SUSAN GRIFFIN-BLACK
Co-founder, EO Products, Inc.

Susan Griffin-Black is co-founder of EO^® Products and pioneer in the organic and natural personal care products business based in Marin County, California. She is responsible for all aspects of the company’s operations, from product development and manufacturing to strategic and financial management.

A Green Business entrepreneur, Susan is an industry innovator in the formulation  of the most natural products possible that perform and are free of unnecessary chemicals. Under her leadership, EO^® was one of the first companies to join the Safe Cosmetics Campaign. She is a tireless advocate for the purity and safety of essential oils and sustainable sourcing, and in 1997 spearheaded the effort to create foaming products without Sodium Lauryl Sulfates. EO^® has continued to be a formulation leader and was the first company to remove Polysorbate and Disodium EDTA from its personal care product lines.

Susan began her career in the fashion industry before a longtime passion for aromatherapy led her to undertake self- study and later attending the Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy and courses in Cosmetic Chemistry at UCLA. Susan applied her new knowledge in aromatherapy and essential oils by becoming the U.S. distributor, along with her former husband, Brad Black, of a line of UK personal care products. Susan and Brad then chose to enter the manufacturing business first with a line of private label products for such brands as Birkenstock and Rockport, and eventually creating the EO brand exclusively for Bloomingdales.

In 1995, Susan and Brad dropped their private label and distribution relationships to focus full time on launching EO Products and raising their two children.  Balancing a growing business and a growing family led, naturally enough, to an abiding interest in meditation—practiced in the bathtub and aided by the inclusion of aromatherapy and essential oils.

“The bathtub is a place of solitude, quiet, warm water, and comfort,” says Susan. “Rose Geranium and Citrus Bubble Bath is my pick of choice: uplifting, balancing and calming. I love the way it smells, it leaves me feeling refreshed and relaxed, ready to handle whatever comes next.”

Today, EO Products employs 32 people, sells to thousands of natural foods, retail and hospitality accounts worldwide, and continues to lead the organic personal care products market with strong vision that focuses on quality products, organic ingredients and sustainable packaging.

Susan Griffin-Black is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Penn State University. In addition to leading EO, she is involved with the San Francisco Zen Center and is currently working authoring a book on women in business.  Susan resides with her two children in Marin County, California where she is chief wardrobe advisor to her 13 year old daughter and chief fan of her son’s band the “2am club”.