Susanne Norwitz is the founder of the beauty line Maya Chia, which she created to provide the highest quality skincare product that also gives back in the process. Her career began as a political speechwriter. She oversaw external communications and social media outreach activities for Dunkin’ Brands and Kellogg Company and its subsidiaries. She has acted as a senior communications advisor, and wrote speeches for C-suite executives at Fortune 100 companies, including Revlon and Walgreens.

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Maya Chia Beauty was launched in 2014 when Susanne left her corporate career to pursue her passion. Susanne was always keenly interested in the act of skin care rituals, and how little acts of self care can profoundly transform the way one feels about themselves. She also had a lifelong interest in the Maya people that started with her father, who was a surgeon, and traveled to Guatemala to perform cleft lip and palate repair surgery on the Maya.

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Susanne’s interest in learning more about the Maya culture increased with the addition of her two stepchildren who were both born in Guatemala, an area rich in Maya heritage. When she learned chia was a staple for the Maya, and held untold skin benefits, Maya Chia was born.

 

Susanne earned a master’s degree at Harvard University.

 

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