‘I Like To Keep Shaking It Up’

Susie Hewson was a disrupter before the term became commonplace.

Hewson is founder and CEO of UK-based Natracare, manufacturer of plastic-free menstrual products made from renewable, biodegradable and compostable materials. Since its start in 1989, Natracare has grown into a global brand now available in 80 countries around the world.

It was hardly common for women to lead businesses 36 years ago, but Hewson was driven by a sense of purpose: to reduce plastic pollution and protect women’s health. She spoke with Women in Leadership about her long career, how the business world has changed and why it’s important to cultivate a sense of patience.

You’re known as a disrupter. Tell us about that.

I seem to have acquired the skill of poking sticks in hornet nests.

The term disruptor has been used a lot in recent years, but from where I came from, analysis, classification and creative solutions to problems was my profession. Everything about the status quo of the design and ingredients for pads and tampons had multiple issues. My influence as a disruptor allowed me to identify how design for positive change can lead to ecological and health improvements in a product category. This was clearly a positive disruption.

I’ve always been motivated to do whatever I can to prevent nature and wildlife from being destroyed. I have oceans of empathy, and, after all, I was an Honors graduate from a London Art school in the mid 1970’s, justifiably considered cultural hotbeds for creating disruptors.

What started as a challenging campaign evolved into a business, which ultimately led me to be both innovative in creating Natracare and persistent in my messaging and actions. We’ve brought about pockets of radical change in the period care industry over these past years. Proudly, I wear my disrupter badge on my executive dungarees.

From the first time I began campaigning in this sector, back in 1989, the industry tried its best to undermine my efforts, and yet now it identifies it as a growing, profitable market to enter. I like to keep shaking it up by also getting involved in standards development and initiation of regulations to make sure positive change stays headed in the right direction.

Tell us how your products are better for the environment and women’s health.

Over 45 billion menstrual products are dumped in the environment every year. Natracare has received many ecological accreditations along its journey to make change happen in the industry. Already we have the lowest carbon footprint of any disposable pads.

However, those 45 billion plastic pads could be made better with encouragement and pressure from a brand like Natracare that in 2022 achieved EN13432 and ASTM D6400 certification, making us the first brand to become part of the circular economy by being able to be commercially composted, turning Natracare pads and liners into valuable soil for agriculture. This is because Natracare uses raw materials which are a minimum 95 percent bio-sourced from sustainable plant resources.

There are potential burgeoning businesses waiting to blossom out there in initiating curbside collections of plant and food waste which could be converted into biogas, biofuel, compost or fertilizers. 

Natracare tampons are certified to the Global Organic Textiles Standard, being 100 percent organic cotton and plastic free. When one considers the lower impact of using more sustainable resources and less toxic chemical inputs like pesticides, herbicides and petrochemicals, nature benefits.

Farmers and the health of land workers also benefit, and ultimately we keep chemicals of concern, heavy metals and PFAs, out of our water supplies and soils. That’s got to be globally beneficial.

You have won some pretty prestigious awards.

I have achieved many, and for this I am both proud and encouraged that what I’ve done has been judged to be of real value.

In November 2024, I was in New York to be presented with two awards: winner of a Gold Stevie Award in the Lifetime Achievement category and a Silver Stevie Award in the Social Change Maker of the Year (Gender) category in the 21st annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

I received the honor of Member of the Order of the British Empire from His Majesty King Charles III in recognition of outstanding service to women’s health and the environment. His Majesty pinned the medal on my jacket in a ceremony at Windsor Castle in December 2023.

Royal awards are hard to achieve and prestigious, and in 2019 we received The Queen’s Award for Enterprise, which recognized our outstanding contribution to international trade.

I am the recipient of the inaugural Oak Award for Lifetime Contribution to the UK’s Organic Industry, awarded by the British Organic Trade Board and the Organic Research Centre. There are others that recognized me with a First Women in Manufacturing award, as well as a Woman in Ethical Business award.

What lessons have you learned in your 30-plus years that you can share with other women leaders?

Being a woman in business today is a gift for any board. Make this your mantra. In comparison to my earlier years in business, when one could be forgiven for thinking ceilings were triple glazed, and where smokey boardrooms had not yet realized what valuable skills women would bring to boardrooms, being persistent and staying true to ideals and objectives are valued.

Patience is hard to train for, but in a world so used to fast deliveries and instant gain, building and developing skills often needs stamina on learning curves which are often very steep. We didn’t need Harvard to tell us that we women bring different perspectives and experiences, as well as approaches to decision-making. We are masters of asking more questions and less willing to make decisions if the issues are not fully understood.