone told me before I started, I would say:

1. You will never have a true Holiday — This is partly a joke, but there is certainty truth to it! Being a CEO is an always-on job.

2. Being part of a family company, it is hard to separate work and personal life. Oftentimes, I don’t know where my personal life begins, and Norwex ends.

3. When we changed our branding in 2023, my oldest daughter (19) cried, and I did not realize how personally connected people were to the brand, specifically those in the family — there are such strong ties because it is a family-owned company.

4. My father told me once that being a CEO can be quite lonely, because there are such difficult decisions to be made, and you cannot always share everything. However, I have a great team around me, and that has been a very positive surprise!

5. You cannot and do not always make the right decision! However, the most important thing is how you can clean up, change and do better.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

Everyone who works with me knows I am passionate about our mission of sharing a cleaner, safer way of living by reducing harmful chemicals in everyday lives. The mission is the core reason why this company exists. That leads us to focus on sustainability, to find solutions to preserve our natural resources for future generations. But our vision for a brighter future goes even further. We recently launched a new skin care line with ultra-hydrating ingredients and exclusive formulations, and the products are packaged into refillable containers that are both convenient and cost effective. Made out of 100% PCR plastic and FSC certified, the airless pumps aid in reducing and eliminating product waste and landfill load. The upcycled skin care ingredients repurpose materials that would otherwise be discarded, pushing Norwex and its customers toward a cleaner, safer, better way of living. Mental health is also just as important to me, and it goes back to the Norwegian simple way of life and actually living!

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

If you’d like to follow my work, the best thing you can do is follow Norwex’s social channels, knowing the brand is a reflection of my passions and my voice. If you’d like to learn more about Norwex’s new skin care line, please visit our website.

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.