Norwex
Our team is leading a range of PR activities, including media relations and social media strategy, to raise the profile of Beate Hjeltnes, the quietly-spoken, yet passionate, CEO of global direct selling company, Norwex. Norwex translates as ‘The Norwegian Way’, reflecting its birthplace in the 1990s when Beate’s father, Bjørn Nicholaisen, pioneered use of the microfibre cloth - a revolutionary product with the ability to clean surfaces deeply using just water, no chemicals, thanks to a microscopic ‘scrubbing power’.
Its quality microfibre cloth remains Norwex’s hero product, but today, it sells personal care, family care and home care products as part of its mission of sharing a cleaner, safer, better way of living by reducing harmful chemicals in everyday lives. For certain, Norwex means business when it comes to this mission. It has a growing list of over 2,700 substances that are banned from being used in its 300 or so products. The list include PFAS or ‘forever chemicals’ which are finally becoming headline news, after years of campaigning and awareness building.
Norwex now operates in over 20 countries where its 100,000+ consultants sell products such as dry shampoo and premium skincare. Most of its consultants are women who align passionately with the Norwex mission, and have an opportunity to convey that mission, whilst earning income.
BBC World News: Live on the ‘Forever Chemicals Crisis’
Given our shared, longstanding passion for the need to consider ‘health’ and ‘environment’ as two sides of the same coin, we were thrilled when Beate was invited to explain the Norwex mission via a live interview on BBC World News, giving her 3.5 minutes to talk live to presenter, Ben Thompson, for a monthly audience of over 500m people all around the world. The interview was timed to coincide with news that the European Union had delayed its ban on PFAS — the 'forever chemicals' found in countless household products. These are substances that have been approved by regulators, despite the fact we know little about them, including their combined or ‘cocktail effect’. What we do know is they're linked to serious health risks including cancers, immune disease and endocrine disruption.
In the interview, Beate explained that regular use of household sprays containing such chemicals could be as harmful as smoking up to 20 cigarettes a day. She also pointed to a study that analysed the cord blood of newborns and found 287 chemicals, including pesticides, industrial pollutants and flame retardants: Of these, 180 are known to cause cancer, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 are linked to birth defects or abnormal development.
Importantly, having explained that Norwex has spent 30 years building a business designed to address this problem, Beate noted that consumers have more power than they realise when it comes to choosing brands that reject PFAS entirely. Consider the fact that men’s sperm counts have fallen by a shocking 50% in the past 50 years. Scientists are investigating the effects on fertility from such chemicals. Most of us know people who’ve struggled to conceive. How much can be explained by what we use in our homes? Netflix documentary, The Plastic Detox, followed six couples with ‘unexplained infertility’ who are helped (and monitored) by Dr Shanna Swan, environmental and reproductive epidemiologist to remove takeaway boxes, air fresheners and other PFAS-containing goods from their homes. We don’t do spoilers here at Curious, so you’ll just have to watch it to find out if they conceive....
A CEO Who Leads with Kindness at the Fore
Beate has been involved with the company since her childhood. She jokes that she’s not sure where family life ends and work begins. Interestingly, it was her personal health journey that informed a key product decision. Her personal experience of having a chronic autoimmune skin condition led to the decision to develop Norwex's ‘clean’ skincare line, driven by the conviction that consumers shouldn’t have to choose between products that are ‘safe’ or feel luxurious.
This intricate interplay between work and home life is something we are conveying alongside how her leadership philosophy is rooted in culture, kindness and the belief that removing fear from workplace discussions makes teams perform better. Entering as CEO, she added Kindness as a core value alongside Integrity, Trust and Respect.
Making Waves in the Direct Selling World
It’s a genuine privilege to convey such stories, helping us to consumer media coverage in the likes of Medium, and trade press coverage in outlets such as Direct Selling News, which recently ran a company spotlight on Norwex exploring the Norwegian legacy behind the brand, as well as Beate's vision for its next chapter. The piece paints a portrait of how Norwex's values - rooted in The Norwegian Way of life - and how they translate into its business model, product philosophy, and relationship with its consultant community. It also highlights Norwex's partnership with the Environmental Working Group (EWG), whose verified symbol now appears on 12 products, giving consultants a powerful, credible shorthand for talking to customers about ingredient standards.
Beate was also featured this year in World of Direct Selling's Leadership Unplugged series, an interview format reserved for the most notable voices in the sector. Here, she spoke candidly about her path to being CEO, her philosophy in what makes a direct selling executive genuinely effective - "Relationships are just as important as executive skills" - and the importance of building a culture where consultants feel seen, supported and part of something bigger than a sales target.
Social to the Core
Alongside our media outreach work, our team develops and manages Beate’s social media presence on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn to ensure her leadership, personality and passions come to life. This sees us produce filmed content featuring Beate dicussing issues that matter to her, such as what Norwex stands for, what Earth Day represents to her, even what love means to her. We also help share news about scientific research into the harmful effects of PFAS In short, at the same time conveying personal stories linked to how we can (and should) all be living cleaner, safer, better.
A Mission That's Bigger Than the Brand
One thing that is outstanding to us as communicators - and to the media - is how Beate places purpose over profit. In her words, “What we're trying to achieve is way bigger than just Norwex. So if someone chooses a different brand to work for but they're still aligned to our mission, that's actually not a loss. My passion is to touch more people with our mission – then they're part of the movement.”
Olivia See with Norwex’s Beate and Lucia
Hannah filming with Beate in London
Norwex Rebrand: Cleaning Up at the Transform Awards
We were first introduced to Norwex by world class branding agency, The Workroom whose talented team led a radical rebrand for Norwex, giving its 30-year heritage a more premium, authentically Norwegian positioning centred around a new strapline, 'live cleaner, safer, better.' The wide-ranging results can be seen in the exquisite, sensitively thought-through, yet, bold transformation above. This was work that gained no fewer than four trophies at the prestigious 2026 Transform Awards Europe, including the Grand Prix! You can watch Workroom founder, Brigid McMullen, in conversation with the awards team to hear about the project’s twists and turns, both intellectual and practical. Or read about the transformation via Workroom or in an article we secured in Creative Boom, a media title reaching over 7m creative professionals a year.
We relish putting Beate, and the remarkable 30-year story of Norwex, in front of the audiences we are convinced want to know more on how to live cleaner, safer, better - The Norwegian Way. As Beate noted in a recent interview, “We need to go back to living like our grandparents did, when they bought things once and expected them to last a lifetime.” To that list, we’d urge for a complete ban on PFAS all around the world, and measures put in place to clear up these harmful substances. Sadly, the clue is in the name ‘forever’, but as Beate noted on BBC World News, ALL of us can take steps using consumer power to avoid buying them.
