‘We are half the population’

Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts has maintained on-screen fame well into her 50s, but she’s focusing her life story on deeply personal and often untold health and aging issues.

She has become increasingly open about topics that many public figures, and especially Hollywood actresses, avoid, using her platform to normalize conversations about fertility, aging and physical changes, with the goal of helping women feel confident in their bodies, no matter their age.

“I’m trying to send the message that we’re OK with how we look,” Watts told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin. CNBC Changemakers Summit Thursday in New York City. “It’s okay to be 57 and look 57.”

Watts launched Stripes Beauty in 2022, a company focused on helping women deal with the challenges associated with perimenopause and menopause, while aiming to address everything from skin to hair changes to overall wellness.

Talking about menopause was considered very taboo in many cultures, largely due to the age-fertility relationship and generational gatekeeping. In many societies a woman’s “worth” was tied to her youth and ability to bear children. Talking about menopause means acknowledging that those stages have ended. Many women in different generations were taught to keep it quiet and view it as a personal burden and not share it.

At the Changemakers Summit, Watts said he looked for reasons that would help explain why no one talked about it, and even used an anonymous Instagram to look for clues. “Why is there no information? Why is it so hard? Why is it so taboo when we are half the population?” He said. “It’s just biology.”

Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Stripes Beauty, Watts was included in the 2025 CNBC Changemakers list.

Menopause usually occurs around the age of 45 to 55 and is diagnosed when a woman has not had her period for 12 months. According to information from Midi Health, whose CEO Joanna Strober was also named to the 2025 CNBC Changemakers list, 6,000 women Menopause occurs every day in the United States, the equivalent of 1.3 million women annually, while four out of five middle-aged women experience menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes.

Watts experienced early menopause in her mid-30s. She suffered common symptoms such as night flashes and hot flashes. Watts has said in the past that she felt as if “I have no control over my body.”

As Stripes Beauty has expanded into major retailers like Ulta Beauty and Sephora, the once niche, inconvenient category has now become a mainstream part of women’s consumer health and beauty. the company was acquired in a deal Between Watts and private investment firm L Catterton, which is backed by Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH, in 2024. It launched “National Hot Flash Day”, celebrated on September 9, to reinforce the message that the menopause journey is a completely natural and shared experience.

Watts says that women should “bet on themselves”, no matter what society tells them, or nothing at all.

“After turning 50, I feel better about who I am, feeling more comfortable in my own skin,” she said. “Stay connected to women. Women are everything. I am nothing without the community of women around me.”

Watts said that in the past, when people would approach her in public, she would often worry that selfies would be requested, and she couldn’t help but think about being photographed without makeup. But she says her menopause advocacy in recent years has changed many of these public conversations. “They sometimes come up to me with tears in their eyes, or just want to say thank you for allowing me, or communicating, so that I can talk to my husband or partner or family members and not be embarrassed about it. … That brings me great joy. It’s great to know that a risk I took had a meaningful impact on others.”