‘We are half the population’

Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts continued to find fame on the big screen well into her 50s, but she builds much of her life story around deeply personal and often unspoken health and aging issues.

She has become increasingly open about topics that many public figures, and particularly Hollywood actresses, avoid, using her platform to normalize conversations about fertility, aging, and physical changes to help women feel confident in their bodies, regardless of their age.

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

Watts founded Stripes Beauty in 2022, a company focused on helping women overcome the challenges of perimenopause and menopause, aiming to address everything from skin to hair changes to overall wellness.

Menopause was considered too taboo to talk about in many cultures due to the age-fertility connection and generational gatekeeping. In many societies, a woman’s “worth” depended on her youth and ability to bear children. Talking about menopause meant accepting that these stages were over. Many women of different generations have been taught to silence this, to see it as a special burden and not to share it.

At the Changemakers Summit, Watts said she was looking for reasons to help explain why no one was talking about it and even used an anonymous Instagram to look for clues. “Why is there no information? Why is it so difficult? Why is it so taboo when we’re half the population?” he said. “It’s just biology.”

Watts, founder and chief creative officer of Stripes Beauty, was named to the 2025 CNBC Changemakers list.

Menopause usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 and is diagnosed after a woman has not had a menstrual period for 12 months. According to the information provided by Midi Health, whose CEO Joanna Strober is also included in the 2025 CNBC Changemakers list, 6,000 women In the United States, menopause goes through menopause every day, equating to 1.3 million women a year; Four out of five middle-aged women experience menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes.

Watts entered early menopause in her mid-30s. She faced common symptoms like nightfall and hot flashes. Watts has said in the past that she feels “like I have no control over my own body.”

Stripes Beauty has expanded into major retailers like Ulta Beauty and Sephora, and the once niche, inconvenient category has now become a mainstream part of female consumer health and beauty. Company was purchased by agreement An agreement was reached in 2024 between Watts and L Catterton, a private investment company backed by Louis Vuitton’s parent company LVMH. The company 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 women need to “bet on themselves,” regardless of what society tells them or not.

“After turning 50, I felt a lot better about knowing who I was, a lot more comfortable in my skin,” she said. “Stay connected with women. Women are everything. I am nothing without the community of women around me.”

Watts has said in the past that when people approached her in public, she often worried that requests for selfies would follow and that she couldn’t stop thinking about being photographed without makeup. But menopause advocacy in recent years has changed many of these public interactions, she says. “Sometimes they come up to me with tears in their eyes or they want to thank you for giving me permission or having a dialogue so that I can talk to my husband or partner or family members and not feel embarrassed about it. … That gives me great joy. It’s very encouraging to know that the risk I’m taking has a meaningful impact on others.”