About Susan
EO® Products Co-Creator Susan Griffin-Black has been a pioneer in the personal care industry for over 15 years and is a leading expert in the field. An advocate of making safe, pure products, she has been involved with Teens for Safe Cosmetics for several years and she maintains her status as a business leader and mother to twelve year old Lucy and twenty–three year old Marc.
Griffin-Black grew up in Pittsburgh and in college Susan focused on a course of study in liberal arts at Penn State University. She moved to New York to pursue a career in fashion merchandising and design. She eventually moved to San Francisco and had 2 retail ventures (East Coast Girls and Susan Griffin), her career in the clothing business culminated with her joining the Esprit design team in 1990.
Always passionate about aromatherapy, Susan studied with essential oil experts Jeanne Rose, Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy and Susan Curtis of Neal’s Yard Remedies. Mostly self-taught, she complimented her studies with a crash course in cosmetic Chemistry with Rebecca James at UCLA. As a result of her strong interest and deep connection with aromatherapy, essential oils and therapeutic products, Susan formed and alliance with Neal’s Yard. In 1992, Susan introduced Neal’s Yard Remedies to the U.S. market when she started to import a small line of aromatherapy products from the U.K. Private label products were made for companies such as Birkenstock and Rockport and in 1995 Bloomingdale’s began purchasing directly. The demand was so strong that it was this catalyst which began EO®, the brand.
Black began her career in the personal care industry in 1995, developing one of the first lines to be carried at Whole Foods. Based in Marin County, California, Susan took the environment into account with everything she did including using organic ingredients and becoming a certified green business.
As an early member of the Personal Care Task Force to shape organic standards, EO® was also an industry leader by being one of the first companies to sign the Safe Cosmetics Campaign. Griffin-Black has been an advocate for the purity and safety of essential oils and sustainable sourcing which includes wild crafting. Susan is responsible for overseeing finances and is the visionary for the creative development of new products, formulations, design and packaging.
EO® was innovative in the creation of foaming products without Sodium Lauryl Sulfates back in 1997. EO® has continued to be a formulation leader by removing Polysorbate and Disodium EDTA from their personal care offering, making them the first company to do so. EO® products are made from pure essential oils selected for their aromatic and therapeutic properties and can be found nationally at natural foods stores and Whole Foods Markets.
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